Hike Mt. Shasta

A lenticular cloud above Mount Shasta presages a coming storm.

The winter of 2019-20 got off to a good start, with a large snow storm early and some consistent precipitation throughout December and January. The latter month ended with another good snow storm dropping upwards of 2 feet at the lower elevations. Since then, however, February has been brutally dry and pleasantly warm, a combination that has left the snowpack in a reduced state as we advance toward spring. Consequently, it was with anticipation that I had been watching the approaching storm system in the forecast. It looked as though we would finally get some much needed precipitation. Of course, the shift from a warm, dry weather pattern to a stormy one also presented a high likelihood of a lenticular forming over Mount Shasta and heralding the coming change in the weather.

With clouds predicted to gather Friday (March 6) and snow and rain promised for Saturday, it looked proper for a good cloud to manifest. I did reckon that Thursday would be the first indication that a cloud may appear and, not surprisingly, this was the case. Interestingly enough, it arrived Thursday morning, persisted throughout the day and through the night and on into Friday. It was still there as the clouds closed in and the storm finally arrived in the afternoon. While interesting, it never rose to the high level of a great lenticular event but it was still a fascinating spectacle.

The following images track the formations development over a roughly 35 hour period.

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It’s snowing at my house now. A couple of inches fell during the night. I give thanks for it.

Rockpile view of cloud-covered Mount Shasta is graced by a great flying wing.

Monday morning was another near miss as far as lenticulars go. The cloud started off incredibly promising but in the end, left me hoping for more. Part of this was due to the nature of the conditions on the mountain but also to tactical decisions I made while trying to find the best position from which to photograph the mountain and cloud. The final result was a great cloud but nothing quite coming together the way I hoped it would.

It began when I was up early and saw a large floating lenticular southwest of the mountain. At the time Mount Shasta itself had a small lenticular wave on it but the mountain was clearly visible. While still dark, I headed out to Sheep Rock, which is one of my favorite shooting locations when clouds are in the position that I assessed this one to be it. My initial reckoning of the clouds location was similar to the previous epic lenticular on Mount Shasta. However, by the time I got to Sheep Rock, it was evident the cloud was too far to the west and was now obscured by Mount Shasta. To make matters worse, the little wave had now grown and covered the entire mountain, totally blocking it from view.

I headed back west, hoping to get the cloud in view enough to just document its existence while it still had some color on it from sunrise. I did manage to do this but only after the color had shifted from pink to orange. The mountain itself was a lost cause.

While Mount Shasta was a disappointment, the view of Mount Eddy was excellent and the peak also boasted a great lenticular formation. Mount Eddy does not attract great formations the way Mount Shasta does but, from time to time, it still manages to generate its own. It is nice to be able to catch them in good conditions when they happen.

As the sun was coming up, the conditions actually improved and Mount Shasta became a little more apparent through the clouds. An inversion layer seemed to have formed and the edge of the cloud became clearly defined rather than just an amorphous smudge covering the mountain. The summit also came clearly into view. I headed over to some of my favorite rocks north of Lake Shastina and was able to capture some interesting shots of the mountain and the large floating lenticular. Satisfied that the morning’s effort was completely wasted, I headed home.

Latter in the day the floating lenticular had dissipated but the clouds on the mountain remained. At times they flirted with coalescing into a dome-like shape but it never really came together the way I hoped.

By sunset, there was just a wisp of cloud left, forming a partial ring around the summit. It wasn’t the spectacular sunset that I hoped the morning had augured but it, as always, I count the blessings of seeing Mount Shasta in its evening light. As Teddy Roosevelt said of Mount Shasta’s alpenglow, it is one of the grandest sights I have ever seen.

Mount Shasta with lenticulars at sunset.

