Shasta Valley

December Has Been Spectacular Thus Far Pt. I

Posted by bubbasuess on December 11, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Lenticular Clouds, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, Truchas Ridge. 1 Comment

A lenticular cloud emerges over Mount Shasta at sunset.

As November drew to a close, Mount Shasta was graced by one of the finest lenticulars that has formed over the mountain in some time. I have griped a lot the last year or so that the frequency of large lenticular events over the mountain has decreased significantly over the last few years. In the past, it was common for there to be a handful of really epic displays while also boasting quite a few “run of the mill” lenticulars. The last few years this certainly not been the case. Thus it has come as a pleasant surprise that that trend has been broken, at least for a little over a week. The first nine days of December had one of the highest concentrations of beautiful conditions and lenticular formations that I can remember in the recent past. Hopefully this is just a portent of things to come over the winter and spring.

The first lenticular formation came the day after the massive one that closed out November. This one caught be off guard. I was not anticipating it as it had been fairly clear all day but when I was taking my kids to one of their events, I noticed the activity over Mount Shasta and had to stop and get a shot of the mountain. The color at sunset was fantastic and the layers on the stack over the mountain’s summit were very distinct. A secondary cloud tried forming to the south but couldn’t muster the strength to really pull itself together. It still caught the alpenglow in spectacular fashion!

The really interesting thing about this cloud was the way it formed so suddenly. It had been overcast all day and had not given much indication anything interesting was going to happen. In the time lapse, you can see it forming at times, but it was just lost in the rest of the clouds and it was only before sunset that it finally took a really distinct and sustained shape.

A couple of days went by and there were no lenticulars but the colors on Mount Shasta, particularly around the rising and setting of the sun, were intense. I kept getting up early to catch the sunset and there were some spectacular ones but I couldn’t always get pictures since I had to get the kids to school. It felt like something was brewing in the weather and I didn’t want to miss it.

Mount Shasta proved me correct. The next day a little formation clung to the summit. I watched it all day, twisting and undulating with the air currents over the mountain. Just before sunset I headed up toward Castle Lake to catch the sunset. It wasn’t quite as colorful as I had hoped but it was a harbinger of things to come. I was hopeful that cloud would sustain itself through the night and might do something interesting the next day.

By morning the cloud had grown and was covering the entire summit area of Mount Shasta. These are the least interesting formations on the mountain. They lack distinct layers and cover the terrain, leaving just a blob where there should be a mountain. Still, it did glow as the sun came up.

By mid morning the cloud had just about dissipated over Mount Shasta. Only vestigial wisps clung around the summit. It didn’t seem like there was much more going on at this point.

To my surprise, by noon a serious cap had formed over Mount Shasta. This new display was a large stack composed of intricate layers forming an impressive dome. A small, secondary disk kept trying to form above it but it had a hard time sustaining itself and would often disappear before coalescing again for a brief time.

The cloud was still strong in the afternoon so I planned on heading out to Truchas Ridge for the sunset. This time, I decided not to go to Echo Point but to the old favorite of Panorama Point. It has been a while since I have been up there and I got there a little later than I anticipated. The light was starting to fade in Parks Creek’s vale but I was able to capture a shot before it was gone. The cloud on Mount Shasta was much smaller at this point but the one that couldn’t muster its strength all day finally significantly, developing into a blobby form over the summit.

As the sun faded, the sky burst into a brilliant display of purple and pink. Dark clouds were moving in towards Mount Shasta’s summit. The colors were awesome and the drama of the dark clouds made this a fine and memorable sunset. I definitely need to get back up to Panorama Point more often.

The time lapse shows how tenacious the lenticular was, clinging to Mount Shasta all day, even when the clouds seemed it overwhelm it as they sailed by. When they were gone, it was still there. Also, I love how the light breaks through the clouds and travels over the hills of the Shasta Valley.

