Hike Mt. Shasta

I really do have a few other posts I want to get up, particularly about the Sacramento River and Mud Creek. Every time I think about sitting down to write something, a lenticular pops up and I have to write about that instead. This was certainly the case last night and this morning. The skies had been clear all day on Tuesday and there had been no inkling that a large lenticular event was in the making. However, about 45 minutes before sunset a small, wispy lenticular wave manifested over Mount Shasta. I was able to head out just in time to capture it at sunset. While small, it was quite beautiful in its own right.

Though the cloud changed a lot, as the waves are wont to do, it proved remarkably stable. It maintained a fairly steady dimension as it fluctuated beyond the mountain. More importantly, it proved stable enough to last well after dark.

The fact that it was still present long after dark, as well as its sudden advent just before sunset led me to believe that this cloud was going to be present at sunrise. Naturally, that meant that I had to be ready to photograph it. I got up early and headed out. Even in the predawn darkness I could see the round silhouette of the cloud. Its position looked as though the best place to view the mountain, the cloud and the sunrise was from the northeast. I headed out 97 and myself into position in one of my favorite spots in that area. The sunrise was indeed awe-inspiring.

The color on the cloud proved to be best a little before the sunlight hit the mountain. Nonetheless, when the lenticulars were all lit up in pink and purple it was glorious.

Eventually the light hit the Hotlum Glacier. By then the clouds had turned orange. After shooting some random shots of Mount Eddy and the Shasta Valley, I packed it up and headed home. As I swung west, I was intrigued to see the different perspective on the lenticular. The stack could still be seen on the north edge, but for the most part I was underneath it and it looked like a large disk with a tail.

The cloud stuck around until midday. It then got overcast before clearing up once again. However, when the sunlight returned in the afternoon, there was no sign of the lenticular and it proved to be an average sunset. As if any sunset on Mount Shasta is run-of-the-mi