Climbing Mt. Shasta to the top

My first memory of the little city of Mt. Shasta at the foot of the 14,161 foot mountain of the same name was when I was 4 years old(in 1952). It was wintertime and my parents had moved from Seattle 6 months before where both my parents had grown up (my father from about 12 and my mother since she was 2). So, we were traveling by Mt. Shasta and since it was wintertime there was snow everywhere then. Also, instead of taking 2 days by car from San Diego to Seattle now it took 3 to 4 days because there were not the freeways through mountain passes like there are now. So, for example, the grapevine out of Los Angeles took 3 to 4 hours instead of 1 hour now and the road from Redding to Mt. Shasta instead of the 1 hour now took 3 or 4 hours too. Both then were little very windy mountain roads which is why they named the one near Los Angeles "The Grapevine".

So, by the time we reached Mt. Shasta it was the 2nd day of driving and I was really bored at age 4. When I saw the mountain I started pestering my parents to let me get out and play in the snow. But, I had no snow suit because we now lived in the San Diego area instead of Seattle where I had one. So, they just let me get out in the snow with just tennis shoes, a shirt and bare hands and soon enough I came back to the car crying because my hands were all cold and painful from the snow. This cured me for a little while of wanting to play in the snow that trip at least.

Then we drove through the little town of Mt. Shasta and at that time it was not impressive. I think at that time there were only 1000 or less people in the whole town area. But, now it is likely 5000 or more in Mt. Shasta and the surrounding area with many beautiful homes there and even a golf course that Clint Eastwood and other famous people have played golf at.

If you now are just driving through in Interstate 5 from Redding north into the region you will notice Shasta Dam and Lake and a whole lot of trees as you acsend into the mountains. I think Redding is at about 1700 feet and by the time you get to the city of Mt. Shasta at the base of the mountain it is about 3500 feet. But what you will notice if it is a clear day is just how impressive a mountain Mt. Shasta is. It is the biggest free standing mountain in California. What this means is there are no really big mountains near it so it is really impressive to look at and see for the very first time or anytime.

It has many beautiful lakes in the vicinity of which my favorite is Castle lake because it actually has a paved road to it at 6000 feet in elevation and many people when the ice is melted off from about April to December go out on the lake in Kayaks or small fishing skiffs to either fish or paddle around and take pictures of the Rocks at the back of the lakes which remind people of castles. And if you are really ambitious you can hike up to Heart Lake which is a tiny lake that looks down on Castle Lake and Mt. Shasta with spectacular views of both. When you are parked at Castle lake in your car if you look to your left around the lake there is a trail that heads along the lake. But, you sort of need a local or a geodesic map or a GPS with co-ordinates of the lake to actually get there because you have to walk over some large rocks and leave the main trail to actually get there.

If you want to climb the mountain it is considered the easiest hard mountain to climb or the hardest easy mountain to climb. So, I guess what I'm telling you is many people have died or been seriously injured climbing this mountain. When I climbed it to the top it was August 1970 and the biggest problem I had was the winds on the top of about 100 mph combined with temperatures of about 20 to 30 degrees. But other than that it was a great day to climb it. But also, usually in August the biggest threat to your life (because most of the snow is usually melted off then) is rockfalls and rock avalanches caused by climbers above you knocking loose a small pebble or rock that then dislodges large and larger rocks. The problem is the steepness of the climb (the easiest is from Bunny Flats up through Horse Camp), though some people prefer the ridge climb from where the old Ski lifts used to be which is beyond Panther meadows at the very end of the paved road. But this isn't usually plowed of snow until June or July of any year. If you take the ridge route the advantage is you likely won't die from climbers dropping rocks on you from rockfall or rock avalanche. But you still have to be careful not to fall off the ridge by slipping on loose rocks. My ex-wife climbed it by herself with her dog in 1979 before I met her.

My experience though was sleeping in a sleeping bag in August 1970 at Horse camp and getting up in the morning at about 2 AM to give me enough time to summit and return by Sundown that same day. These days I have noticed more people seem to hike with their packs up to Lake Helen which is usually snow covered year around to some degree and then they dig a small ice cave to avoid the wind (or utilize one someone else has built) or they take tents to shelter them from the wind there and spend the night. Then they bury their packs in the snow for safety and climb the mountain from there only with a day pack. Lake Helen is at about 10,000 feet in elevation and some people have difficulty sleeping that high because of the thin air (like myself even when I was young) so I didn't do it that way. I slept at Horse Camp which is a tree line(where the trees stop growing because of the altitude and weather). And then I slept there and left my main gear there and hiked up with a small day pack and an ice axe and crampons. For safety you will need a minimum of an ice axe and crampons to climb mount Shasta. Also, I decided I didn't want to climb up a rope in Red Banks so I took a more dangerous and steep route straight up to the left. This was both good and bad because as soon as I crested the steep ice and snow I fainted from the altitude for a minute or two over the crest.   But then I recovered and began walking a fairly flat area to the 2nd poopout hill. It is called this because you are then at least at 12,000 feet and there isn't much air to breathe and it is usually in August lose shale so many people give up right there at the altitude and working so hard to climb that it is literally 2 steps forwards while you slide back 1 step. But finally I got through that and rescued a sea gull there that couldn't fly because of the altitude and was banging himself up pretty good trying to fly. So, I chased him off a cliff into thin air so he could get enough air to fly. So he dropped about 100 feet before he got enough air under his wings to fly good and then I felt very satisfied with myself for saving the sea gulls life. After rescuing one of my party that had fallen asleep from the altitude before he froze and sending him back down the mountain(there were 4 of us climbing together and 3 of us made it to the top including me) I made it to the top past the sulphur vent (because this is an active volcano after all) and I put my name into the climbing book for the year 1970 that is kept there for climbers to write their names as having made the ascent to the top of Mt. Shasta.

The air was so thin that I felt sort of like a 5 year old myself and had to stay very focused because of the lack of oxygen and to be very logical in every single action because I was alone at that point. I was 22 and it was 4pm and I needed to get down before sunset which likely was about 8pm or 9pm in August. I bought in addition to my ice axe and crampons a large sheet of greenhouse plastic to slide down so I could really make time going down like many climbers did then. So, at times I was going about 25 mph through an ice and snow chute as I came down. So, it only took me about 1 hour to get down to Lake Helen from the top. However, as you know snow conditions can change very quickly so be very careful of doing this if you get into icier conditions. And if the snow is wet you may not slide that easy either. Also, what I did is considered dangerous by many climbers now because I had an Ice axe with a sliding strap around my wrist. So, if the ice axe had been knocked out of my grip yet still attached to me by the strap that could have been serious at 25 mph. However for me, I  just used two hands, one on the spike end and one near the axe end and drug the wide blade in the snow all the way down to slow my descent so I could survive it. Although if you drag the wide blade it can pull a great deal. So, sometimes I used the pick end because you can stop faster with that side of the axe end. It was really fun but also exhausting to do this climb. So, make sure you are prepared both physically or mentally before you attempt something like this. And if possible have other people climb with you so you are more likely to survive it and to be able to tell your children and grandchildren that you climbed Mt. Shasta to the top.