Hike Mt. Shasta

The Old Ski Bowl on Mount Shasta, with a light glaze of fresh, late summer snow.

I have found that writing posts on here has been a bit of a challenge in recent years. When I first started the site, I wrote extensively about the trails, the geography and many hidden things in the area. Over time though, my philosophy has changed significantly and I find that I wrote less and less about hidden places around Mount Shasta and then nearly not at all. The internet is to dangerous and too untrustworthy to entrust those places yet undiscovered. Nonetheless, I love writing about the mountain. With such a diminished palette of grist for my writing, I feel that I have often become a weather reporter, just commenting on the current conditions. It is with this in mind, that I offer up, yet another post of such an ilk, and yet, despite its unoriginal and repetitive nature, I still enjoy sending it out into the digital universe, if for no other reason than to document Mount Shasta’s grandeur, beauty and call to those who seek such things.

Before proceeding to such a written endeavor, I do want to say that I am rededicating myself, so much as possible, to writing some original content about Mount Shasta, the region’s geography and history and a sprinkling of philosophy. I hope that all such will be, in some way, related to hiking and enjoying this incredible area.

With that said, I want to report the conditions from this past Saturday, which was roughly a week after the preponderance of the snow fell on the mountain. The lowest, thinnest strata had already melted off but the higher elevations still had a fair amount left, clinging to rocks and crags and hiding in the shady nooks the are ubiquitous on the mountain. My mother-in-law was visiting and so we took her up to the Old Ski Bowl, which I was amazed to learn, we had never done before. After enjoying a picnic dinner, the kids scrambled up on the rocks while I wondered to a somewhat more isolated spot to photograph the sunset light on the mountain while it still had some snow. I was glad to have the opportunity to do so, for it proved to be another beautiful Mount Shasta sunset.

As the sun set, the light disappeared off of the Old Ski Bowl itself but continued to linger on Sargents Ridge. Shastarama Point and the crags below Thumb Rock (which I tend to call The Fingers). The snow was sparser than it had been the day before but still provided a nice white canvas for the light to dance on.

“The Fingers”, which are just below Thumb Rock (not visible).

Shastarama Point

The various crags, as well as the numerous rock strata that make up Sargents Ridge, glowed warmly as the light began to fade away. The alpenglow enhanced the already red rock, deepening the color significantly.

Looking away from the mountain, I normally find myself drawn to the view south, where the entwined ridges lining the canyon of the Sacramento River for a pleasing array that lead the eye to distant mountains to the south (namely Shasta Bally, Bully Choop and the high peaks of the Yolla Bolly Mountains). However, this night, the conditions were such that I was more impressed with the view west, where the high crags of the Trinity Alps formed a jagged horizon against the orange sky.

As the final bit of light faded from the sky, the sun had sunk low enough for Mount Eddy to cast faint shadows into the colorful sky. It was a great end to a beautiful sunset. More than that, it was a reminder that even a mundane evening with my family can still lead to exceptional sights.

Mount Shasta is white once again.

In a month that opened with fire and smoke, it is gratifying to see it approaching its end with rain and snow. That is exactly how it has been this September in Mount Shasta. The Mill and Mountain fires sprang up just a few days into summer’s final month and within a week, they seemed to be out. However, the Mountain Fire, egged on by powerful winds, jumped the containment lines and erupted into another dangerous conflagration. It was not a great run through the first half of the month.

Thankfully, the fires were eventually quelled and conditions improved considerably. The air finally cleared and things returned to something approaching normal:

From the west, Mount Shasta was almost entirely free of snow.

From the northeast, some of Mount Shasta’s glaciers were visible. Many features, including bergschrunds, crevasses and seracs could all be seen since no snow obscured them.

Then an amazing thing happened: the temperatures dropped and a wave of wet weather rolled through the region. Rain poured down in great quantities and, with colder temperatures prevailing, a fair amount of snow fell on Mount Shasta. A little snow even fell on Mount Eddy! Overnight, the conditions on the mountain looked quite different!

