Regarding Mount Shasta’s Weather This April

Posted by bubbasuess on April 22, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta. Leave a comment

Fresh, late April snow blankets Mount Shasta.

It goes without saying that this winter was a disappointment in terms of precipitation. The fall was excellent, with good rains in October and ample snow in December. The month nearly exceeded records for snowfall in many parts of Northern California. However, a few days into January the precipitation came to a screeching halt and the rest of the month was unusually warm and dry. February and March weren’t much better, with only short bursts of light rain or snow punctuating the otherwise dry months. Then April arrived and the month has once again seen significant precipitation. Here in Mount Shasta, the month’s normal amount of precipitation fell in a week and the weather kept right on coming. A couple of feet or more of snow fell on Mount Shasta, adding to the snow that remained from December’s storms. While by no means a solution to the poor winter, it is a relief nonetheless to get this much water this late in the wet season.

Hopefully we get more rain and snow in May but whether we do or not, the recent weather has added to the mountain’s beauty.

At the beginning of the month, Mount Shasta still had a fair amount of snow but nearly all of it was left over from the storms that passed through in December. The warm weather had depleted the snowpack significantly but the mountain’s upper areas still looked white.

While the first round of storms mostly fell as rain throughout the area, the higher levels of Mount Shasta got a new layer of snow. Many areas noted that up to 10 inches fell. This was enough to make the upper crags on the mountain midwinter white. It was a refreshing sight to say the least.

The snow fell at lower elevations too. Shaded areas, like the north side of the Castle Crags, were able to retain a fair amount of snow. This will all melt soon and flow into Little Castle Creek and some awesome, mysterious waterfalls hidden away in the canyon. Other falls in the Crags will flow with renewed life for a while. These are omens of good May hiking to come!

The next round of weather was heralded by fierce winds. The wind whipped across Mount Shasta, sheering the snow off of the slopes. Protruding crags cut into the blowing snow, creating streaming contrails of snow. It was a really dramatic scene.

This video gives a bit of an idea how much was going on on Mount Shasta. The contrails really highlighted the violent conditions up there.

Latter, the coming storm was presaged by the presence of a nice lenticular stack. It always amazes me how these clouds form when the weather is changing. Mount Shasta is like a giant weathervane, indicating what the systems are doing and where they are going. In this case, the cloud lasted a little longer before dark clouds overtook the region. Rain and snow soon began to fall and lasted for a few days. It was marvelous.

The storm left deeper layers of snow all over the Mount Shasta area. The snow line seemed to be around 4,000 or so feet and there were several inches built up. In some places it seemed well over a foot of snow from the last few days. This is all good for the forests and rivers that lie downstream.

Mount Shasta itself looked magnificent in the fresh snow. The towering mountain once again resembled Joaquin Miller’s great white tower thrust upward into the sky.

The forecast once again calls for sunshine for the next several days but the temperatures will generally be cooler, allowing the snow to linger for a while, hopefully until more snow comes and adds even more belated depth to the snowpack. Even if this is not the case, the amount we have received is a blessing and one for which I am deeply grateful!

 

 

Tracking Last Week’s Lenticular Over Mount Shasta

Posted by bubbasuess on March 12, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Lenticular Clouds, Mount Shasta. Leave a comment

A pair of awesome lenticular formations grace mighty Mount Shasta.

Early this past week there were a series of connected lenticular formations on and around Mount Shasta. It began Monday afternoon, peaked around the middle of Tuesday and was then over late Wednesday morning. The symmetry of the event extended beyond its timing too. What began as a disk hovering to the southwest of Mount Shasta grew until that disk was complimented by a large formation over the mountain’s summit on Tuesday. The disk then faded and by Wednesday only the cloud over the summit was left. The first half of the entire spectacle was brilliant, with beautiful colors and clean attractive lines on the clouds. This too peaked on Tuesday and the latter half of the event was not as clean as the former. Nonetheless, taken as a whole, it was one of the better lenticulars of the season. Indeed, late morning Tuesday may have lacked dramatic lighting but in terms of pure formation, it was the best lenticular so far this winter. Hopefully there will be more as precipitation moves back into the area!

