Had another amazing weekend! This time not requiring much driving. Lou-Doo and I went out to Kirby Cove on Thursday for a chill night battling the raccoons. On friday, we caught the flood tide to Angel Island, hiked around for a while, then caught the ebb tide back, just in time to party for the rest of the weekend. Alia, Kevin, & Grahm all celebrated their b-day's and the SF weather gods granted them some great weather.
...far better than climbing [Mt. Shasta] is going around its warm fertile base, enjoying its bounties like a bee circling around a bank of flowers... As you sweep around so grand a centre the mountain itself seems to turn... One glacier after another comes into view, and the outlines of the mountain are ever changing.
- John Muir
Not sure if I agree with John Muir on that quote. But he didn't have plastic telemark boots nor Black Diamond skis to shred the Shasta corn. Louie and I completed a "Hike Around Mountain Moving Effortlessly Round" on Mt. Shasta. Although there is no trail around Mt. Shasta, there is a bit of info on the Seltzers and Sanger book, as well as the "Backpacking California" book. Unfortunately I couldn't find the book... fortunately we had a map, a good attitude, and gatorade bottle full of whiskey. I'm guesstimating that the route was approximately 25+ miles X-country with 5 miles or so trail/pavement, and I'd give it a minimum of 3 full days (8+ hours) of hiking to complete.
Here's some quick info:
Going around Shastina is all scree... hiking boots and gaiters recommended... also hiking poles... also keeping your backpack ultralight helps.
Although there are no trails, finding a campsite was quite easy, provided you are just a group of 2, or aren't too picky (despite what we had read). There are also a few semi-established camps, so to lower your impact we suggest camping at those sites if you can find them.
There are bears, mountain lions, etc... but we didn't see any. These bears aren't used to people like they are in the Sierras and usually run away from you, rather than towards you.
Water isn't an issue except for the first day going around Shastina. We did melt some water on the morning of day 2, until we got to a small stream. If you start out earlier, I don't think this will be a problem.
Mud Creek Canyon is daunting... and there is no easy way through it (I recommend going high, where it's more sand-duney... and jumping)... here is a view of Mud Creek Canyon after we crossed the creek and got to the top of the other side. I'd say that from the rim to the creek is at least 1500 feet. All scree, kicking down huge bouders the whole time. Go up high until you get to the black streaky slope... that area looked nice and sandy.
Since you will be off trail, you will not see many folks. We didn't see anyone else from the time we left Horse Camp, until we got to Panther meadow.
Highlights:
The numerous waterfalls you can encounter on the trip...
Seeing the various glaciers on Shasta (Here is a view of the Whitney Glacier... the longest glacier in the lower 48).
Kimbo and I went up to the Trinity Alps with Mingus last weekend. We hiked in 6 or 7 miles, then hiked in 3 more in the morning to Morris Meadow for a 20 mile round trip on the Stewart Fork trail. I finally got some good water droplet photos at Morris Meadow... it seems like you need to have a really bright background, no wind, and some good luck with your focus on your camera. What an amazing hike!
Since I haven't posted from the last two weekends, so I'm gonna post this vid as I feel it DESERVEs many, many more views. From April of this year... Bernard is an amazing photographer, check out his blog at
www.snowyphotos.com he's busy at camp, so hasn't been updating it recently.
So... we've been busy closing on a house! Weehaw! So I haven't been able to take trips the last two weekends. Also congrats to J-dub and Lauren, who got married this past weekend...
Going into the 30 mile hike we thought... "we got this, let's shoot for 10 hours, I can do 3 miles per hour no problemo.".. Funk compromised with, "I'll be happy with 12."
8 hours into the hike, and having only covered 10 miles or so... we came to a very tough decision to turn around.
Here we are leaving the car at 4:20 am...
And the summit. This building is part of the White Mountain Research Station... we felt OK here, and had no doubt that we'd make it across even though I had to double back to pick up my Spot beacon that had fallen off and lost a good hour or more.
http://www.wmrs.edu/aboutWMRS.htm
Then we encountered the ridge, scree, and things started slowing down drastically... and had to turn around at noon.
And even though we didn't make it, in many respects it was far from a wasted trip. It was quite a learning experience for me. Learning our limits, what we should have done, what we could do next time, etc. Also, we did summit the 3rd highest peak in California... my 8th 14er, putting me over the half way mark in climbing all 15. Previously, I have summited Shasta, Whitney, Thunderbolt, Starlight, Polemonium, North Palisade, and Sill. And the wildlife was super up yonder. Big horn sheep, marmots, red tail hawks, great horned owls, and a bunch of tiny rodents.
After our 16 hour ordeal (4:20 am to 8:20 pm)... we drove through Bishop to grab some food and to soak at some hot springs. This was our second soak the morning after.
... and after brunch at Whoa Nellie Delli... we stopped at Rainbow Pools on the way out... which may have cost us 50$ each.
Funk and I got to run up the Regular Route on Fairview... a route I've been wanting to do for a long time. Perfect route to do on your rest day/acclimatizing day for RAMROD... IMO. RAMROD was a learning experience this year... report to come soon.
