Hike Mt. Shasta

Fall color catches the eye while the sun rises beyond Mount Shasta.

This post has been in the queue for a week, but I have been busy with one thing or another and not been able to get it posted until now. A couple of weeks ago I posted the arrival of fall, in terms of the tenor of the air, light and weather. A week later, my wife and I made a couple of trips up into the Trinity Divide and the conditions up there testified in even more concrete terms that autumn had well and truly arrived. Gold leaves abounded and highlighted the cliffs and forests in autumnal splendor. It was a magnificent show.

Castle Lake put on a particularly good show, with yellow and red and orange permeating the rocks above the water. The water was still in the early dawn, giving some nice reflections. Amazingly, despite being October, the lake still has enough water for the creek to have a good flow. It is a testimony to the heavy snowpack from last winter.

The cliffs above the lake were not the only areas to boast flashy colors. The slopes above the eastern shore had a kaleidoscope display that was, if anything, even more impressive than the colors on the rocky areas. The colors reflected in the water, casting the fiery spectacle out onto the lake. Have I pointed out that I love fall?

The turning leaves and vivid colors that witnessed the changing of the season were confirmed by the arrival of the first big lenticular of the fall. This time of year often sees a higher concentration of the incredible cloud formations and hopefully this year validates that pattern. This particular formation was quite nice and once lit up by the rising sun, made me believe the claims of the high country, that fall is really, fully here.