The next day dawned with another lenticular. The sky was blanketed with clouds. This was the makings for a colorful sunset so, once again, I dragged myself out of bed earlier than I wanted to. To my dismay, the clouds sailed off to the south as I drove north, leaving little in the sky to catch the color. The lenticular remained, though it too was diminished in size from what it had been when I got up. Nonetheless, the flow of the fog through the Shasta Valley made the morning interesting. It all seems so…respiratory. I am not sure what mythic creature’s breathing causes this phenomenon though.

That night, as my wife and I drove home from the animal hospital’s Christmas party, the lenticular still hung over Mount Shasta. It was backlit by the rising moon, which gave it an eerie glow in the dark night. We stopped and took a few shots, hoping to capture some of the glittering in front of us. It was a great end to a the most beautiful week I have seen around Mount Shasta in some time. Little did I know the best was yet to come…

Lenticular Interrupted

Posted by bubbasuess on November 30, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Desert, Hiking, Lenticular Clouds, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, sunset. 9 Comments

A couple days after Thanksgiving, we were finally blessed with a spectacular lenticular display over Mount Shasta. Autumn is typically one of the best seasons for these epic formations in the sky but this year, much like the last couple of years, there hasn’t been much lenticular presence, let alone any big spectacular ones. That unfortunate streak has finally come to an end.

The heart of the formation was a massive lenticular stack above the summit of Mount Shasta. It caught the morning light in terrific fashion. It didn’t have much purple but it pulsated with pink and orange light. The intricate layers, each nestled one within the other, the shadows and dark clouds only serving to highlight the shape of the next strata of the cloud. This is the kind of lenticular one waits all season for.

Unfortunately, after capturing images of it at sunrise, I was immediately off to head up Christmas tree sales at the boy scout lot. Fortunately, this is a fun and worthwhile endeavor and even though I was missing the lenticular, I knew I was investing my time well. After three days of sales, we only have 92 trees left. If you want a great red fir (silvertip) Christmas tree that was wild caught on the east side of Mount Shasta, come by our lot next Saturday!

After closing the lot up no long before sunset, I headed home. The Christmas tree sales interruption now over, I would have tried to go immediately to get images of the lenticular blazing with the colors of alpenglow but I was in my truck, towing my large trailer I had been using to restock the tree lot. It wasn’t conducive to chasing images of the mountain and cloud. I did force myself to stop and just capture an image from the road for posterity. The lenticular wasn’t as large as it had been but it still presented a fascinating view.

After dropping my truck off and heading out into the Shasta Valley, I got to a decent vantage point just as the colors really flared up. Pinks and purples filled the sky and the mountain itself glowed in the reflected color of the setting sun. It was a spectacular end to a busy day. I hope we have many more lenticulars in the near future!

This time lapse captures a dramatic perspective on the lifespan of the lenticular over Mount Shasta. The way it is in constant flux, churning and roiling as the day progresses is amazing. I have been waiting a while for one of these. This Thanksgiving I am thankful one finally came (among many other things).

A Stormy Wave And A Truchas Sunset

Posted by bubbasuess on November 27, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, Truchas Ridge. 3 Comments

The edge of a storm surges against the base of Mount Shasta. 

There really isn’t too much to this post, other than to populate it with some images of Mount Shasta that I have been able to capture in the midst of an otherwise very busy month. Once again, the lethal combination of clinic, school and Christmas trees has kept me pretty occupied and limited the amount of time I had to do anything. This wasn’t a unbearable, since much of the month was punctuated with storms. These left Mount Shasta with a solid blanket of snow, which has fully restored it to its winter glory after the summer. It is notable, however, that this is the first winter in quite a few years we haven’t had any snow at all at lower elevations. There has been none at my house. Given how wet the month has been, it is just notable, not concerning. For the last 5 days or so it has been gorgeous weather and that looks like a trend continuing into December.

A couple weeks ago, during a break in the storm, my wife and I headed up into the Shasta Valley to watch the sunset. We opted to not go to Truchas Ridge but stayed nearby. The color on the mountain turned out to be quite nice and we were glad we had made the quick trip out there after all the rain had fallen.

