Hike Mt. Shasta

The solstice’s morning light baths an icy Mount Shasta.

Where did December go? I have had a bunch of pictures of the month stacked up, waiting to get some kind of post, but I have not had a lot of down time to get them posted. Then suddenly it’s the solstice and Christmas is right around the corner. Yikes!

As is my custom, weather permitting I like to head out for the sunrise and sunset on the winter solstice. It always feels optimistic when the days start getting longer. This, coupled with the rapid arrival of Christmas and New Year, makes for a busy but optimistic season.

In 2023, the solstice arrived on the on the heels of a hefty rain. The higher elevations had the deepest snow yet accrued on the mountain. Still, down at the lower elevations we have only had a couple of inches of snow and that melted off rather quickly. It certainly is a far cry from last year, where the snow came early and deep and Christmas was most definitely white. No such luck this year.

For the solstice, I headed out to McCloud, to catch the morning glow on the fresh white snow. There wasn’t much in the way of clouds to catch the sunrise’s color but it was still a beautiful sight as first the summit then the icy flanks of Mount Shasta began to glow. The light washed down the mountain, finally lighting up the dark forest below the snowline. It was a fine sunrise, not extraordinary in conditions but extraordinary simply because it was a sunrise on Mount Shasta!

Just as the light flowed down the sides of Mount Shasta at sunrise, at sunset it undid itself, climbing up the snowy crags until the last vestige disappeared off the crown. Again, now clouds added to the spectacle but it was a colorful and beautiful sight nonetheless.

Now, with the days getting longer and the march through winter and toward spring afoot, we can finally get some snow!

There is much to be grateful for. Not the least of these is the beautiful world we have been given. The sunrise on the morning of Thanksgiving, 2023 was a beautiful one, driving home the blessing that it is.

Even though the summit of Mount Shasta was blocked by a cloud, the sunrise proved to be a beautiful one, in large measure because of the fog. The misty conditions are a great multiplier of sunrise light. The fog seemed to role across the valley in waves, at times nearly obscuring Mount Shasta.

When the sun finally climbed over the clouds, the landscape burst into a warm glow of morning light. Mount Shasta never totally emerged from behind the clouds but it didn’t matter. It was a spectacular morning nonetheless, one for which much thanks was given.

2 Samuel 9

A white mountain and golden aspens, hallmarks of a Mount Shasta autumn.

This is a quick post, as I am leaving tomorrow for southern Utah but I have had these images in the que to document the changing season. So, a brief, short description and a few images for posterity.

We had a few small storm systems pass through last week. They deposited a little bit of snow on the mountain but the layer was thin and was, for the most part, limited to the upper flanks of the mountain. In these images, the patchy nature of the snow is evident.

From the west, the snow looked a little thicker, especially above 11,000 feet. There was a dusting of snow below that but it was light and limited to shady areas and other less sunny areas. However, though we didn’t get much rain at the mountain’s foot, there was quite a bit of cloud around the mountain for a few days.

When the clouds parted, a much whiter Mount Shasta was revealed. This was the first time all autumn that the mountain really looked properly white. The snow layer is not thick but it fairly solid and the cold temperatures are enough to keep it from melting off.

Though a lot of the fall color has already lost its vividness, there are still a few spots where some golden leaves are still to be found on the trees. The bright foliage with the white mountain and a blue sky are a magnificent sight.

I reckoned I would try to get a sunset shot while I was running into town but the storms had gathered about the mountain again. Still, the fiery clouds and the half visible mountain still impressed.

Now, off to the Colorado Plateau…

It is hard to believe that October is hurtling towards its conclusion. With just a couple of days left to the month, the window to visit the Old Ski Bowl via Everitt Memorial Highway is coming to an end. The road is traditionally closed on November 1st. My family and I decided to head up there Sunday evening in order to catch one final sunset up there. Although there is still a couple days left, the odds of heading up there are not very high, so this was our opportunity.

The conditions were good, but seemed less than ideal for a really spectacular sunset. The sky was clear of clouds around the mountain and a controlled burn near McBride Springs had been putting out a lot of smoke for the last few days. The haze from the burn hung too low to make the visibility at the Ski Bowl an issue but I wasn’t sure how things would look from above. It turns out there was no cause for concern. The view was incredible.

Grey Butte glows with just a light dusting of snow.

There’s little snow on Mount Shasta but the classic Old Ski Bowl view is awesome nonetheless.

The mountain was a great feature as the sun set and it glowed nicely. Even without much snow, the red andesite catches the sunlight and offers color and texture as the sun sinks below the horizon. I’m still ready for the mountain to turn white again. On this trip, however, the mountain was not the star. The view to the south and the west stole the show.

Looking southwest, toward the Castle Crags and the Grey Rocks. 

A magnificent view west, with the dragon’s teeth of the Trinity Alps lining the horizon.

The sun fades over the hazy Sacramento River Canyon.

The smoke from the burn captured the sunlight beautifully and made the whole valley glow. It was one of the prettiest sunsets I have seen from the Old Ski Bowl in a while. It was a great conclusion to the season.

On the way down the mountain, the fires burning in the forest seemed ominous. No one was there watching them and the dancing flames could be seen scattered throughout the forest in the distance like will-o-wisps. What a great entrée into Halloween.

This is why I love autumn. The leaves, the air, the light, the clouds, the mountain. It is pure magic.

The other day the mountain seemed to glow even though there was almost no snow. The dark rock contrasts spectacularly against the radiant leaves. It is difficult not to stop every mile (or less) and capture some new perspective or changing tree.

Of course, the weather brings new textures, hues and glory to the mountain. Both the population of the sky and the position of the sun make the sunrises and sunsets magnificent.

These clouds were heralds of a small pocket of incoming precipitation. It wouldn’t be much but it would be beautiful nonetheless.

As the rain began to fall on the west side of the Shasta Valley, it yielded some beautiful rainbows. Though fleeting, these were a glorious highlight against the hills and rocks of the Little Scott Mountains. This small range hems in the west side of the valley.

The rain swept through and left a little powder on the higher elevations of Mount Shasta. As the clouds cleared, the light flooded in and the trees began to glow again. Autumn in Mount Shasta, it is pure magic.

Fall color catches the eye while the sun rises beyond Mount Shasta.

This post has been in the queue for a week, but I have been busy with one thing or another and not been able to get it posted until now. A couple of weeks ago I posted the arrival of fall, in terms of the tenor of the air, light and weather. A week later, my wife and I made a couple of trips up into the Trinity Divide and the conditions up there testified in even more concrete terms that autumn had well and truly arrived. Gold leaves abounded and highlighted the cliffs and forests in autumnal splendor. It was a magnificent show.

Castle Lake put on a particularly good show, with yellow and red and orange permeating the rocks above the water. The water was still in the early dawn, giving some nice reflections. Amazingly, despite being October, the lake still has enough water for the creek to have a good flow. It is a testimony to the heavy snowpack from last winter.

The cliffs above the lake were not the only areas to boast flashy colors. The slopes above the eastern shore had a kaleidoscope display that was, if anything, even more impressive than the colors on the rocky areas. The colors reflected in the water, casting the fiery spectacle out onto the lake. Have I pointed out that I love fall?

The turning leaves and vivid colors that witnessed the changing of the season were confirmed by the arrival of the first big lenticular of the fall. This time of year often sees a higher concentration of the incredible cloud formations and hopefully this year validates that pattern. This particular formation was quite nice and once lit up by the rising sun, made me believe the claims of the high country, that fall is really, fully here.