The change was dramatic, to say the least. Although a bare Mount Shasta has its own beauty, particularly the warm red glow it gives off during sunset, it was marvelous to see the mountain returned to its wintery white glory.

This was not a light dusting of snow, as I have seen fall in past late September storms. This was a real midwinter style storm, leaving several inches of snow on the mountain. At higher elevations, one would have thought it December or January, rather than the final days of summer.

The temperatures were low, but not low enough to bring much snow anywhere other than Mount Eddy. Though it snowed down to a 1,000 feet or so below the summit, it was just a light dusting and most melted off quickly. I was only able to capture the last remnants of it near the top of the mountain.

Clouds continued to sweep over the area and rain fell sporadically after the first, heaviest wave came through. More rain fell, augmenting the snow higher up on the mountain. The entire affair culminated with a glorious thunderstorm and a great, though brief, deluge. Now the weather is turning warmer again and it looks like autumn is going to make a magnificent appearance. Rabbit brush is blooming, some trees are starting to turn color and the mountain is white, at least for a time. If nothing else, it is keeping the snow streak alive for another month.

All in all, fall is arriving and it is a great time to be in Mount Shasta.

Smoky haze at sunset leaves Mount Shasta a purple silhouette. 

It’s been a week since the Mill and Mountain Fires began. Thankfully, it has been a fairly staid week, with little growth from either fire. For the preponderance of the week, the air quality was such that one could be forgiven for even forgetting that there a fire in the neighborhood. For this we should all be profoundly grateful.

A recap: Friday, around noon, the Mill Fire brook out at the mill in Weed. It quickly swept north, burning through neighborhoods and into the grass and oak covered hills that lie at the margins of the Shasta Valley. Firefighters pounced on the fire in earnest and though it burned into the Lake Shastina community, it was held there. By nightfall, the ultimate boundaries of the fire had been achieved and it would not grow anymore.

Meanwhile, later that afternoon a second conflagration was sparked along Gazelle Callahan Road. Dubbed the Mountain Fire, it too sent a large plume upward, mirroring the plume from the Mill Fire. This fire, however, was burning in generally unpopulated territory, but had plenty of fuel to consume. It seemed to be of dubious origins.

After that Friday night, the Mill Fire was essentially over but the Mountain Fire continued to burn in the mountains on the western edge of the Shasta Valley. However, it never seemed to expand very much after its rapid expansion the first night. Sunday evening, I headed out to Truchas Ridge to continue some ongoing work there but I took the time to observe the smoky conditions and see what could be seen of the fire:

Overall, I was surprised with how little smoke was billowing up out of the Mountain Fire. Though the valley was filled with smoke, there was little actually being produced by the fire. It seemed that the fire’s fury had faded and was starting to moderate.

By Tuesday morning much of the smoke had cleared out of the valley. Some haze still lingered, but it was mostly focused over the site of the Mill Fire. Though the fire was essentially out, enough still smoldered that a pall still hung over where the fire had happened.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Fire was continuing its slow stall in activity. Smoke still hung over the area, but it had hardly filtered down to the Shasta Valley and no large plumes were visible against the blue sky at this time. It really did seem to be slowing down.

At the Weed airport, the entire facility had been converted into a helibase. There were nearly two dozen aircraft based there, with all their support teams as well. Offices and command facilities had been brought in and located right on the airfield. It was an impressive operation.

Click on this panorama and enlarge it to see some of the large firefighting helicopters at the base.

By Wednesday morning, the conditions were getting cloudy, with a little bit of rain and some lightning. It was still hot, but the weather seemed to continue holding the fire in check.

A dramatic sight over the Mountain Fire. 

Looking up at the Mountain Fire, storm clouds brewed at sunrise. Smoke still hung over the area, but it seemed a light rain was falling over the fire area. Though there were a few drops in the valley, there wasn’t much in the flatlands. It was almost enough to make me think no rain was falling, however, I spotted rainbows over the mountains, which confirmed that rain was, indeed, falling.

I wasn’t able to catch the rainbows over Mountain Fire area but I did catch one over Mount Eddy.

