Mount Shasta

Date:
August 11, 2009

Participants:
Michael (Dad), Patricia(Mom), Jonathan, Lindsey, Eowyn, Rebekah, Daniel, Elisabeth, Hannah, Evangela, Christian, and Rachel Gent; Betsy and Claire Gross; Bruce and Karen Campbell; Chris Panza; and Jacob Broduer.

Hidden Valley: (as seen by Hannah)
To climb Mount Shasta has been the goal of all the hikes and backpacking trips done the entire 2009 summer. Jonathan had originally mentioned it as a new place to spend a week vacation and Rebekah had taken up the idea; consequently finding much of the information needed about it.

Camping at Lake Siskiyou was a great vacation spot as the grounds were good for riding bikes and very pretty. We arrived on Friday and hiked up to Hidden Valley on Saturday as a “warm up” and to get used to the altitude. This hike was enjoyable and took a few hours including a long lunch break. Starting from Bunny Flats we hiked 2 miles to Horse camp where we could refill our water bottles and rest next to the ranger building. From there it was another couple miles and another three thousand foot climb to Hidden valley; which was just spectacular. Situated between Shastina and Mt. Shasta, Hidden Valley is a must see for those not wanting to climb the entire mountain but would still like to get some awesome views and a feel of the mountain. It can also be used used for some great LLBean advertisements. But Daniel and Eowyn aren't certain... Mount Shasta: (As seen by Hannah)
We began our Shasta ascent on Sunday we left around six in the evening to climb up to Clear Creek and camp in order to get an early start the next day. Booking it we climbed from 6,480 ft. to 8,000 feet in an hour and a half; which was roughly 2 miles. Here we had just enough time to lay out our sleeping bags, put on gloves, beanies and several layers of clothing and feast on Jacob’s plentiful food that he had hiked up to share; before the darkness set in enough that we got an eerie view of a forest fire growing south of us and many amazing stars stationary and shooting.

The next morning we left at 5:30AM to be off before the sun hit us. It was clear on the mountain though we could see mist in the valley. Thankfully it was not to cold but I kept all my layers on for warmth until the sun had been up for a while. As we climbed the view continued growing in its scale of grandeur and with plenty of water and food we climbed to nearly 10,000 feet before a break was necessary. There we saw the man's shadow... My mistake the ballerina's shadow. After that we began an ascent that seemed to be only a fairly long brisk climb. Our mistake! From my perspective, the people in front became smaller and smaller minuscule specks, dwarfed by the crown of red rocks we could see at the top. For instance there are four people in the picture below. After a couple hours of scrambling up loose rock and occasionally following a trail we (Elisabeth, Claire and I) reached “The Mushroom Rock.” From here it was another 20 minute climb to the base of the crown. Because we only partly followed the trail we ended up rock climbing for a ways as the smaller rocks were sliding and uncomfortably loose. From there we had reached a semi peak and only another 20 minutes was needed of easily traveled ground (minus altitude) over stable rocks and firm snow to get to the peak. There Jonathan (who had got up in four and a half hours), Chris (reaching top in five hours), Rebekah, and Daniel (topped in five hours and ten minutes) were waiting at 14,162 ft. Elisabeth, Claire, and I climbed up in five and a half hours, (half hour above average of six hours) and Jacob joined 45 minutes later. Going down was another adventure (Daniel didn’t join as he some how managed to get down so fast that he had already left for the car when we were half way down). Lake Siskiyou: (not as seen by Hannah)
During all of that time we stayed a week at Lake Siskiyou. Many worthy goals were accomplished in this time. like playing board games,and watching the mountain and plotting our line of attack upon it. We also went swimming, and practiced mountain climbing, also we did a lot of biking. A whole lot of biking. On our last day we visited Castle Lake, which is a must see for anyone in the area. Recommendation:
Lake Siskiyou is beautiful, and works great as a family camping area. The mountain on the other hand, while not exceedingly difficult, is really not a family hike. For those interested in getting good views, a taste of high elevation, and a closer look at Shasta Hidden Valley is a better bet.