One more storm passed through the area about a week ago and this one yielded a classic look at the way the storms often halt right on the divide separating the Sacramento and Klamath River watersheds. The Shasta Valley was bright and sunny while the dark clouds piled up over the mountains. At my house it was raining but only 15 minutes to the north it was sunny and dry.

The rainshadow was obvious but equally dramatic. Only the base of Black Butte was visible in the midst of the swirling storm. It looked like a giant wave breaking and then dissipating into the desert of the Shasta Valley. Rain was visibly falling in the mountain canyons but it never really forced its way into the valley.

Since that last storm a week ago, the temperatures dropped and the sky cleared. It has been frosty and cold but the sunlight has made the days beautiful. My youngest son and I went tromping along the Sacramento River, where everything was covered with a patina of ice but the river was flowing strong. Mount Shasta was beautifully snowy in the distance.

A few days later, my older son and I climbed up to Panorama Point at Truchas Ridge. We haven’t been up there since March which is strange, considering we used to go there weekly. Hopefully we will return to that kind of frequency but the wheels of justice grind slowly… Nonetheless, it was great to be out there with him and the conditions were beautiful. There had been a lenticular over Mount Shasta earlier, but it had collapsed before we got there. The clouds were still quite interesting though. Being back up there, with its top-of-the world- views in all directions was a good reminder of how spectacular that area really is. Over the last year or two we have favored Echo Point for a variety of reasons but this outing was a good reminder that the length of Truchas Ridge is worth spending time at.

In the end, the color turned out to be beautiful and the time with my son worthwhile. Lenticular or no, it was a great sunset. We plan on heading out there again soon. For now though, it’s Thanksgiving and I have to get to work! Have a blessed day!

 

Fog Redux: Getting It Right This Time

Posted by bubbasuess on November 9, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Echo Point, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, Truchas Ridge. 3 Comments

With all the precipitation we have been getting and the lower temperatures, there has been a lot of morning fog in the Shasta Valley. This can make some great conditions in Echo Basin and Parks Creek’s vale, especially around sunrise. A week ago I headed out to Echo Point in the hopes of getting morning shot with some colorful light bouncing around through the mist. That trip did not work out so well. The fog was so thick, I was often enveloped in the ubiquitous vapor. Despite the presence of some nice lenticulars, I could get the kind of shot I was pursuing. Not one to give up, I headed back out to Echo Point again. This time, conditions were fantastic.

As I climbed up to Echo Point, I could see the wispy clouds turning pink. The fog being fairly thin north of the point, I was pretty confident that conditions would be good in Echo Basin and the fog would be reflecting a lot of the light in the sky. This was indeed the case. The fog seemed to pulse with light while the horizon began to glow as sunrise approached. This was, in same ways, the peak of the scene. Though the color would turn golden, this was the height of the pink and purples. My oldest son, 16, had joined me on this outing and it was gratifying to be able to share this spectacular scene with him.

Though the sun was just below the horizon, the color in the fog quickly slipped away. I have seen this happen before. Though some of the sunrise hues remained in the clouds overhead, the angle was all wrong to light up the valley. Nonetheless, the fog imbued the valley with depth and mystery.

The fog continued to swirl around Echo Basin. Like before, it seemed as through the valley was breathing, with the mist flowing out and then rushing back in. However, thankfully, this time the point was never overtaken and the vista obscured. In fact, the scene remained epic through the entire sunrise.

As predicted, the pink and purple were gone but once the sun breached the horizon, the entire valley burst with golden radiance. The fog seemed to soak it up, thickening into an aurous veil over the broad vale.

High above, on Echo Point, the fog never approached and the surrounding peaks remained clear. It was indeed a beautiful morning at a spectacular, one-of-a-king setting. I was thankful to spend it with my son.

On the way home, we stopped at our property just outside of Mount Shasta City to see how the fall color looked in the morning light. Sadly, though not surprisingly, it has gone. The powerful winds of the previous storm stripped the trees bare. However, even the naked trees, with the few hearty, brown leaves still clinging to them, look beautiful in the morning glow, contrasted against the icy grandeur of Mount Shasta. And more storms approach.

