Hike Mt. Shasta

May sprang upon us with a surprising combination of smoke and storm. The former was brought to us by way of a controlled burn in the McBride Springs area along Everitt Memorial Highway. A lot of work as gone into this area, both thinning the forest and constructing trails as part of the Gateway trail network. There were a few controlled burns in this area before, but these were a little further south, closer to the Gateway trailhead. This burn was no doubt implemented because wet weather was in the forecast for the weekend.

The day following the burn, thin smoke still wafted up from the fired area. The incoming precipitation was heralded by a nice lenticular that capped Mount Shasta. The smokey haze with the layered mountain made an interesting sight and I had to stop at our new property to capture an image of it. Unfortunately, the lenticular did not last and by the time the weather arrived, it had long since been given over to overcast skies.

When the storm finally arrived, it showed it fury to the area north of Mount Shasta first. It was not very photogenic from down below but observing the rain come in from a webcam high over the Shasta Valley was fascinating. The sunlight cut through the clouds and falling water and made a rainbow-like spectrum visible along the horizon. Watching the deluge shift across the hills of the valley was surreal. The webcam isn’t as good as the experiencing everything firsthand but every now and again, it offers a perspective that is hard to beat.

By sunset the next day, Mount Shasta emerged from the storm and was looking stately in the evening light. It was a odd beginning to the month but beautiful. I hope that somewhere along the way, we get a real lenticular display. We haven’t had a good one in a while and we are due. Here’s to hoping…