Thursday was a perfect one here in Mount Shasta, at least in terms of how things looked. To be truly perfect, it needed to be about 20 degrees warmer and had a lenticular on the mountain. Aside from that though, it really was perfect. A beautiful sunrise, warm autumn light, fall color (though it is starting to fade on some trees) and a spectacular sunset. I could get used to this kind of day (except, I wouldn’t want to, since it is better being extraordinary rather than ordinary)!
The day started with a sunrise viewed from up in the Shasta Valley. Coyotes trotted across the fields while I was waiting for the sun to com up. The light was awesome, though the picture didn’t really turn out as well as I had hoped. After the light faded a bit, the mountain cast cool shadows across the sky, one of my favorite Mount Shasta phenomena.
The morning had great light when the sun was not filtered through clouds. The early snow storm we got has brought an odd mix of white contrasting against the fall leaves that are both covering the snow and still on the trees. I have not seen this mix at my house before.
In town, there are a lot of trees with good color, though many have already peaked. The bright leaves always make a striking foreground to the white mountain and blue sky. Today was an exemplar of such a sight. I couldn’t help stopping and capturing a few images of Mount Shasta with the fall color and I am glad I didn’t try to resist.
In the afternoon, I took some friends out to Truchas Ridge. The white mountain was glorious and the clouds offered some interesting variation in the sky. Though cold, it was invigorating. While talking and waiting for the sun to set, the kids ran around hooting and howling and scrambling on the rocks, seemingly oblivious to the cold.
When sunset finally came, it was magnificent. It was a fitting end to a gorgeous day!
I have 3 more substantive posts brewing and I was really hoping to get one done before posting more “current conditions” type posts but today was too beautiful to pass up.
Hike Mt. Shasta 
I enjoy your writing very much! Thank you for the posts.
Fabulous!
I’m glad you didn’t pass it up! That first view from Truchas Ridge is gorgeous, with all the layers of colors and textures rolling away toward the mountain.