Hike Mt. Shasta

A nice lenticular stack forms above Mount Shasta. 

I sure hope y’all don’t get sick of these kinds of posts. I don’t get sick of writing about them and and I most certainly don’t tire of witnessing these kinds of events. This evening’s spectacle was, in some ways, much like all the others. There were clouds, there was color and there was Mount Shasta. However, as is so often the case, the creative genius shines through and all the typical building blocks were once again arranged to make the evening show unique, beautiful and edifying.

Today, I had been watching the clouds all day and there was some form of lenticular over Mount Shasta for much of the day. It was most often the kind that shrouds most of the mountain in a white dome, leaving the stark volcanic geography obscured. While these are often interesting to see they are usually not interesting to photograph. I knew there was chance of a good sunset when another disk formed to the southwest of the mountain. By late afternoon much of the shroud had cleared and Mount Shasta was largely visible. I loaded my 3 kids up and headed north of the mountain. One of the tricks for capturing the lenticulars is knowing where to photograph the mountain so the clouds are as close to the mountain as possible. It is easier to get them in the frame. With one to the southwest, north was the natural direction to go. The fact that my reflecting pool is now in good shape made this option all the more attractive.

Once there, the clouds around the mountain began to clear and the single disk began to expand. It grew into a really nice stack for a while. Frustratingly, right as the alpenglow was getting really good, the stack collapsed and dissipated, leaving only a single remnant disk. The area around that cloud was clear though, and it had sort of an “eye” appearance, which, complemented by all the other color in the sky, still made a beautiful and interesting sight. It was a fantastic show, watching as the frozen heights of Mount Shasta went from yellows to orange to red and then pink. What an awesome mountain!

While all of this was going on on Mount Shasta, other clouds were putting on a show as well. A little lenticular had formed on Mount Eddy earlier in the afternoon. By sunset it had increased its bulk. The real highlight of this particular scene, however, was the color behind Mount Eddy. They were exploding with color. The lower clouds were dark but, offset by the bright color behind them, were still strangely attractive. This entire region of the sky was a very nice compliment to what was going on around Mount Shasta.

The entire spectacle was gorgeous. It is amazing how even an average evening around Mount Shasta can be so beautiful. This really is a special place!