Click to enlarge:

Kids Don’t Appreciate Awesome Sunsets! (Plus Some Neat Things In The Sky)

Posted by bubbasuess on March 8, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Truchas Ridge. Leave a comment

A sleek lenticular hovers to the southwest of Mount Shasta.

With slightly warmer temperatures and a nice lenticular developing near Mount Shasta, my wife and I decided to haul the brood out to Truchas Ridge for a picnic dinner. While we normally eat Chicken a la Nas or frito pies when we were out there, this was a quicker operation and this time we feasted on apples and cheese and frenchbread.


The kids were happy to be out there again and after eating, the younger ones ran off to gallop around Tesuque Valley. I headed out to Artist Point ahead of everyone else. While walking the length of the ridge, I paused to check on the Quemado Tree, which was struck by lightning back in May. While much of the tree was killed in the blast or the ensuing fire, some of it was still clinging to life. I really hope the tree survives.


There are many places along the ridge between the basecamp and Artist Point where there are excellent views of Mount Shasta. Normally I pass by these but on this day I felt compelled to stop and capture an image of the mountain and the cloud with the long shadows of nearby trees cutting across the grassy flat in the foreground. It was fantastic scene. Some people have suggested this as a campsite, and while certainly a good spot, I think the other locations I have selected will work even better.


I got to Artist Point and set my camera up. There was still a lot of time before the sunset, so a continued on the 50 yards further to the east to the spot we call Panorama Point. It’s a pretty spectacular location in its own right, though I think the framing is slightly better at Artist Point. On this occasion, the view was stunning as always, but augmented by the awesome clouds in the sky and the light from the low sun. It’s a magnificent spectacle to behold.


While waiting for the sun to sink even lower, I made my way a few yards to the north, where the vista opens up and you can look all the way to Oregon. Nearby Steamboat Mountain in the Shasta Valley Wildlife Refuge is prominently visible, as is the snowy dome of Soda Mountain, which is the highest point of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The land to the left of the peak, while in the national monument, is also encompassed in the Soda Mountain Wilderness.


By this point, my wife and kids arrived at the vista. The three kids promptly scampered over to a large cluster of crags, where they engaged in some game involving spies, coyotes and clonetroopers. They yammered happily, scrambling on the rocks and nearly oblivious to the scene unfolding behind them. Against their will, I got them to stand still so I could capture a shot of them. By this time, the mountain had been given over to the alpenglow and the clouds, both the vast band to the south and the lenticular, were also glowing pink in the last vestiges of the day.


Even after the sunlight had forsaken Mount Shasta and the peak was left a ghostly white, the sky was still filled with color. Artist Point indeed! While the lenticular was still holding its form, a secondary cloud had taken shape a little further west. While this too turned pink, the rest of the clouds in the sky, which are further away from our vantage point, began to turn shades of purple. My wife and watched the show together. The only sounds were our kids and the gentle wind blowing through the trees. It was sublime.


We finally hiked back to basecamp in the fading light. We hoped into the car and headed down the hill. On our way out to the main road, I had to stop and capture a shot of the Goosenest . A large wave lenticular had formed over it. There wasn’t much light left but I was able to still capture a shot of the peak with the impressive cloud over it. After this, the darkness fell upon the land and we headed home, glowing from yet another magnificent spectacle at Truchas Ridge.

 

The next day, the sky was filled with awesome clouds, seemingly in every direction. Whether east over Goosenest,  south over the Castle Crags or west, above the Trinity Divide, there were lenticulars, waves and other strange formations. It was quite a spectacle!

Naturally, the best clouds were present over Mount Shasta. Not only was there a lenticular stack over the summit of the mountain but the large disk that had been there the previous night continued to hover to the southwest. These clouds combined, as well as all the other pyrotechnics in the sky, made for one of the most memorable meteorological performances I have seen for quite a while.

 

 

Mount Shasta: A Slow Burn To Snow

Posted by bubbasuess on March 5, 2022
Posted in: Mount Shasta. Leave a comment

A lenticular cloud on Mount Shasta catches the last of the alpenglow.

