Hike Mt. Shasta

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.

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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.

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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!

Black Butte and Mount Shasta catch evening light in a cloudless sky.

It seems that summer has found a late season groove that here in Mount Shasta. The sky has generally been clear and the temperatures in the upper 80’s and low 90’s. The McKinney Fire has mellowed out and, with some good fortune, we may not see its like again this year. Generally speaking, things are pretty good. However, this also means that we have entered into the least interesting part of the year in terms of Mount Shasta conditions. The sky is typically cloudless and the mountain is almost snowless, save for its massive glaciers. That means it is, at times, a little harder to make a massive, solitary, glacier-clad 14,000 foot volcano more interesting. This was certainly the case the other night when my family and I went for a short hike and enjoyed the setting sun’s light as it glowed on Mount Shasta and Black Butte. All the scene needed was some clouds in the sky and it actually would have been excellent.

Skip ahead 34 hours or so and I wake up to sound of falling rain. An unexpected little storm rolled through early Wednesday morning. I hopped up and into the car and headed out to see how conditions looked. It’s not often the sky gets interesting this time of year and I did not want to miss it. I headed north, since the sun rises northeast of Mount Shasta in late summer and that offers some decent light – if the sky is clear enough to let the light through. This morning the light was pretty filtered but a few clouds boasted a subtle pink glow. It was just enough to highlight the rainy deluge that was falling on Mount Shasta’s northern flanks.

The rain moved pretty quick but the color lingered. I was glad I had headed out, since it has been quite a while since I have taken in a Mount Shasta sunrise. Between naked sky and out of town trips (which, of course, coincided with other punctuations of interesting weather) early morning forays have not been worth the effort. This one, though subdued, was worth it. The rain was a nice bonus.

The sun rises behind a think cloud back above the Whaleback.

Oregon’s Mount McLoughlin and the Shasta Valley’s Owl Head align from my position.

The scenery around the rest of the Shasta Valley was beautiful as always. I am always amazed by how underrated the valley is. It has beautiful geography, fantastic views and the stark difference between the lush alpine terrain that surrounds it and the its own arid desert climate all combine to make it a spectacular destination.

The Shasta River flows north into the Shasta Valley.

Parks Creek, formerly the North Fork of the Shasta River, still flows in late summer.

On my way home, I headed by the major waterways that flow off the north end of the Trinity Divide and into the Shasta Valley. Though diminished, they still flowed swiftly, a testimony to the strength of these creek’s sources. A few lakes lie at their headwaters but the real source of the water is the large patchwork of meadows that hold water from the winter and spring like sponges. I think they have enough juice in them right now that they will keep on flowing all summer. It’s not too much further until we start to get back into the rainy season. That also means a white mountain and more interesting weather around it. I can’t wait.

What a week we have had here in Mount Shasta! In one week we have had unusually intense heat and a blazing wildfire as well as epic lightning storms and fresh snow on Mount Shasta. It’s been wild, that’s for sure. I’m pressed for time before I head down to Sonoma County and Carmel for a while, so I am going to consign this post to a bunch of pictures and some brief commentary.

First off, the McKinney Fire blazed to life on Friday, towards the end of the hottest week I have ever experienced in Mount Shasta. Temperatures well over 100 degrees lasted for a few days. It was no surprise when the fire started (it just felt like one had to pop up somewhere!) but the speed with which it grew was sobering. It began on Friday afternoon and by the next morning it was up to 12,000 acres. It doubled again the next day and again by Sunday. Much of Yreka was evacuated and the whole town west of I-5 was on evacuation warning (that’s most of the city).

Down here in Mount Shasta, we were a ways away from the fire but we were not spared from the heat. Still, strange things were afoot, as rain fell in some areas. I kept hoping that the sky would really open up and it would just dump rain but the heat lingered and the thunderstorm that seemed to be building never came.

With no rain or cooler temps coming, things continued to bake around Mount Shasta. The snow that had managed to cling valiantly on the mountain was withering to just a few white patches and streaks. Still, there was more snow on the mountain now than there was at the end of June last year. It still looked bare and the heat threatened to swiftly take what was left. Then the smoke from the McKinney Fire started to drift in and it began to feel like some of the darker times from last summer might be on the verge of returning.

On Saturday I headed up the mountain to take stock of how things looked. I never tire of heading up the slopes of Mount Shasta, especially when the light really draws out the mountain’s braided folds. This trip up was no different and it was nice to get out of the rapidly increasing smoke.

The Old Ski Bowl was particularly nice. While the valley down below sweltered near 100 degrees, it was 71 near the treeline. The conditions were perfect for enjoying a cool summer sunset. The wildflowers are really nice at the Old Ski Bowl right now and even though a lot of folks congregate there, there is always a quiet corner that you can retreat to and enjoy the scenery.

On my way home, I caught the last bit of sun lighting up the fringe of the pyrocumulus cloud that was rising above the McKinney Fire. It was a reminder of how dry things are and how dangerous that fire had become.

