We have had our eyes on Mt. Shasta for a while and finally circumstances aligned for a quick trip up to Northern California to climb it.
Kevin, Klaus, Paige and I went to John’s place on Friday evening, had a quick beer and where in bed before 9pm. A few hours later we got up again and left shortly after 1am for our long trek north. With 5 drivers we switched driver about every 2 hours. At breakfast time we stopped at a Denny’s outside Sacramento. We arrived in the town of Mount Shasta in the early afternoon and got our summit permits at the “Fifth season” outdoor store. Then we were off to the Clear Creek trailhead. This required a little bit of dirt road driving with most of it on very well maintained roads. The last 1-2 miles were on a more rutted road with deep dust/sand, but John made driving it look easy.
At the trailhead we got into our hiking cloth and put on the backpacks. The range of weight was rather large with John carrying about 2.5 times what Paige carried and the rest of us somewhere in between. We all benefited from John’s extra weight though when he shared the fresh fruit he had brought. The 3 mile hike to the camp sites went by rather quickly. We gained about 1900 ft on this section leaving us with another 5500 ft to the peak. Once at the springs where the camp sites are located Kevin, who arrived before most of us, scouted the area for the best sites and we were able to setup right away. After a quick dinner we all were in our sleeping bags by 8pm. The plan was to hit the trail at 1:30am.
We started our hike on time and made good speed on a decent use trail until we reached the first snow field. We stopped and put on our crampons, helmets and changed from trekking poles to ice axes. Then we were off onto the snow/ice. This was a first for John and me. I was glad that this first experience happened in relatively easy conditions, i.e., no thick, hard ice shield and a reasonable slope. After a while it started to be fun walking straight up this snow field. At the top we changed back to regular hiking gear. In the process Kevin lost hold of his sunglasses and they glissaded down the slope never to be seen again.
After the snow field the “trail” condition was much worse. It was really not much of a trail but one could find routes that had been used by others before. As is usually the case with use trails/routes it went up almost straight with just some small switch backs. Given the sand/dust/scree this made for some of the most unpleasant climbing conditions one can encounter. With every step we slipped half a step back. It was very strength sapping. Just around sunrise, a bit above 12,000 ft, Klaus came to the conclusion that this was not his day to summit. He suggested that he’d wait for us. After a short discussion we agreed that it would be safe (given weather, supplies, other people on the mountain, etc.).
We continued up the steep, slippery slope and eventually made it to mushroom rock just below the “head wall”. There the otherwise pretty consistent slope of the mountain is broken by a big rock outcropping with sheer cliffs. We had heard that some routes up the gullies are preferable to others, but none of the descriptions were really helpful in finding the best route (if there even really is one). We found a reasonable route, but it still required a lot of care getting up this steep section since kicking lose rocks was unavoidable. Some of what went tumbling down was carry-on sized and therefore quite dangerous (see video below) .
At the top of the head wall regular walking was possible again, but we still had about 500ft elevation to gain. The route lead us over a gently sloped snow field before climbing the last 300 ft on sandy/slippery switchbacks. There was a foul smell in that area and we remembered that there some fumaroles. It was very windy. So windy in fact that I lost my balance a few times in the stronger gusts.
From the top we had great views all around. We took our pics and had some snacks before heading back down to meet Klaus. While crossing through the head wall again we encountered some hikers and a ranger. As Kevin and I chatted with the ranger John and Paige continued. When we then started moving we couldn’t see them below us and assumed they had already made it to mushroom rock. Kevin just had a blast sliding down on the soft stuff and quickly made it to the rock. I arrived a few minutes later and was surprised that he was alone. Where were the others? We decided they must have drifted too far to the “right” and now where probably on the other side of a ridge we were facing. Kevin, who still had all kinds of strength even this late in the game, ran over to the ridge. He saw them, but could not communicate to them that they were supposed to come over to our side. So we split, he went after John and Paige and I went to meet Klaus. We didn’t know how long everything would take and we did not want Klaus to wait too much more. We were also quite worried that the other two would get themselves too far off track and possibly into some undesirable terrain.
As Klaus and I headed towards the snow field Kevin and the others came over the ridge and met up with us. They had indeed gone into more sketchy terrain. At the snow field it was time to learn how to glissade. Klaus, John and I were new to this and the long, steep (to us) slope looked quite intimidating. After instructions by Kevin and Paige we just went for it. Again, the conditions were not too bad for beginners, the snow was soft and controlling the speed was easy. It was a lot of fun. I want more of this now!
Once at camp we packed up our overnight gear and headed back to the truck. The drive home started around 5pm and we made it to John’s house by 5am. As on the drive up we made use of the number of drivers and everyone drove for a while.
Hiking stats:
- Day 1: 3 miles, 1900 ft gain
- Day 2: 5.6 miles, 5500 ft gain to peak, 3 miles back to truck
(Click on any image to enlarge/start slide show)