This past Monday, Mount Shasta was graced with another lenticular event. There was a small cap on the mountain itself and another lens shaped cloud floating a short distance away from the southwest. I spent much of the day tracking a very obscure and hidden waterfall down on the edges of 2018’s Delta Fire. While down in the Sacramento River canyon, I was able to keep track of the clouds around the mountain. I was watching to see if they would sustain themselves or dissipate. There are times when lenticular clouds obviously have the strength to sustain themselves for a lengthy duration while at other times, they always deem on the cusp of disappearing. It was this latter condition that seemed to characterize these particular clouds. Nonetheless I watched them with interest until the free-floating disk finally dissolved into nothing. With the small cap still on Mount Shasta, I decided to head out for the sunset. While still driving to a good location, I was pleased to see that the free-floating cloud had suddenly coalesced and looked to sustain itself for the sunset! It would be better than I had anticipated!

At the north end of the Shasta Valley, a large plume of smoke was occupying much of the area around Hornbrook and Paradise Craggy. I’m not sure what the cause was…

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As I watched the color fade on the mountain, I had Joe Walsh’s classic “Help Me Through The Night” in my head. While I wanted that disk to make it until sunrise, I had my doubts that it would be able to. It would surely need help to last through the night.

A cloudless sunrise on Mount Shasta.

Just as suspected, when I got up the next morning, there was not a cloud in the sky. At some point everything just disappeared. It fascinates me how the conditions on Mount Shasta can change so swiftly. We always throw around the phrase “the mountain makes it own weather” and that certainly is the case, but the way things come and go so suddenly, the turbulence that must be present in the air currents is an awe-inspiring thing. I had gotten up early to check, just in case the sunrise would be graced by the fine lenticulars that had been present at sunset. Finding nothing, I decided to hang around for sunrise anyway. It’s not as if a cloudless sunrise on Mount Shasta isn’t spectacular in its own right? Perhaps I am getting spoiled…

I really do have a few other posts I want to get up, particularly about the Sacramento River and Mud Creek. Every time I think about sitting down to write something, a lenticular pops up and I have to write about that instead. This was certainly the case last night and this morning. The skies had been clear all day on Tuesday and there had been no inkling that a large lenticular event was in the making. However, about 45 minutes before sunset a small, wispy lenticular wave manifested over Mount Shasta. I was able to head out just in time to capture it at sunset. While small, it was quite beautiful in its own right.

Though the cloud changed a lot, as the waves are wont to do, it proved remarkably stable. It maintained a fairly steady dimension as it fluctuated beyond the mountain. More importantly, it proved stable enough to last well after dark.

The fact that it was still present long after dark, as well as its sudden advent just before sunset led me to believe that this cloud was going to be present at sunrise. Naturally, that meant that I had to be ready to photograph it. I got up early and headed out. Even in the predawn darkness I could see the round silhouette of the cloud. Its position looked as though the best place to view the mountain, the cloud and the sunrise was from the northeast. I headed out 97 and myself into position in one of my favorite spots in that area. The sunrise was indeed awe-inspiring.

The color on the cloud proved to be best a little before the sunlight hit the mountain. Nonetheless, when the lenticulars were all lit up in pink and purple it was glorious.

Eventually the light hit the Hotlum Glacier. By then the clouds had turned orange. After shooting some random shots of Mount Eddy and the Shasta Valley, I packed it up and headed home. As I swung west, I was intrigued to see the different perspective on the lenticular. The stack could still be seen on the north edge, but for the most part I was underneath it and it looked like a large disk with a tail.

The cloud stuck around until midday. It then got overcast before clearing up once again. However, when the sunlight returned in the afternoon, there was no sign of the lenticular and it proved to be an average sunset. As if any sunset on Mount Shasta is run-of-the-mi

A large lenticular cloud crowns Mount Shasta at sunrise.

The last week has seen some very impressive lenticular cloud displays around Mount Shasta. Last week kicked things off with a great sunrise over from the McCloud side. It was followed up a couple days later with one of the most spectacular lenticular sunrises I have seen all year (which, granted, is only a month old). This was nearly negated by encroaching fog but I was able to capture images of it before the mist blocked out all the views. It was a couple more days before activity picked up again but Tuesday evening a formation manifested suddenly and showed remarkable staying power through the evening. The following morning, on Wednesday, the clouds were still there and still spectacular. They were augmented by a lot of other clouds, some of which blotted out a bit of the light somewhat but it was a beautiful morning nonetheless.

