Hike Mt. Shasta

It’s been a busy few weeks here in Mount Shasta. Autumn is at its beautiful peak and the end of the year events have already begun (we cut 155 Christmas trees last weekend!). The business has been compounded by not actually being in Mount Shasta part of the time. With fall getting into full-swing, I took my family down to Yosemite in the hopes of enjoying some fall color and warm weather. We were, to some degree, awarded with both.

Unfortunately, we were a little early for great color, but the oaks were starting to turn yellow, adding just a little interest to the scenery. Interestingly, the dogwoods at the west end of the valley were in excellent fall form, turning the less-visited area vibrant gold. The real highlight was the autumn light. Its lower angle made everything glow.

The high country was where the color was really evident. From Washburn Point, we could look up Ilillouette Creek and see the trees turning gold. I shouldn’t think of it as an unusual sight, given the awesome fall color set against the towering spires of the eastern Sierra but the view from here, with the gold trees against the western slope of the Clark Range just seemed strange to me. It was beautiful nonetheless.

On the way down from Glacier Point, the sunset presented a glorious opportunity for a shot of Half Dome, El Capitan and Sentinel Rock. Yosemite just doesn’t disappoint.

On another day, we were up at Tuolumne Meadows. We stopped at Olmstead Point to watch the sunset. While the point has a good view of Half Dome and Clouds Rest the best views are from the dome above the point or the slabs below. We opted for the latter. From here we could look down on the small valley that leads to the rugged route down to the base of Pywiack Cascade. Now that is an adventure…

My family carried out various elements of dinner and my amazing wife made Chicken a la Nass, the best, easiest, most filling and convenient camp dinner ever. Great food with an incredible view. It does not get better than that! (email if you want to know what Chicken a la Nass is!)

A glorious sunset at the end of a great day. Yosemite was good to us this year.

We returned home to Mount Shasta to find autumn in full effect. The color was excellent and the fall weather changes led to interesting formations in the sky. The mountain had been turned white once again, meaning all the elements of my favorite time of year were in place.

The timing of our return was perfect and the beauty was evident right away. On the way to taking the kids to school, I had to stop a couple of times to document the terrific sunrise. This was not an amazing sunrise, but it was beautiful and felt like Mount Shasta was greeting our return home.

Election Day came and the spectacle on the mountain was great. Though the clouds that obscure the summit of Mount Shasta are not my favorite lenticulars, this one had nice layers, which added to its interest. The oak trees, to which we now have an…attachment, were nearing their peak and made a decent foreground to the cloud enshrouded volcano.

That evening, a second, semi-lenticular cloud had formed to the south. Though Mount Shasta was covered by the lenticular, the whole scene was magnificent, with the sky lit up in pinks and purples.

The days after Tuesday and through the following weekend were sunny and marked by gorgeous fall color and light. But now the rain has come and will remain, off and on, for several days. The color won’t last much longer and winter nears…