Hike Mt. Shasta

My last post, about the thunderstorms prior to the 4th of July, included an image of Mount Shasta graced by a pair rainbows emerging from an intense thunderstorm to the south. This particular storm saw Mount Shasta on the northern fringe of the storm, with the mountain’s northern flanks under blue sky. That meant that the mountain was well positioned to be photographed fairly clearly, with the rainbows beautifully arranged against it. It was a rare and satisfying treat.

I have been trying to photograph Mount Shasta with rainbows for a long time. The ephemeral nature of these brilliant spectacles means the moments where I can catch them are fleeting. This is compounded by the fact that they are only visible from certain angles, so location options are limited in the midst of limited time. The result is I have only captured a few rainbows with Mount Shasta over the years I have been photographing the mountain. Having caught one recently, I thought it would be good to collect them altogether in one place, and thus, this post.

Up until recently, I thought this was the best instance of the mountain and a rainbow I had captured. The sunset color, the pouring rain catching the light and the presence of the rainbow made this one a particularly memorable sight. I got a number of good shots before the sun sank low enough for the rainbow to dissipate but it was fairly long lasting and a lot of fun to photograph, especially with the thunder still booming.

A recent one, this one had good framing and a really strong rainbow but Mount Shasta was so deep in the storm it almost seemed like the mountain was out of focus, even though it was actually the opposite. The out of focus effect really bothered me even though it was a great event.

I got rained on hard for this image. It was difficult to catch a moment when I was not being deluged and the rain not really blocking out the view of the mountain. However, the payoff was worth it, with a double (almost triple) rainbow. If you zoom in, you can see all the rain flying through the air.

This one was especially fast moving. When I saw there was a rainbow I hopped in my car and headed out to try to catch it. My first destination was overtaken by the storm and I had to race down I-5 to get to where I could see the mountain. Even then, it was so fast moving by the time I got my camera set up, the mountain was being consumed by the cloud. Even though Mount Shasta is partially obscured, I really appreciate how the rainbow delineated between the stormy sky and the blue sky.

This was another near miss. Good color on the trees, a quality rainbow and a white mountain. However, there was so much rain, the mountain is hazed out and the light wasn’t very good. Beautiful nonetheless.

I’ve gotten a pair of images of Mount Shasta with a rainbow (the second one, just barely too, as the rainbow was fast disappearing) from the Shasta Valley. Interesting, they were both from the same place and the rainbow appeared at the same point. File that away for the future, I guess. I really want a good rainbow shot from Truchas Ridge…

I have seen rainbows near Mount Shasta on other parts of the Shasta Valley. This one was to the east, near Sheeprock. Thunderstorms in the valley can be tricky and getting the rainbows closer to the mountain has been a difficult objective.

Speaking of the Shasta Valley, I have managed to capture a few good rainbows out there over the years. I think I have actually seen more out there than I have photographed. I will have to be more attentive in the future…

I have gotten a good one of Black Butte with a rainbow from the Shasta Valley. That spot seems to be a good position for the light from the setting sun to cast some good rainbows.

A few excellent rainbows have manifested over Black Butte when I was home to capture them. These were particularly intense specimens. On the latter of these two images, the rainbow appeared when I happened to be photographing my friend and his son on top of Black Butte from the front of my house. I don’t know how often it has happened but surely taking pictures of people on top of a mountain through a rainbow is not something that happens very often!

Somehow I even managed to capture a snow rainbow over Black Butte. It happens rarely, but rainbows can form through snow crystals rather than raindrops. On the morning a got this image, there was a very light, very fine snow coming down and it was bitter cold. I was not expecting a rainbow at all but it flamed out of the sky and demanded my attention.

Lastly, fortune gave me one opportunity to capture a rainbow over Mount Eddy. Fortunately I was near a meadow and could get a clear shot of it without having heavy filtration from a bunch of trees. The timing was indeed lucky.

Now that I have pulled it all together, I can see it is not a bad collection of images. Rainbows being what they are, they are difficult to capture in a quality image. Of course, they are much easier than lightning. I am still waiting for my good shot of Mount Shasta with some lightning strikes…