Hike Mt. Shasta

This post is weeks overdue. Things were just busy at the beginning of March and then got worse when we left for Utah to spend a week camping in the Moab and Capitol Reef areas. As they say, not time away goes unpunished, on top of which we had  my younger son’s birthday and baseball and my daughter’s musical. It all gets…complicated.

At the beginning of the month, there were a number of small lenticulars, but never much great color. However, with the hues of sunrise and sunset lacking, the morning light still lit the clouds up and made the layers of the clouds glow. The addition of fresh snow billowing off the upper elevations of the mountain made the scene even more beautiful.

The best specimen had a lot going on. It had some very delicate layers in a fine stack over the summit when I first pulled my camera out. However, the sight that really caught my interest was the light and shadows passing through the Windows on Casaval Ridge. The light that cut through the crags then illuminated the wispy clouds sailing around the mountain. It was entrancing and I could have watched it for far longer than I did. Eventually the cloud on the summit became less defined but picked up a nice touch of cloud iridescence.

A few days later, I made it up to Echo Point at Truchas Ridge for sunset. There was yet another small lenticular on the summit. After this, we headed off to Utah. It was warm out there but it was fantastic. I love the Colorado Plateau. The day after we got back from Utah, a small wedding party headed up to Echo Point for an intimate ceremony with the point’s phenomenal view highlighting their union. I was glad to be able to give them the opportunity. I never thought something like that would happen up there!

A couple days later, there was one more summit lenticular on Mount Shasta again, once again with the morning light pulsing through the layers. It was another great moment on the mountain.

Now spring is in full swing here in Mount Shasta. The grass is green, the trees are blossoming and the temperatures are warm (except tonight, of course). I have never seen spring come this early here. A few years ago, we were still getting 20-30 inches of snow at this time. Everything in cycles, I guess. Hang on, it’s going to be an interesting summer…