The past week has seen a gradual progression of changing weather systems. The result was a slow burn of lenticular and lenticular-like formations developing over Mount Shasta over the course of several days. The change in systems finally resulted in rain and a little snow, the first significant amount we have gotten since the beginning of January. It was not much, and far too little but it was nice to know the winter hadn’t completely forgotten us and might still send something our way.


Things got off to an interesting start last Sunday, at the end of February. As the day closed out, an impressive lenticular stack developed over Mount Shasta. Other clouds moved in, obscuring it at sunset but it was still an awesome sight while it was still visible.


The following morning, I headed out, hoping the lenticular from the previous evening would still be there. Indeed it was, though it continued to be obscured by other clouds. The little lenticular that had coalesced over the summit of Mount Shasta had grown overnight and now covered much of the area above treeline.


In the evening, the clouds had grown. The formation over the summit had tightened up into an impressive series of layers. Meanwhile, the stack that had been present the previous evening was still present, though it was in the mountain’s shadow and never managed to get any light on it. It was still a marvelous spectacle.


The next morning I headed over to Lake Siskiyou for the sunrise. There was still formations right on Mount Shasta and also higher above and the northeast. Neither was a crisp in formation as I would have liked but they would still have made an interesting image reflecting in the still water. However, just as the color was getting good, it suddenly died out, the sun having passed behind clouds beyond the eastern horizon.


By the middle of the day, the large cloud to the northeast had gone but the one on the summit persisted and was in a state of constant flux. It seemed to be perpetually stretching and contracting like so much sticky taffy. I can only imagine the conditions and forces that cause something like that to manifest and yet lack any kid of stability. Whatever the cause, it is always a joy to watch.


By sunset, the cloud had become a bit more stable and looked awesome sitting right on the top of Mount Shasta. However, it was only part of the larger spectacle of the sunset. Many other clouds populated the sky and the mountain was aglow with the light of the setting sun. Below the lenticular on the summit of the mountain, puffy clouds flowed down the icy flanks, seeming to manifest from beneath the lenticular’s shroud.


The cloud had started on Sunday and had had two very different but spectacular manifestations on Monday and Tuesday. Any hopes of the three-peat were dashed the next morning. Elements of the previous performances were present but everything lacked focus and definition. With rain forecasted for Thursday, it seemed as though the storm itself was moving in and overpowering the lenticular that was its herald.


However, by midday, it seemed there may yet be hope for a climatic cloud display before the precipitation arrived. The clouds on the mountain were interesting but the real star was once again the cloud to the northeast. It had swelled to considerable size, dwarfing Mount Shasta. This was a truly tremendous lenticular and the thought of getting in a shot with the mountain all aglow had me excited for the sunset yet again.


It was not meant to be. The slow burn through the previous days had teased me into hoping something truly amazing might be in store before the rain came. It never manifested, being in the end just overcast with a few hints of the lenticulars that had persisted over the last few days. However, as in many things, the journey was the real joy, not the destination itself. Watching the mountain through all of its meteorological, perspective and illumination variations is never something to tire of. Indeed, each view is a testimony to the greatness of Creation.

The snow ultimately did come, living 3 inches or so. It wasn’t much, but everything helps. I am still hopeful (with some reason to believe this will be the case) that the spring will be unusually wet. We need it.


Saturday evening, the clouds finally cleared and Mount Shasta was once again visible, presiding over its demesnes. With the fresh snow, little as it was, I can’t wait to get up north again, to climb out to Pecos Point or Cerro Pedernal and see the peaks around the Shasta Valley covered in snow, building to a crescendo in Mount Shasta, the icy tower that rules over all around it.

A Blustery Morning At Truchas Ridge

Posted by bubbasuess on February 27, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Truchas Ridge. 1 Comment

Life has been hectic the last few weeks, as we have been getting our new animal hospital, Ponderosa Veterinary Clinic, off the ground. While it is great to be nearly overwhelmed with new clients, we haven’t had time to hear outside for more than a walk through the forest around our house. Fortunately, I managed to get out this morning for a sunrise and some much needed solitude. It just happened to be a blustery morning, as the weather system is starting to change and precipitation, which is desperately needed, is finally starting to come back to the area. This made for some great morning scenery.

