Mt. Shasta on Mother’s Day
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:44 am
Mt. Shasta is one of California’s premier 14ers. It is only a short drive away for most Northern Californians. In fact for most Bay Area and Sacramento region Californians this mountain is closer than any of the other California 14ers.
I think we should make it an honorary member of the Sierra, but some Marine Corp sticklers; zealously dedicated to duty, insist all reports about this beautiful volcano must be secluded away in the “Beyond the Sierra” region of the board.
My girl had to spend the weekend saving lives in the ER. So on Friday, after work, I drove up to Bunny Flat. The next morning I filled out my permits, slung on my backpack and headed up to Horse Camp.
The trail to Horse camp had spotty snow but was completely covered by the time you got to camp. The spring is running but someone had to dig down into about 7 feet of snow to expose the spring. The path out of camp was completely snow covered.
It took a few hours but I finally made it to Helen Lake.
We will discuss the rock fall you can see in the background later.
I set up my camp, prepared for the next day’s climb and stared up Avalanche Gulch to the Red Banks. The Heart is completely covered in snow.
I didn’t really like camping at Helen Lake. It was too crowded and noisy. I was awakened at 2:30 AM and just decided to get up to begin my alpine start. It took me a few hours to get above the Red Banks.
I took a break and obtained nourishment and hydration before tackling Misery Hill.
I noticed on Misery Hill I began to be queried from other climbers. “How much longer to the summit?” it was an expected question. Elevation really starts to affect most at about 13,000 feet. They were happy to hear it was just a short little climb up to the summit plateau.
I made the summit and proposed to a climber he take my picture with me holding my Mother’s Day greeting for my Mother. Then he and the other climbers could use my sign to greet their Mothers.
I was surprised at just how excited these young men were to be able to send their Mothers a greeting from the summit of Shasta. They were all scrambling to a great picture holding my sign.
I left them with my sign and started my journey back home. These are the summit switchbacks with the Muir Vents.
Here is a closer look at the “Muir Vents”, so named because when John Muir climbed Shasta, he was forced to spend the night on the summit due to weather and kept from freezing to death by warming himself with the steam coming from the vents.
To be continued…
I think we should make it an honorary member of the Sierra, but some Marine Corp sticklers; zealously dedicated to duty, insist all reports about this beautiful volcano must be secluded away in the “Beyond the Sierra” region of the board.
My girl had to spend the weekend saving lives in the ER. So on Friday, after work, I drove up to Bunny Flat. The next morning I filled out my permits, slung on my backpack and headed up to Horse Camp.
The trail to Horse camp had spotty snow but was completely covered by the time you got to camp. The spring is running but someone had to dig down into about 7 feet of snow to expose the spring. The path out of camp was completely snow covered.
I set up my camp, prepared for the next day’s climb and stared up Avalanche Gulch to the Red Banks. The Heart is completely covered in snow.
