Hike Mt. Shasta

Flooded fields of the Shasta Valley provide an evening reflection.

Northern California saw significant rainfall a couple of days after Christmas. Normally rain would not warrant a post on its own but the downpour had significant impact on the water situation in the area. Needless to say, it is all positive, since the state has been in drought conditions for a while.

Mount Shasta at sunset on the night before the night before Christmas.

Prior to the rain, Mount Shasta had already had plenty of snow and then the freezing fog had left a spectacular rime ice display. Christmas itself had no precipitation and somewhat warmer temperatures so the snow at lower elevations and the rime ice all began to melt. It’s amazing how quickly a lot of snow can disappear once it gets just a few degrees above freezing.

The day after Christmas had some excellent clouds and very windy conditions heralding the coming storm. Although the clouds hung low in Mount Shasta, a short jaunt up to the Shasta Valley yielded sunny skies and great views of the storm-presaging lenticular formations. The wind was cold and powerful. The forecast called for over 2 inches in the next 24 hours. That kind of rain would swell the creeks and could, if I was lucky, bring my beloved puddles back to the valley. All that was left was to wait and see what happened.

One good place to gauge the storm’s output is Parks Creek. It’s easy to get to a creek crossing and the creek is one of the largest to flow into the Shasta Valley. It was not surprising when the creek’s volume had trebled. The Shasta River was also flowing heavily. I can only imagine how quickly Lake Shastina was rising.

The snow at my house was melting quickly before the rain but with the heavy deluge, it melted even faster. All told, in 24 hours we got about 2.25 inches. That is a fair amount of rain for this neck of the woods.

When the storm broke, I headed back to the valley and was gratified to find that there was a lot of water everywhere. My puddles had finally come back! That had not formed at all last year and with one big storm they were finally back. Not only that but they were massive and copious. With more weather on the way, they will likely last all winter long (at least I hope so)!

Naturally, I headed back out at sunset. Though Mount Shasta was hidden in cloud, it was still a glorious sunset and made all the better by the colorful reflections.

I went back the next morning to try to capture the sunrise in the pools but it was too windy. Nonetheless, the spectacle was still quite rewarding, as there were beautiful clouds reeling around the mountain’s summit. They were heralding yet another round of precipitation, which ended up bringing 3 more inches of snow. Now the forecast is for another 1.5 inches of rain and then a lot of snow next week. This is exactly the kind of winter we need to be having. Thank you Lord!