Mount Shasta itself was partially covered by clouds and only partially visible. There were some interesting, nearly lenticulish clouds south of the summit. These managed to catch some of the light from the sunrise and made the scene a little more interesting. While the clouds flowed over the mountain, the gentle but steady breeze and the birds were coming to life, alerting everyone that the day had begun.

I climbed up to the top of Jemez Hill and took in the vista to the east. The sun had risen but was obscured by clouds, casting beams down in odd directions. Large plumes of dust were being blown off of the flanks of Mount Shasta. The dust is a consequence of last summer’s Lava Fire. Without the vegetation covering the sandy lower slopes, a lot of particulate can be kicked up into the air. Although it is an unfortunate result of the fire, I must confess that it does have a certain foreboding beauty.

Turning to look south from the vista on Jemez Hill, Mount Shasta dominates the southern viewshed. The mountain remained covered by clouds but the lenticular-like cloud over the summit continued to circulate. The cloud constantly changed shape as the wind pushed the formation around.

Suddenly, to the west a rainbow burst out of the clouds. This was the second time this morning that a rainbow was visible in this area. The first time I had not managed to get up to the top of Jemez Hill in time to capture it. This time I was in position and was able to get a view of it over the arid, high desert landscape.

The rainbow arced from west to north. I ran to a vista on the north side of Jemez Hill, where I could see the rainbow coming down over Cerro Pedernal and Tesuque Valley. I was able to capture an image before the color had dissipated. While the other scenes had been beautiful, something about capturing a rainbow over Pedernal was particularly gratifying.

I headed home after the rainbow disappeared but the breezy morning spent on the ridge, watching the sun work its sunrise magic on Mount Shasta and the rest of the Shasta Valley had been quite satisfying. The weather continued to fluctuate the rest of the day. Eventually we headed up to the clinic in the afternoon, to do a final test on the dental equipment before putting it to use during the week.

On the way north, Mount Shasta was graced by a beautiful lenticular stack. I stopped and captured some pictures of it before we went on our way. I was grateful I did, as the clouds grew and overwhelmed Mount Shasta, a portent of the changing weather system. I am hopefully that we are moving back into wetter weather and we will have a miracle March!

 

A Dramatic Mount Shasta Contrast

Posted by bubbasuess on February 20, 2022
Posted in: Boy Scouts, Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta. 3 Comments

Snow blowing off of Mount Shasta catches the light of the rising sun.

Well, it has been a disappointingly dry February so far. I had expected January to be warm and dry but was hopeful that precipitation would move back by the end of the month. Though we got a light dusting, a few days ago, it has been dry other than that. Now we are left hoping for a miracle March.

Despite that, many good things have been happening. At the beginning of last week, my wife and I opened Ponderosa Veterinary Clinic in Yreka and things went very well. We were slammed with business and are booking up very fast. The opening consumed all our time last week but we were thankful that my parents were in town to watch our kids, who we hardly saw for several days. However, with the work week over, Saturday my wife and were able to reclaim our offspring. We were not able to do it together though. I headed up onto Mount Shasta with my son’s boy scout troop for their annual snow camp. Meanwhile, my wife stayed down in the lowlands and took our younger kids to Lake Siskiyou for an afternoon of playing in the water and mud.

When we got back together and compared notes, I was struck by the contrast in the two experiences, though only a few miles apart. My son and I were camping in snow, digging snow kitchens, sledding and the like while my wife watched our other kids, barefoot and in short sleeves and shorts, “fishing” and climbing around on the lake shore.

On Mount Shasta:

At Lake Siskiyou:

There are not too many places where such different experiences can be had just a few miles apart. In 20 minutes or so, I could have driven down the mountain and to Lake Siskiyou, stripped off my boots and snow pants, and could have been lounging in the sun on the edge of the lake, looking back up at the spot where my son was trying to build an igloo. Mount Shasta is a strange and wonderful place!

The red circle shows the location where her brother was camping at the moment she was on the rock. 

So now we wait for the precipitation. I am optimistic we will have some good storms in the near future. The winter started off great and I suspect it will end with a bang. In the mean time, I will probably be getting out a little less than I normally do, since I will still be doing work at the animal hospital. When I do get out, I am hoping to do some trail work at Truchas Ridge. More on that as it happens!

