Got 8th O/A, 5th in my age group.
Kai got 3rd in Juniors... and Nikko was really leading the race, but then took a wrong turn. I found him crying on the boot pack. Poor buddy. He eventually made it down, but was quite sad the rest of the day.
https://www.strava.com/activities/8430718530
Strava from 2022 - https://www.strava.com/activities/6567223411/overview - That douglas face killed me! 16:11... Pat did it in 10:44! If I can do it in under 15 min next year...
Results https://www.shastaavalanche.org/sites/default/files/shasta_ascension_backcountry_race_results_1.pdf
Strava from 2020 - https://www.strava.com/activities/3022881127/overview
Post from 2 years ago. http://snowymonk.blogspot.com/2020/01/shasta-ascension-race.html
This was quite the last minute trip. Taking the boys up Shasta was supposed to take months of training, preparation, etc... but I just decided to go for it. With the smoke and pandemic it was tough to get them motivated to "train." But I knew that when it came down to it, it was all in their head. The night before we took off, I told Nikko that I was going to take Kai up Shasta tomorrow and he'll get his chance next year. He had none of that and threw a HUGE tantrum. Kai stepped up as a big brother and allowed Nikko to come, even though he knew it would decrease his chances of making it to the top. I promised Kai that if we had to turn around because of Nikko, I would take him back up there later this year. So talking to Nikko, we made him promise that there would be absolutely no whining and no turning around because he felt "too tired". I think this may have been the trick in getting Nikko to the top. He started whining at one point, then I reminded him of his promise, and that was it. No more whining, he'd just focus on taking one step after another. Timeline:
 |
| Here was my calculation... it took me about 6 hrs. (4 up, 2 down)... so I figure we could do it in maybe 10 hrs? (6.5 up, 3.5 down)... my calculations were pretty good. The 12 hour timeline was more of a backup. |
 |
| Once I saw this, I started packing. |
 |
| Silly pooch |
 |
| Nikko! |
 |
| Smokey Sunrise... |
 |
| You can see the haze below... |
 |
| Nikko's first time hiking with poles. It came in quite useful. |
 |
| The haze layer never went away. We'll have to return for the views. |
 |
| Lunch time at UFO rock |
 |
| Summit sighting! Finally |
 |
| I've never seen that "lake" before on the summit plateau... |
 |
| We got suckered into taking the "adventure" route to the summit block. Not recommended. Although it did add a bit of spice to our outing. |
 |
| Summit selfie! |
 |
| Huzzah! |
 |
| We facetimed with mama. Hey look! 10 am, that was exactly what I had estimated our time to be... |
 |
| after some summit lounging... we didn't see anyone else at the summit and got to spend a good 20 min up there to ourselves. We did pass probably 5 folks? And many groups were coming up while we descended. Some big guided groups too... |
 |
| Time for some scree descending! |
 |
| back at UFO rock |
 |
| Clear Creek Springs! |
 |
| I can see why folks think this is such a sacred place. |
 |
| 5 min into the car ride... |
 |
| So I told them to take a nap... |
 |
| And woke them up when we found a waterfall to jump in at. They got some ice cream, and I promised Nikko a lollipop the size of his face. |
 |
| These were not the right footwear. Not sure what I was thinking... these were on their last legs after having seen 400+ miles, so no biggie. |
Gear - the boys just had camelbacks with a few snacks in them. I carried a day bag with clothes, buffs, sunglasses, headlamps, sun hat, sunscreen (it got breezy and cold. You can see we put on jackets and pants at UFO rock). I also had some sandwiches, a few bag of gummies, and some emergency gear. We all used poles, and I had my dirty girl gaiters which probably won the best gear award. - Next time - get boots for Kai, gloves, beanie, and gaiters for the boys.
Food - Sandwiches, snickers, gummies, next time take a bit more food and take more "real" food - maybe some more rice rolls, or burritos?
Strava - https://www.strava.com/activities/5708487528
LINKS:
 |
| Check out this prime conditions!!! Icy Sharkfins |
 |
| Angel Wings = no go |
 |
| Misery Hill = Glacier Ice |
 |
| Hotlum side wasn't that great either... |
 |
| Let's check out the Trinity Chutes... |
 |
| Made it back in town to meet up with the Galicias at Emigrant Lake. |