All told, it has been a beautiful week, with some snow and warmer weather thrown in for good measure. The forecast is calling for a sustained stretch of warmer, sunny weather. Hopefully we get a few more good lenticular displays before the end of the season.

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A northern view of a Mount Shasta lenticular sunset.

Though Tuesday started out clear, by the middle of the day it was rather overcast. It began to clear up mid-afternoon, just in time for me to take my daughter to her dance class. At that time there was just a small, nascent lenticular forming over Mount Shasta. After dropping her off I took my two sons up to Bunny Flat to see how things looked up there. By the time we arrived, the cloud had grown significantly. After picking her up and running into the store, the cloud had grown further still. We headed up to the north side of the mountain to catch the sunset. As I stood out in the manzanita, my kids ran around, chasing each other happily. It was a great evening.

Awesome clouds were visible at Bunny Flat. The lenticular was rather chaotic but the quilt of puffy clouds added a lot of beauty to the scene.

Arriving at the north side of Mount Shasta, the sunlight had just lifted off the lowest elevations at the foot of the mountain. The lenticular had grown quite a bit. Oddly, there was a band of cloud catching a lot of sunlight. I am confidant it was not a contrail. It was too vague, and discontinuous to have come from a plane. It did add an odd dimension to the scene.

As the alpenglow intensified, a smaller, free-floating lenticular manifested off to the southwest. It caught a fair amount of the evening light. The quilt of clouds above Mount Shasta, however, were not getting much light. I think that clouds beyond the horizon were blocking the sunlight.

From the west the clouds retained an interesting shape, even though the light had faded on the mountain. The sky still glowed purple with the last, lingering bits of sunlight. I had not anticipated a beautiful lenticular sunset but I was glad to have been caught off-guard!

A magnificent lenticular cloud glows on a foggy February morning.

The first sunrise of February 2020 was a frustrating one but it ended well. Quite well, considering the final images captured. I had a sense that a lenticular was going to manifest in the morning. When I headed out before dawn, I discovered my premonition was correct, with a large stack floating off to the northeast. There were a few other disks scattered around the heavens as well. I reckoned the best way to get a good perspective on the entire scene was to head to the north side of Mount Shasta.

Final Jaunary evening of 2020, with fog in the Shasta Valley.

Once I got to Weed and drove out Highway 97, I suddenly found myself in a dense fog. This should not have come as a surprise, since the previous evening I had observed the Shasta Valley smothered in a seemingly impenetrable blanket of fog. I continued on Highway 97, anticipating that I would once again emerge from the fog as the highway gained elevation. The previous evening, the mist was low to the ground and was well below the road’s position. This morning, however, the fog was higher and covered the road for longer than I though. I was, however, finally able to get a good position about 0.5 miles north of 97 near a dirt road I used to captures images from but haven’t been to in a while. The fog was below me and I could see Mount Shasta and the lenticulars clearly. They were just beginning to color as the sun climbed higher yet unseen beyond the eastern horizon.

Within moments of setting up my camera, the fog suddenly, silently, enveloped me and what had been a great perspective on the mountain became a great perspective on a wall of mist. I tossed my camera and tripod in my jeep and flew down the dirt road. There was little visibility as I sped over the rocks. I got back on Highway 97 and headed back to Weed and then south on I-5. At South Weed I finally burst out of the fog. From there I headed over to one of my quick-access vista points and was able to set up my camera just in time for the color to hit its peak. It turned out to be a good position and I wasn’t disappointed with the sunrise I was able to capture. However, just as on the north side, the fog suddenly appeared once again, nearly obscuring Mount Shasta. Thankfully, the color was beginning to fade. I counted the outing a success, but a near-miss. I am grateful to have witnessed the spectacular sunrise and to have come away with a notable memorial of it.

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It is worth noting the occurence of one of my favorite sunrise phenomena. For whatever reason, I have always been fascinated by the shadows cast by the Mount Shasta when the sun comes up. It is testimony to the immense size of the peak when an earthly landmark cast its presence on the sky. Though not the greatest case of this, the sunrise did produce another one, this time cast across the lenticular stack. I’ll take them any way they come!