 

There’s Been Something Going On Above Mount Shasta Over The Last Few Days

Posted by bubbasuess on February 5, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Lenticular Clouds, Mount Shasta, Truchas Ridge. 8 Comments

The last few days have witnessed some interesting and beautiful atmospheric conditions over Mount Shasta. I have been swamped getting work done for the new business my wife and I are starting up but early mornings and pockets of time in the afternoon have let me get out and document the colors and conditions on the mountain. I am thankful for that, as it has given me some moments of quiet in the midst of the craziness that has taken over our lives.


Things kicked off on Tuesday afternoon. The day had been largely uneventful in the sky over the mountain but late in the day the barest whisper of a cloud formation manifested. I thought I had best get to a vantage point quickly, so headed up to one behind my house. When I got there the sun was setting but the cloud had nearly dissipated. Perhaps this was going to be nothing after all.


Suddenly, as the color on the mountain intensified as the sun was well below the horizon, the cloud burst into a tight stack of disks. It was amazing how quickly this formation amplified itself and I was glad I had lingered to capture its awesome growth. This gave me confidence that there was gong to be a good show in the morning!


Often times, when a lenticular is late in developing or growing after the sun sets, it will linger through the night and put on a spectacular show in the morning. Since the lenticular on Tuesday was so late in forming, I thought I had better head out early on Wednesday. Though I was out well before sunrise, there was no lenticular and the sunrise, though beautiful as always, was not unusual in any way. However, as I was heading home the winds kicked up and clouds started to billow off of Mount Shasta, catching the morning light. No lenticular in sight, but it was awesome nonetheless.


My anticipation was met later in the morning. A large cloud manifested over Mount Shasta and, of course, I needed to head out to capture it. The cloud was in a constant state of flux, flattening, inflating, expanding, contrasting. I could post 100 pictures here and they would all look like a different cloud over the mountain.


The cloud persisted throughout the day and, as sunset neared, I reckoned I ought to head out to Truchas Ridge. By the time I got there, the cloud had shrunk considerably, forming a little cap around the summit of Mount Shasta.


However, while the cloud over the mountain had contracted, to small satellite clouds had expanded. These lay to the south of Mount Shasta and hovered magnificently over the great mountain. I hiked out to Artist Point and watched the sun go down while my kids played climbed on rocks and made their own fun, seemingly oblivious to the glory that was before them. What is one more Mount Shasta sunset to kids? It is everyday life to them and they know no different!


The satellite lenticulars maintained their integrity through the night. By morning they had shifted somewhat, but they were still there. Before the dawn, I had decided to head the Mount Shasta’s northeast side. Mornings are better from McCloud but the position of the clouds meant the northeast would be the place to be for a good show. I was not disappointed, as the sky glowed, the disks burned and Mount Shasta, crowned with a small lenticular, was a steadfast anchor to the incredible scene.


The large lenticulars lingered through the morning on Thursday but by noon they had gone, leaving wisps over Mount Shasta. The sunset lacked enough interest to break me away from the obligations that I had. However, the predawn hours looked interesting on Friday, so I thought it best to head out once again. As the sun climbed to the horizon the sky hummed with color, and it proved to be yet another beautiful morning around the mountain.


Friday had unsettled weather all day and, in the end, the sunset lacked punch. I headed back to the spot behind my house to capture the lest vestiges of activity over the mountain. During the night the weather system that had brought all the activity in the sky moved on, leaving nothing over the mountain as I write this Saturday morning.


We find ourselves, once again, in a strange place midwinter. There has been no precipitation since 5 days into January and now we are 5 days into February. There is no precipitation in the forecast and temperatures are warming. In spite of this, the snow from our snowy December has frozen and lingers. My kids have not been deterred and enjoy the conditions, such as they are. I remain optimistic that precipitation will come and lots of it and by April we will be longing for clear skies and dry weather. Lord may it be so!

January 2022 Was A Spectacular Month In Mount Shasta

Posted by bubbasuess on January 31, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Truchas Ridge. Leave a comment


January 2022 turned out to be a very beautiful month here in Mount Shasta. Admittedly, there was not nearly as much precipitation as we hoped for but, despite the frustratingly dry conditions this month, it has a been a spectacularly scenic month.

