Hike Mt. Shasta

Thunderheads build over Mount Shasta.

Like the beginning of June, July opened up with some thunderstorms. However, while the ones in the previous month yielded some great clouds and the booms of thunder, it paled in comparison to the ones the ushered out June and welcomed us to July. Whatever excellent fireworks were on display on the 4th of July were dwarfed by the natural pyrotechnics. Indeed, this was probably the most spectacular lightning display I have witnessed in the Mount Shasta area.

Things started quickly during the day, with clouds spreading out to the north towards Oregon and massive storm clouds building over Mount Shasta.

In the late afternoon, massive plumes rose over the west side of the Shasta Valley. The clouds themselves were pretty amazing but watching the strange shadows cast by the billowing towers added to their fascination. These harbingers really elevated my expectations for the forecasted storm that evening.

Eventually the storm came and the thunder rumbled but overall, it ultimately left me wanting more. The rain was very light and the lightning was minimal. However, the clouds were still copious, but left little room for light to really make things interesting. Mount Shasta was left in shadow. However, west of Black Butte an opening in the clouds allowed the light of the setting sun to blast through and light the landscape up. It was the most dramatic sight of the day.

Hopeful that the eruption of sunlight might mean a better sunset from the north, I raced into the valley but the mountain had very little light on it. Though disappointing, I watched with envy at the color scene on the western horizon. You can’t always get the best light by the mountain but it was a colorful end to June.

The next, day the storm clouds built throughout the day but the afternoon brought conditions that shocked me. The forecast made it look like the next day was the bigger storm but the wind was powerful and it felt like something massive was brewing. Mount Shasta was visible throughout, but the clouds swirled around the summit throughout the evening.

This video shows how rapidly the storm built and the dramatic way Mount Shasta was swallowed up by the storm and the rain surged out of the clouds.

When the storm finally peaked, the lightning was fast and came down all around. I saw it hit multiple peaks around Mount Shasta. When it came, the rain also came hard and lasted well into the night. This was good, because the lightning was so abundant it doubtless would have started numerous fires. This was definitely not going to be the case given how much precipitation came down.

In the midst of this storm the setting sun burst through the cloud and lit everything up in magnificent fashion. Oddly enough, Mount Shasta was still dark, untouched by the explosion of light. Mount Eddy was bathed in purple while it was a flaming orange further to the north.

Even in the midst of the light of the setting sun, the lightning continued to flash and I was able to capture some of it while getting images of Mount Eddy in the stormy alpenglow. It was all really amazing.

July 2nd was the last day forecasted to have thunderstorms and true to this expectation, the storm grew throughout the day. However, unlike the previ0us days’ storms, the focus was south of Mount Shasta, rather than north of it.

This meant that the afternoon deluge was focused on the south side of the mountain. The result was the western position of the sun yielding fantastic rainbows around Mount Shasta. I have tried to get shots of the mountain with rainbows for years and I think these were the best ones I have been able to capture. This alone would have meant the storm had given me high rewards. Everything after this was just icing on the cake!

I headed out into the Shasta Valley once again. The rainbow, now visible over Black Butte, was finally fading when I got there.

Even though the rainbow was gone, the clouds continued to swirl around Mount Shasta. This meant awesome shadows sailing across the landscape, providing a lot of visual interest around the mountain.

Heading up to Echo Point, I watched the clouds finally fade away and the sun light up Mount Shasta, brining a close to 3 epic days of storms. The alpenglow on the mountain marked the closing moments, capping an awesome lead of to the fireworks of Independence Day.