Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Mt. Shasta Snow

 The snow this year reminds me of snow in the 1980s and 1990s where you got a lot of it. So, this year might be a fluke or a new normal (it's hard to say). In the 1970s through 1990s when I lived there off and on until 1992 we once had 12 feet of snow in town in the Winter of 1992 and roofs were collapsing regularly of people in Mt. Shasta then. And also around this same time we got 40 feet of snow at Bunny Flat which I skied on but also almost didn't make it when I fell into a tree well with at least 35 feet of snow below where I landed with my skis standing on a tree limb near the very top of a big tree. I had to hand my skis up to a friend who then gave me a hand to get out of the tree well that day. I was much more careful after that that day too because this is how so many snow boarders who tend to be young in their teens and 20s die by falling into a tree well and dying or not being able to get out like I did.

There is a place called Red Fir Flat and someone who leads tours on the mountain there in Mt. Shasta told me that he personally saw 3 feet of snow I think yesterday at Red Fir Flat which is just below the lower road to Sand Flat. So, this likely means there is still 5 feet or more of snow at Bunny Flat still this week. 

At it's peak because of all the atmospheric Rivers this year the most snow they had at Bunny Flat which is 6900 feet was about 30 feet deep of snow. This means there could have been 40 or 50 feet of snow at Horse Camp by the way which is at around 8000 feet at tree line (where trees stop growing because of the altitude).

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