It began with the last legs of the storms that dominated December, with snow still piling up. Less than a week into the month, the weather system broke and warm, sunny weather set in. The beautiful conditions meant it was time to get out and hit the trails as much as possible. Most of our activity has been at Truchas Ridge, but I did manage to get to a few other locations around Mount Shasta to photograph the mountain and enjoy some snowy conditions.

There were a few lenticulars this month and, while some had potential to be great, none ever rose to the level of truly memorable. In spite of this, there have been some really incredible sunrises and sunsets. Clouds, the moon, and brilliant colors all added together to make for a magical spectacle time and again on the mountain.

Naturally other mountain areas, particularly Mount Eddy and the Castle Crags, stamp their own beauty in the minds of those who can manage to break their gaze away from Mount Shasta. Moreover, the individual details on the mountain dry the eye just as the totality of the mountain can. This was a good month for both, as conditions were magnificent not just on Mount Shasta but in the Trinity Divide as well.



The beauty can be fleeting, and is certainly always in motion. When out trying to capture the awesome light displays on Mount Shasta, I was able to capture enough images to put together a couple of time-lapses of sunset and sunrise on the mountain. The beauty was immense.

It was a beautiful month out at the ridge too. Though the fresh snow eventually gave way and got a little sparser on Mount Shasta, the mountain still looked majestic and there area remained stunningly beautiful. I am really looking forward to spring out there, when everything turns lush and green.

Ultimately, the month of January was drier than we wanted but a spectacular one. Although there is another week of dry weather on the horizon, we can hope that the precipitation that dominated December will return and we can enjoy some more snow soon. Until that happens, we can be grateful for the beauty we were blessed with this month!

Mount Shasta: Dawn Of The South

Posted by bubbasuess on January 23, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta. Leave a comment

I’ll keep this one short, as I have much to do right now, but I did want to post this sunrise before things moved on much further. Saturday morning had a grand performance in the sky over Mount Shasta. It wasn’t quite a lenticular but some of the clouds did seem to display “lenticulish” qualities to them. There certainly was a lot of meteorological pyrotechnics!

Seeing where the clouds were, it seemed a perspective from the northeast was best so I headed to one of my favorite morning perches. This time of year the sunrises don’t hit much of the visible part of the mountain like they do towards the end of spring in summer. However, this was still a good perspective on the clouds, which just did not look that interesting from the other sides of the mountain. From here however, when looking south, it was quite impressive.

When the sun began its journey to the horizon, the clouds quickly caught fire and exploded over the mountain. The way they waved and streaked, I thought it was reminiscent of the aurora borealis but since I was looking south, I reckoned it to be more akin to the aurora australis.

I made sure to capture plenty of images in order to make a time lapse. I think it worked out quite nicely! Later in the day, I took the boy scouts on a hike from Truchas Ridge, heading out into some rarely-traveled terrain. It was sunny and warm and a great time was had by all. Now we have a few more days of sun but precipitation in coming back onto the forecast!

Mount Shasta: 2 Moonrises, 3 Sunrises (And Some Other Stuff)

Posted by bubbasuess on January 20, 2022
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta. 1 Comment

The last few days have been pretty ones here in Mount Shasta. Not only has the weather been gorgeous but the moon was full. This presented the opportunity to try to capture a shot of Mount Shasta along with a lunar presence. Considering all the other work I have been caught up in lately, this seemed like a nice excuse to get outside for a couple evenings.


The first evening was clear and cold. Though I was out to capture the rising moon, one can never get too much alpenglow on Mount Shasta. From my perch, I was able to watch the sunlight slowly move up the flanks of the mountain, the glow slowly slipping away as the sun set. The moon was set to appear at any moment.


Just as the last bit of color slipped off the top of Mount Shasta, the moon breached the horizon just above the Red Banks. The moon glowed brightly as the mountain turned cold silver in the absence of the warm sunlight. The moon was large and glowing as it rose swiftly. It always seems to move faster when it is proximity to a large object against which to measure its speed. This evening it sailed upwards into the heavens above Mount Shasta with alacrity. Satisfied, I retired home for the evening, thinking the next morning might be a good opportunity to capture a corresponding sunrise.