A couple weeks apart, the autumn color has passed us by.

Last Sunset Of July 2025

Posted by bubbasuess on August 3, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, sunset. 1 Comment

In the past summer months in Mount Shasta are months for getting up into the high country and enjoying the alpine landscapes and sublime natural settings. Generally, they were not great months for enjoying the views of the mountain in spectacular weather conditions (which is often the key to capturing great images). July 2025 was certainly an outlier for that trend. The continuous stream of thunderstorms made the month memorable and numerous images were captured, highlighting awesome clouds and beautiful light augmented by the dramatic presence of lightning and rainbows. This trend continued right up to the very last sunset of the month, which was once again a spectacular one.

As with the last thunderstorm a few days earlier, there were more rainbows to be had. Mount Shasta was partially covered by cloud and not well lit but the rainbow was excellent and the light and cloud around it made for a rather sublime scene. The position of the clouds made the Shasta Valley seem like the best option for a good sunset.

By the time I got out to the valley, the clouds had opened up and fresh snow from the previous day was visible on Mount Shasta’s highest elevations. Even more interesting, however, was the enormous shadow being cast by something somewhere in the west. The clouds pulsated with color as they churned but no light touched the vast shadow.

Soon the shadow seemed to expand and the clouds turned very, very dark. At the same time Mount Shasta and the hills of the Shasta Valley glowed orange from the setting sun. The sunset color seemed to drench everything and a most surreal feeling permeated the landscape.

Though the glow on the ground continued, the clouds finally lit back up as the sun sank lower beneath the horizon. The brooding clouds looked ready to burst open with a deluge for the desert valley. Meanwhile, lightning continue to flash off to the south behind the mountain. Thunder could be heard faintly in the distance. It was an unusual sight and the perfect stormy ending to a magnificent month of storms.

August looks to be warming up. We’ll see if the higher temps last and it is finally time to abandon the desert and head up into the high country.

A (Beautiful) Menace In The Sky

Posted by bubbasuess on June 10, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Desert, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, sunset. 6 Comments

It is pretty obvious from a quick perusal of this site that I am a huge fan of cloud activity. The landscape is the canvas but atmospherics and light are the paints that make the image on the canvas special. Perhaps it is the fleeting aspect of the clouds and light in tension with the interminable constant of the landscape that I find so captivating.

The 9th of June was witness to some epic cloud activity in the sky over Mount Shasta. It wasn’t lenticulars or some other odd spectacle in the sky. This time it was a classic thunderstorm, but one in which the clouds were overwhelmingly magnificent in both scale and arrangement. Naturally, I had to get out and document it in the midst of all the other things I needed to get done.

This time lapse taken from a fire alert camera shows the incredible growth and maturation of the storm. Watching the clear skies fill with brooding towers and then seeing those swallowed up by the thunderstorms is rather startling. Some other highlights come at the end, when the setting sun finds some breaches in the moving clouds and the beams of sunset light can be seen traveling across the Shasta Valley and Mount Shasta. Missing from the time lapse were lightning strikes and rainbows, both of which were visible from the valley floor. Regardless, it is an awesome bit of footage.

Though I wanted to get out earlier, I wasn’t able to break away until just after noon. By that time the clouds had expanded to a massive tower above Mount Shasta and were starting to extend northward in a tumultuous sheet.

Heading north into the Shasta Valley to get a different perspective, the size of the thunderheads forming over the mountain were humbling. Considering the mountain looms nearly 12,000 feet over the Shasta Valley, these clouds were easily 30,000 feet high.

As the sunset approached, I headed back out into the valley. Though it was my planned destination, I opted not to go to Truchas Ridge this time. I stopped short in order to capture a fleeting rainbow that appeared over Black Butte. It had not been raining when I had come from Mount Shasta, so the precipitation bringing the rainbow had to have just started.

