Hike Mt. Shasta

I really should say likely the last sunset from the Old Ski Bowl, at least for me, at least for 2024. It is customary for the gates to the Old Ski Bowl at Bunny Flat to be closed on November 1st. If this is the case this year, I probably will not have time to head up there again this season (we are heading to Yosemite on Friday, so the last few days of it being open are not happening for me!). My wife and I took some of our kids up there for a picnic dinner and then we lingered to enjoy the sunset. It did not disappoint…sort of.

The sky was filled with interesting cloud formations and we enjoyed the layers of mountains stretching to the south. The Castle Crags always cast a grand silhouette from this perspective (well, from any perspective, really).

Looking west, Mount Eddy protruded into the sky and the rest of the Eddy Range made a fine horizon as the sun sank down towards the mountains. The clouds filtered out the sun but the bright light was visible moving behind the cloud layer.

Finally the sun sank below the horizon but beams of light burst through the clouds. The light was shaped and channeled by the peaks of the Eddy Range. It highlighted the distance between Mount Shasta and the Trinity Alps, a couple dozen miles to the west. For this particular view west, overlooking the vast Klamath Mountains, this was about as beautiful a sunset I had witnessed from the Old Ski Bowl.

Despite all the gorgeous light and beautiful color to the west, Mount Shasta remained drably unilluminated. I guess the mountain can’t win them all.

I had a sense that the next morning might bring a beautiful sunrise and I was not disappointed. However, I had a bit of a conundrum. There were compelling reasons to witness it from the south, east and north (honestly, the west was a good option too, but I wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been the last few days). Though I initially went east, I ended up going back and heading north. Too my surprise, however, it began raining and a thick layer of cloud was sailing south toward Mount Shasta. A thick cloud also seemed to have consumed the mountain.

While Mount Shasta never broke free of the clouds that were camping on it, a gap developed in the clouds east of the mountain. As the sun rose, this allowed the light to radiate through, lighting up the clouds themselves, as well as the hills and even the grass of the valley. Everything seemed to be pulsing and radiating pink and orange. I could see the clouds south of Mount Shasta catching the light, showing for the spectacle I would have witnessed had I followed the compass thus.

Finally the sun rose just high enough to blast beams through the cloud gap and blast across the sky. It was a magnificent sight and one I surely would have missed had I gone south. I don’t know if I made the best choice, but at least I had made a good one!

Bonus sunrise 1: the next day, while taking my kids to school, I had to pull over to the side of the road and capture another colorful sunrise. It is hard to believe this kind of beauty can be had while doing something as mundane as transporting kids to school!

Bonus sunrise 2: Though I had not captured any images of the next day, but it also yielded a great sunrise. Then again, for the fourth day in a row, I was once again taking my kids to school and, once again, I had to stop and capture the sunrise with my camera. This time the beautiful sky was augmented by aspens, as the fall color has finally started to set in over the last couple days.

Bonus sunrise 3: Not on the way to school and we’re leaving for Yosemite, but I had to get one more, since the sunrise presented itself!

A beautiful sunset and four five awesome sunrises in a row. I love autumn!