The next morning I headed out to the Shasta Valley, to try to get a sense of how smoky things were getting. The sunrise around Mount Shasta was uninspiring but the sun’s glow near the Whaleback was lovely. The valley itself was hazy but not too smoky at the south end. The north end was a different matte and the smoke looked dense. The next day, a little rain fell during the night, but not more than a sprinkle.

Tuesday afternoon, however, the situation changed completely. The sky was ripped open and a deluge of magnificent proportion poured down on Mount Shasta. There were 100’s of lightning strikes and the thunder boomed constantly. Several inches fell throughout the area (over 2 at my house but more reported elsewhere). In the midst of the downpour, the sky cleared enough for Mount Shasta to be visible. I could see fresh snow on the mountain’s higher reaches! I was stunned to see new snow on the mountain in August!

On Wednesday morning, I headed back out to the valley to see how the mountain looked. The storm had brought an incredible amount of precipitation to the area. Although warm and drying quickly, everything remained damp from yesterday’s storm. Notably, Whitney Creek had flooded and caused Highway 97’s closure.

Though clouds continued to linger around the summit of Mount Shasta, it was possible to see a thin layer of fresh snow on the band of cliffs below the clouds and above the Whitney Glacier. I remain shocked by the arrival of new snow on the mountain in August. Even crazier, to think that new snow fell only a few days after it had been 104 degrees. That is an incredible temperature swing!

Fog was present all over the Shasta Valley, as the moisture from the rain lingered. While the lightning from the storm was dangerous, the copious rain was a welcome addition to the weather and really created a break that allowed the firefighters on the McKinney Fire to start to get a handle on the blaze.

This afternoon brought another thunderstorm with more hard rain. So much water had fallen in the last few days that the entire area around Mount Shasta seemed hazy from all the moisture in the air. Along with the light layer of smoke from the fire, the moisture seemed to form a weird atmospheric stew. It did provide beautiful colors at sunset though, which is worth something, at least. The massive amount of rain was a blessing totally unlooked for but has been absolutely welcome. I am grateful for its provision, for the space it has created to contain the fire and for all the incredible beauty that has come along with it!

It certainly has been quite the start to August, going from super hot to unseasonably cool in very short order. I am hopeful that the rest of the summer will be more moderate and that the fall will bring copious amounts of rain. Regardless of whether that happens, this summer has been unusually wet and that has been a huge blessing!

*This post is a couple weeks overdue. I took my boy scout troop to summer camp and that really set things back. As late as this post is, I think it is still worth documenting these events.

Here in Mount Shasta, the spring of 2022 was surprisingly wet, which was a stroke of good fortune considering how dry the months of January, February and March turned out to be. The wet trend continued into June and, surprisingly, into July. Of the last five weekends, all but one of them have had rain! That amount of precipitation this time of year is certainly unusual.

Things took an unexpected turn over the weekend of the 4th of July. Once again, for the fourth weekend out of five, there was rain. Once again, the temperature dropped low enough on Mount Shasta’s higher elevations that there was another layer of snow. It was a surprising turn of events but one that was welcomed by the community for a variety of reasons. At this point, any precipitation is welcome. It also kept temperatures cool during the 4th of July Run/Walk. It also lessened the possibility that out of town campers might start a fire. Lastly, and best of all to me, it brought lenticulars!

The first lenticular appeared a couple of days before Independence Day. It wasn’t the most perfectly formed specimen but it was a magnificent sight nonetheless, especially high above the lush meadows and green trees that are often missing with other lenticulars that are generally found in fall, winter and early spring.

The cloud changing its shape, metamorphizing into a variety of shapes. The stack over the mountain grew and shrank but always maintained some degree of circular shape. Eventually the clouds overtook the mountain and we had a small amount of rain.

The next day the upper reaches of the mountain had a light dusting of snow on it. It wasn’t much but it was unusual to see any new snow on Mount Shasta in July.

On the 4th the clouds continued to produce interesting formations. However, this time the storm moved in with a fair amount of rain, especially after dark. The temperatures were cool down in the valleys so I had a strong suspicion more than a dusting of snow was falling higher up.

My guess proved to be correct, as a strong layer of snow had fallen above 12,000 feet. The mountain had a small but impressive-for-the-season blanket of fresh snow.

It was a moral imperative that I capture the sunset on this new, Independence Day snow. It was a great sight, the pale sheet that covered the summit. I headed up to the old nordic center for a sunset show. The mountain glowed orange as the sun set, the waves of ridges, the folded layers and the fresh snow all highlighted by the low light.

Finally the last light reached the new snow and then quickly faded out. I figured this would be the last sunset on the new snow but it exceeded my expectations and lasted for nearly a week. When I left with my boy scout troop for camp, there was still a vestige of the new snow clinging to the summit.

Though all the new snow is gone now and the temperatures are much higher, the snow from last December is still clinging to the higher elevations. It will likely be mostly bare by the end of August but September often brings the first new snow to Mount Shasta. I certainly hope that is the case this year!