At 14,179ft. Mt. Shasta towers above the surrounding region, a lone stratovolcano covered in snow and ice for much of the year. It's the 4th highest county high point, but is a mere 350ft shorter than Mt. Whitney. As you drive North through California's great San Joaquin valley you'll eventually see Shasta dominating the Northern head of the valley, and is visible from two hours away on a clear day.
This was my 3rd summit of Mt. Shasta, it being a great mountain for a beginning mountaineer. The approach is fairly short and easy, but also very challenging, rising 7,500ft. from the parking lot via the Avalanche Gulch route, which is the standard route on the mountain.
A typical climb via this route entails: Climbing from the parking lot at 6900ft. to Helen Lake at 10,600ft. the first morning. It's best to do this early when the snow conditions are better at supporting the weight of the heavy packs you're pulling up the mountain at this point. This portion usually takes anywhere from 5 - 7 hours depending on your fitness and pace. The rest of the afternoon involves making camp, making water, and trying to rest. Early the next morning (typically around 3 - 4am for me) we would leave for the summit and hopefully arrive at the summit around 9am. It averages around 5 1/2 hours for most.
The climb is spectacular as soon as the sun comes out as you feel like your are towering above the surrounding area. The trickiest and steepest part of the climb involves climbing through some chutes of red volcanic rock call the Red Banks, but it's not really too difficult or hairy unless you're scared of heights.
For this particular trip I went up with my cousin Chris and the conditions could not have been nicer despite the brief hailstorm caused by passing late afternoon thunderheads. After the climb Chris had the typical reaction after being introduced to mountaineering: "I had a blast, it was amazing, a real challange, really hard, and I probably never want to do it again." I'm glad we were able to summit on his first attempt, which is not an easy feat.
A link to the Flickr slideshow
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