Wednesday continued to be overcast, with dramatic clouds over all the mountains throughout the day. While still hot, it never felt overbearing and was pleasant throughout the afternoon. Evening proved to be spectacular.

The clouds, which had been present all day, finally thinned and formed a glorious crown over Mount Shasta. For having almost snow on the west side, the mountain still presented a proud, purplish glow at sunset. The sunset was such that it made one forget about the fire completely, if only for a few minutes.

The next couple days were still hot, but the Mountain Fire seemed to be done growing. It has not grown in days and is, at the time of this writing, 55% contained. Lord willing, this will hold.

The Mill and Mountain Fires in relation to Mount Shasta (east) and the Scott Valley (west).

Temperatures into next week will moderate significantly, as we seem to be sliding into some glorious autumn weather. There is even a chance of precipitation next week. May it be so!

Smoke from the Mill Fire obscures Mount Shasta.

No sooner than I posted on the beautiful end to August here in Mount Shasta, we ushered in September in the most horrific manner possible. On the second day of the month, a fire erupted at the lumber mill in Weed and within minutes it had knocked out power to southern Siskiyou County, and worse, had torn through several homes while it rushed north toward Lake Shastina. In the midst of this nightmare scenario, a second blaze, 13.5 miles to the west erupted in the mountains north of China Mountain, along Gazelle Callahan Road. This was a disaster of terrible proportions.

The Mountain Fire is on the left, the Mill Fire on the right. Conditions were around 2:30pm.

Though homes were lost and there were many injured and some fatalities, the firefighters battle back valiantly and managed to hold the line on what came to be known as the Mill Fire. This was an all-hands effort, with ground crews, tractors, helicopters and planes all combining to attack the blaze and halt it in its tracks. By nightfall the fire still burned but it had not grown.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Fire to the west continued to grow and, as I write this, is poised to get much, much worse. We shall see how this conflagration evolves over the next few days.

When the Mill Fire began, I was driving back to Mount Shasta from the animal hospital in Yreka. The plume of smoke was very small but black and ominous. I called my wife to have her check the scanners and, while on the phone, the power flickered several times before coming back on. This was likely the fire from the mill jumping Highway 97 and destroying the high yard adjacent to Black Butte Towing’s facility. As I drove home, the plume kept growing bigger and bigger. I stopped at Louie Road and captured some images and then stopped again at the Weed airport to capture more.

That afternoon I was disheartened to see the new plume from the soon-to-be-named Mountain Fire. With a sense of dread from this malevolent pair of burns, I went about getting my family set up to camp out in our house, as we had no power.

That night I went out to observe, from afar, the fires. I went out again early the next morning to monitor the status. I stayed only on roads that were open and avoided heading into the burn zones. It was close enough and surreal.

Click to enlarge:

The threat of the Mill Fire abated quickly because of the work of all the firefighters. They were able to stop its advance and it has now, essentially, burned itself out. Naturally, vigilance is imperative since the weather is hot and windy, but the fire should be controlled now and official containment is increasing rapidly.

Around 11pm, the Mill Fire is largely inactive while the Mountain Fire is expanding.

The real issue now is the Mountain Fire. It seems to be increasing its activity and moving north and west. I pray that it will be brought to heel quickly. Amen.

The summer has been surprisingly nice. Generally smoke free and temperatures haven’t been too high on a consistent basis. It hasn’t been perfect but it has been nice. However, the latter half of August saw some higher temps and cloudless skies, which always makes photographing the mountain a bit more of a challenge.

However, as the month came to an end, some nicer weather rolled through. We had some pretty clouds, some reasonable temps and a general ease seemed to come over the area. At times the clouds weren’t active over the mountain but they still yielded beautiful sunsets in the Shasta Valley. Parks Peak, in the southwest corner of the valley is often the site of some gorgeous sunsets and this proved to be the case this time.

Finally, conditions pushed the clouds over towards Mount Shasta and we had two consecutive sunsets over the mountain that were notably scenic. The first I captured from the Old Ski Bowl, where I was spending time with family I had not seen in a long time. They were awed by the beauty of the setting and the conditions at sunset.

