Hike Mt. Shasta

While the temperatures have climbed since June ended, it seems we have not left the thunderstorms that dominated that month behind. The day after Independence Day started off hot and clear but the clouds began gathering around noon. However, unlike the last few days, these brewed a real slugger of a thunderstorm. Seeing the clouds and the sensing the impending deluge, I headed north into the Shasta Valley just before sunset.

The sky was already dark and rain could be seen pouring from the clouds. As I neared one of my normal sunset perches the sun began to sink behind the Little Scott Mountains. I quickly threw my camera up and captured the last vestige of light before it slipped behind the ridge completely.

The air glowed with the evening light as the rain fell harder.

Typical of these storms, there was a stark line between the turbulent weather and the more sedate conditions. From where I was, Mount Eddy looked tranquil to the south.

As I headed to one of my favorite spots for capturing Mount Shasta sunsets, the lightning crashed all around and a vivid rainbow burst out of the storm. I raced to where I could get a good view. Thankfully the rainbow sustained itself long enough to get a good shot of it.

By the time I switched to a wider angle lens, the rainbow had faded. I was able to get a vestige of it in the frame with Mount Shasta but it was gone shortly thereafter as the rain overtook my position and the storm intensified.

The storm was powerful. The rain fell with a pounding ferocity and the wind buffeted my car. I braved the flood and the constant lightning strikes to get a few shots of the storm as the color changed from orange to pink and purple. I was drenched.

The worst of the storm passed after about 10 minutes but it was a glorious 10 minutes. As the rain’s power eased, lightning continued to strike all around and the thunder boomed and the wind wailed. I lover the Shasta Valley in these kind of conditions.

Through all of this, Mount Shasta never got even a stitch of alpenglow on it. That seemed to be cast everywhere but on the mountain. In spite of this, it was a terrific sunset, particularly when experienced from within the heart of the storm. I hope we continue to get more of these!