Hike Mt. Shasta

I did a really bad thing and bought a new telephoto lens for my camera. I have wanted to get one for a while and finally bit the bullet and did it. I have one that I carry around with my camera when hiking but it is not nearly as powerful as the one I just acquired. Hopefully this will bring a new dimension to what this site is able to write and show about Mount Shasta. I have only been playing around with the lens for the last week or so and have already collected some interesting shots of the mountain in winter. All of these are worth enlarging, to really see the detailed geography on Mount Shasta.

Click to enlarge:

The first thing I did when I got the lens was walk out to my driveway and get a shot of the summit of Black Butte. The old lookout tower foundation is clearly visible and with far greater clarity than I was able to achieve before. This post has the best I was able to achieve of this with my older lens. I was pleased with my first attempt.

I swung north for sunset and zoomed in on the summit of the mountain. The level of detail I could capture was excellent. Several spires that have always fascinated me, particularly one on the north side just below the summit was particularly impressive when viewed with the telephoto lens.

I tried again the next day, this time from the west side, to great results. The crags on Casaval Ridge, as well as the Red Banks and Sargents Ridge were magnificent in detail. Being able to look closely at the intricate geography of the rock formations really opens up a lot of possibilities when contemplating Mount Shasta.

Next up was a view from the northwest. Again, the detail is great. I really liked being able to take in the cloudy conditions in the canyon between Mount Shasta and Shastina, where the Whitney Glacier lay hidden. The spires at the head of Diller Canyon also looked massive and mysterious.

Another sunrise, this time after the first really decent snow of the winter. I love snow banners blowing off the mountain, particularly as they catch the light at sunrise. Now I was really able to close in and observe them. Casaval Ridge is always a great place to observe this phenomenon. Not only is the ridge prominent and the wind blows powerfully against it but Avalanche Gulch is a great backdrop for the airborne ice particles.

The dynamic nature of the snow banners seemed like a good opportunity to try video through the new lens. I could have tightened the view closer, but trying to balance a framed image with how close to the target I wanted to get is a new challenge I will have to work through. Regardless, the lens yielded good quality video.

Of course, Mount Shasta is not the only object that draws the attention. Mount Eddy is also ultra-prominent and demands a certain amount of attention. However, from the east, it often seems like a large lump with few distinguishable landmarks. Yet when zoomed in, a lot of the mountain’s own unique geography becomes more apparent. In this case, the ridge that forms the southern rim of Eddy Bowl is far more dramatic when looked at up close.

One last sunset on Mount Shasta’s west face. The glow against the snow is pure magic. Rather than snow banners, the summit was putting out small waves of cloud, as though the mountain was a knife sticking up into a powerful air current.

It’s been fun looking at Mount Shasta in a new way. I am looking forward to the coming months to see more perspectives and conditions on the mountain through a different lens.