I headed north the following morning to Truchas Ridge. The valley was streaked with tendrils of fog. Normally I like the foggy conditions when they are thin like this because it allows me to see the mountain but still add some interesting light-catching conditions low in the frame. Unfortunately, this particular morning the light never really showed up and the sunrise was a little lackluster. It was a great morning to enjoy the solitude and scenery out there though, for which I am grateful.



That afternoon, I resolved to head out and capture the full moon rising. It’s position was a challenging one with regards to getting the mountain with any sort of light still on it. Based on its position, I though the best opportunity was going to be from the Castle Lake area. I headed up with time to spare and enjoyed a spectacularly colorful sunset. As is typical of a great sunset, the color started off vivid orange but eventually mellowed into a beautiful pink as the sunlight crept up toward the summit. However, as the mountain darkened, the sky burnt with shades of purple and pink, providing a terrific contrast behind Mount Shasta.


Just as the last light faded off the summit, the moon broke the horizon to the south of Mount Shasta. It crept slowly upward against a colorful sky. Wisps of cloud partially obscured it at times but it was a visible for the most part. As far as it was from the mountain, I had to use my wide angle lens to capture both, so the moon appears as only a small disc. Though diminutive in appearance in this way, the overall image, with Mount Shasta bathed in afterglow and the sky still aflame, it was a spectacular sequence!



The conditions seemed hopeful for a spectacular sunrise the following morning, so once again I headed up to Truchas Ridge. It was a bit of an unusual morning in terms of how the clouds developed. Initially I thought I was going to get a good lenticular but that faded very swiftly as the predawn color bled out of the clouds. Briefly there was hardly anything in the sky at all but then, as the sun was preparing to appear, the clouds raced back in and a small lenticular stack even formed over Mount Shasta. While not the best sunrise, it was still a good one, and one that definitely exceed my crestfallen expectations from just a few moments earlier.


There are many more vistas at the Ridge than just of Mount Shasta. One such was to the west, where China Mountain looked regal in the morning light. This peak is the third highest in the Mount Shasta area (not counting Shastina or other prominent points on Mount Shasta itself) and, though it hides many beautiful features (cliffs, lakes, waterfalls etc.), from down in the valley it does not present an impressive appearance. Thus I was glad to capture a shot of the peak that gave it a bit more gravitas than the typical scenes.


Another great view was of the Goosenest, another of the five tallest peaks around Mount Shasta. Its black lava flows covered with white snow, the massive shield volcano glowed in the morning light. What made it even more memorable was the peak boasted a small lenticular of its own! It’s a great morning when scenes like this are occurring at the same time as a majestic sunrises on Mount Shasta and all are visible with the turn of the head. Sadly, the subsequent sunset featured some excellent clouds but real life (and kids) kept from getting out and capturing it. I had to watch appreciatively while engaged elsewhere. Despite missing it, even seeing it, while helping my kids is a blessing. A century ago, every brilliant sunset was preserved only in memory, or perhaps in painting, so the opportunity to capture what I can is more valuable to me than my meager words can properly express.


The following morning I headed out once again. Once again, the conditions seemed good for an impressive sunrise. However, this time McCloud seemed like the place to be, given the position of the clouds. When I got to my spot, the moon was setting. Given that I had just been questing after moonrises, I reckoned I might as well capture a moonset.



Of course, I did not wait for the moon to disappear beyond the horizon because, while it was sinking lower, Mount Shasta and the clouds around it burst gloriously awake as the dawn sunlight hit them. I love sunrise in McCloud. The mountain’s crags and spires are magnificent when bathed in aurora’s glow (really, they are magnificent all the time, but dawn is when they are at their best!).


I had not planned on pursuing any more shots of Mount Shasta for the day, but as I headed to church in the afternoon, the mountain was once again bathed in lustrous alpenglow. I stopped right in the middle of the street near downtown by Sisson Meadow and started clicking away. It’s the most common view of the mountain, but what an uncommonly amazing common view from a downtown!


In the end, it was a great span of days with some incredible sights. Moonrises, Sunrises, Sunsets all forming an incredible panoply of light, rock, ice and all the other elements of creation, all working together to create an unforgettable landscape.