Mount Shasta Climb: June 14-16, 2019
I have driven past Mount Shasta many times and have admired it from a distance. I never thought that one day I will climb to the top! Having climbed Mount Whitney last year, I was looking for the next challenge and Mount Shasta was the perfect step up. It is 300ft shorter than Whitney but is a lot more challenging.
Climbing Mount Shasta requires some technical skills therefore it is advisable to go with a guide unless you are already an accomplished alpine climber. I decided to sign up with REI Adventure - they contract it out to Shasta Mountain Guides. My friends Vikas and Ankur decided to join as well. We decided to take the south face, Avalanche Gulch route.
Mt. Shasta is a great mountain to climb if you want to experience proper alpine mountaineering, challenge yourself physically and mentally, learn some technical skills and not take undue risks.
Trail Overview
- Distance: ~12 miles
- Total Climbing: 7,200 ft (that's right - 7,000+ ft of climb in less than 6 miles)
- Max Elevation: 14,180 ft
Day 1: June 13, 2019. Drive to Shasta
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View of Mount Shasta from our car. Looks quite formidable. Can we really climb this beast? |
Day 2: June 14, 2019. Climb from Bunny Flat to Horse Camp
From left to right: Vikas, Jai, Clayton, Ankur, Alex, Jimmy and Casey |
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Ready to conquer Mt. Shasta |
We reached Horse Camp at around 2pm. Casey and Clayton used a shovel to create flat grounds for our tents. They then taught us how to anchor tents in snow. You dig a hole, bury a twig in the hole, wrap the string around the twig and tie a trucker's hitch knot. It is really easy to do and is strong enough that you can rappel on it !
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Anchoring the tent using trucker's hitch knot |
The guides then proceeded to create a dining area. This was really impressive. See the picture below. There were benches for us to sit on and enjoy the food.
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Kitchen and dining area ! |
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Running water from stream |
- Proper technique to hold ice axe
- How to climb on steep slopes using French steps. How to add a rest step to be more efficient and general safety
- How to self belay and self arrest using ice axe if you have a fall. We practiced on a small hill by simulating various types of falls and self arresting using ice axe
- We also learned to properly glissade (slide down) on slopes. This is a super efficient and fun way to climb down
I felt a lot more confident after learning these skills.
Breakfast and dinner was included in the guided package. We had delicious kale soup and burritos for dinner.
Day 3: June 15, 2019. Climb from Horse Camp to Camp 2
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Enjoying a bit of warm fluid in the morning before heading out for Day 2 |
Enjoying some trail mix after a particularly steep stretch to camp 2 |
Finally reached camp 2 at around 12:20pm We didn't really get to take many pictures - this was the most disappointing part of the treks. Our guides were really strict about 10 min breaks. That was barely enough time to set down the backpack, drink water, eat a snack and take a bio break. We missed out on a lot of great photo opportunities.
Short video of me finishing the trek on Day 2.
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Panoramic view of camp 2 area |
Struggling to fill air in my sleeping pad. The Oxygen level is already 30% less at this elevation |
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This ice axe usage was definitely not part of our training but it is a handy skill nevertheless :) |
Enjoying early dinner (4pm) so we can retire early and be ready to start the summit push at night |
We saw ominous dark clouds, rain and lightening in the distance. We were really worried that if the clouds reach us then our climb will be jeopardized. We cannot go up in rain because it will be too hazardous. Fortunately the clouds stayed away and we had a perfect climbing day.
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Rain rain stay away |
Day 4: June 16, 2019. Summit Day. Camp 2 to Top and back to Bunny Flat Trailhead
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Target practice for pooping ! |
Time to get the ropes on. Notice the tents far below, steep slopes and rough snow which was really hard to walk on |
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Clayton (guide, in the lead), me, Vikas and Ankur |
At nearly 11,000 ft now. You can see the Red Banks (red rocks) on the top. Also note how steep this section is |
Mountain shadow - looks truly majestic |
"Thumb" can be seen in the background. |
You can see the "Short Hill" section in the background. This was a killer |
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Misery Hill climb. It is a false summit |
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On top of Misery Hill. Football Field to be tackled next |
We added our name to the register to officially mark the occasion |
There was no flat ground here. It was hard to balance on soft snow and with all the hiking gear |
How about some pushups? :) |
Mount Shastina |
Great view looking down from the top of Misery Hill. You can see the Thumb rock in the distance |
You can see a person glissading down. The horizontal track is for navigating the slope using a zig-zag path |
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Believe it or not, we were on top of that mountain just hours ago !! |
4 comments
Good work Jai!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome Jai! 👍
ReplyDeleteVery nice and thrilling ��
ReplyDeleteAmazing views and good hike.
ReplyDelete