Mt. Shasta Recon

My first reaction upon seeing the mountain once the clouds cleared: "Um" was all I could say. All I could think was, "I'm seriously going to walk up that thing?" That's still the plan!

"When I first caught sight of it [Mt. Shasta] over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since."

~John Muir

We traveled up to Mt. Shasta, CA for the long weekend (Cesar Chavez Day) so that I could take a look at the mountain. It's not been a great snow year for the area so the ski hill wasn't open. But it rained all of the first day we were there, which apparently translated into a dreamy snow day on Mt. Shasta.

We headed up to the trailhead, Bunny Flats, first thing Saturday morning. It was a little rainy going up and toward the top a little slushy. I definitely did not have an accurate concept of what we were heading toward as I thought we might be able to hike a short distance. Uh. No. There was at least 5 feet of snow with a couple feet having been dumped in the past 24 hours. The shelter was being shoveled out and there were quite a few cars that were pretty well snowed in. So after I stood in shock for a few minutes, I started walking around taking a look at the area. One side was snowmobilers…. going down. The other side was backcountry skiers beginning their hike up so they could ski down. If only we'd brought our snowshoes! We both kept saying that… over and over. Ah well, it was still fun to hang out in the snow. And Jambo definitely enjoyed running around in it!

Mt. Shasta from a nameless road off Everitt Memorial Hwy

We also spent a little time at The Fifth Season shop in Mt. Shasta checking out gear and getting some suggestions for hikes. We ended up hiking around Lake Siskiyou, which was pretty easy terrain and definitely beautiful. We also hiked up some random road that kept Mt. Shasta in view through the trees most of the way up. Seeing it like that, looming over me, was very intimidating. And it's not like I've never seen mountains before. I spent many years playing in the mountains of Colorado. But I've never climbed a 14er and I'm slightly older so it's different. Most of what we did was with caution as the weather forecast called for major thunderstorms mixed with snow at times. But 2 of the 3 days were actually quite beautiful. I'm sure that's not a good thing in a place where snow is the basis for most of their revenue. But it made life easier for us those few days!

Bench view of Lake Siskiyou

One thing of note is how confusing all the "Shastas" are! There's Mt. Shasta the mountain, Mt. Shasta the city, and we saw signs for Shasta Dam, Shasta City, and Shasta Lake (a city… and maybe a lake). I'm sure there were others but we had to focus on Mt. Shasta the city so that we wouldn't get lost! lol

I like having a little more knowledge about the area and what to expect. I know I can't predict nor can I control everything. I wouldn't want to. But I do feel a little less anxious about logistics so I can focus more on training and fundraising.

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