The last bit of sunlight hits Sargents Ridge. The lupine and rabbit brush are explosive at that elevation now.

A little smoke filled the Sacramento River canyon while smoke from larger fires to the south helped distinguish the layers of ridges in the warm glow of the setting sun.

The next night my wife and I had dinner and, noting the conditions, headed up toward Castle Lake to the vista and the old nordic center. We enjoyed a spectacular sunset with glorious clouds in the sky.

Even though Mount Shasta had little snow on its western flanks, the mountain was still exceedingly beautiful in the low angle light. It was a fantastic way to close out a great evening.

Finally the sun set and the mountain glowed purple for a bit before going dark. The clouds lingered until around 4am the next morning and there hasn’t been a single one in the sky since. A little smoke has crept in, mostly from the Rum Creek Fire in Oregon (I think). Temperatures are hot now and will be for another few days before they start to moderate, hopefully beginning the glorious slide into Fall weather. I can’t wait!

January snow glows on Mount Shasta during a full moon sunset.

I was sifting through some old images from earlier in 2022, hunting for some shots from a particular perspective and while doing so, I came to a sudden realization. It occurred to me that it has snowed on Mount Shasta every single month of the year so far in 2022. In the 15 years that I have lived here, I can’t think of a year where that happened. No doubt there have been years in the past where this has occurred but it certainly has not been during my time here. It’s a remarkable thing, considering how hot summers can be.

It really did snow in March!

The really strange thing, aside from the thing itself, is the rhythm with which the snow has fallen on the mountain. The truth is, this was not a good year for snow. Most of the the snowpack we had fell in December of 2021. It was deep and produced a good bed for the rest of the year. It snowed 5 days into January of 2022 and then the storm stopped and things really dried up. Oddly enough, February, normally among the wettest months of the year, we got only the lightest of dustings of snow on Mount Shasta. Still, there was fresh snow on the mountain. It almost doesn’t count but fresh snow was present. Late March saw a decent storm but short in duration and didn’t leave a deep snowpack. By the time we reached the end of March, it was discouraging how dry the three typically wet months had been. The heart of the winter was behind us and we were still waiting for winter!

While the first three months of the year were strange for the paucity of snow, the next few months were strange in their own way. April brought one brief snow at lower elevations but lots of rain. That rain, naturally, turned into snow at higher elevations. For a short window, it snowed enough to make it feel like midwinter again. May continued the trend, bringing more rain at the lower elevations and snow at the upper elevations. It rained on Memorial Day weekend, which began a remarkable run of wet weather.

A storm brews before the 4th.

In June, it rained nearly every weekend. Storm after storm rolled through the area, raining on the weekends and leaving fresh snow on Mount Shasta. Indeed, strange as it is to say, far more snow fell on the mountain in June than it received in February. This pattern continued into July, storming on 4th of July weekend and fresh snow, once again falling on the mountain’s upper elevations. At least it was cool during the 4th of July Run! During this stretch of wet weekends, it rained 5 out of 6 consecutive weekends from Memorial Day weekend to the 4th of July weekend. Only one weekend saw no precipitation. Nearly every single one of these weekend storms left a little snow on Mount Shasta’s upper flanks. Not only did the fresh snow give the mountain a more wintery appearance in June, the cooler weather help stretch the December snowpack just a little further into the hot summer.

Finally, our present month of August arrived and I assumed, justifiably, that there would be no new snow on Mount Shasta. Yet, defying expectations, a powerful thunderstorm hit at the beginning of the month and, shockingly, it left a light layer of snow on the highest 3,000 feet on the mountain. I was stunned while driving to a Boy Scout meeting during the deluge and seeing the clouds part enough to see the mountain and its new snow.

It really has been remarkable, when one realizes snow has fallen on Mount Shasta every single month thus far in 2022.

Click to enlarge:

As we move into the latter part of August and approach September, I begin to wonder if it will snow in September. I have seen plenty of September’s where Mount Shasta received snow at the tail end of the month. If this proves to be the case in 2022, it is conceivable that Mount Shasta will get fresh snow every single month of 2022. That would be a remarkable phenomenon, if it comes to pass!