The rainbow faded quickly, but was promptly followed by the sunset light racing across the valley. The sun had nearly set and the low angle of the light found a gap in the clouds that allowed it to shine on Mount Shasta and the hills of the valley. The movement of the clouds and the sun’s rapid descent meant the light moved quickly across the landscape. I was hoping the clouds would light up but it was not to be. Nonetheless, the sailing light was a magnificent sight to witness.

Finally, the sun well below the horizon, only Mount Shasta and some nearby clouds had any of the fading color left on them. In the midst of this, the storm continued, intensifying over the Whaleback. A few bolts of lightning streaked down. I think one hit Ash Creek Butte. I wasn’t fast enough to capture any of them. It left me wanting a bit but the entire sequence of events in the sky was pretty hard to be ungrateful for. It was tremendous.

 

Blooming But Burning In Mount Shasta

Posted by bubbasuess on May 23, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Echo Point, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, sunset, Truchas Ridge. 2 Comments

Spring at Truchas Ridge in the Shasta Valley.

Yikes, things just fly out of control sometimes. School is out and the summer travel season has started earlier than normal. The end of the school year brought a lot of other changes quickly, some welcome, some not. Chief among them has been the weather, which has been gorgeous. Spring has been glorious, especially in the Shasta Valley. However, there has been some unexpected peril…

The southern exposure of the hills around the valley are exploding with bright yellow flowers. These are the common woolly sunflower and they really brighten the arid landscape of the valley nicely.

As lush as it is, it is nowhere near as explosive as the growth was last year. It was sort of a superbloom last year, with flowers, grasses and other kinds of growth nearly choking the landscape in a green blanket. Fortunately, the incredible amount of snow that fell in February flattened all the grass down and let the land recover a little.

Though the winter wasn’t as heavy as the previous two or three, this year the water has been high in the valley, with numerous lakes filling basins that have been dry for years. Some used to be filled for years but for the last decade they have been sporadic at best and typically not full. For reasons yet to be determined, this year these lakes have all been quite full. It is a great addition to the landscape!

Through all of this, Mount Shasta has risen in solitary splendor over the valley. There has been some interesting weather but nothing too dramatic. While the landscape may be lush and the water high, the skies have been fairly tame, with a few lenticulars thrown in but nothing particularly dramatic.

Instead, the drama sprang from the most unexpected place: Spring Hill. Reported around 9pm on May 19th, the fire spread quickly around the western flank of the small butte that hems in the northern side of Mount Shasta City. The flames were dramatic in the dark of night and the glow was eerie. Naturally I had to pull out my camera and document the the conflagration. However, it was infuriating being unable to help control the flames.

As awful as the fire seemed while it was blazing, amazingly the next morning it seemed as though far less ground had burned than I had though. This was a sentiment shared by many friends who had also observed the flames. I think it was because the night highlights the flames while no landmarks are visible to provide a frame of reference.

The worst of the damage is visible from the northwest. However, even here there are more green trees and unburned brush than I would have expected. In a few years, I am willing to guess that manzanita will already be encroaching again.

From the south, the damage was less obvious. The most noticeable result of the fire was the break cut in with a tractor. We had watched the bulldozer’s lights as it moved up the Spring Hill Trail until it was near the fire. No doubt the trail will have to be rehabbed after the damage necessarily inflicted upon it.

The day after the fire, crews were still visible dousing the flames. This was made easier by the presence of a well at the summit of Spring Hill (at least I am assuming they are using the well, otherwise it would be a long way to run their hoses up there).

In the end, the fire wasn’t as destructive as it looked like it would be. Nonetheless, it was a sober reminder that even in the lush spring months fire is still a danger in this dry climate.

What Happened To March?

Posted by bubbasuess on March 31, 2025
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, Truchas Ridge. 2 Comments

Afternoon light glows on Mount Shasta’s fresh snow.

It’s hard to believe March is over. It slipped by so fast that the routine of life – and the dreary weather – hardly made it notable. We had a few days that inched up toward the 70’s but otherwise Mount Shasta was socked into a perpetual stream of storms. One would abate, the sun would appear and then be gone the next day as the next round of weather moved in. It never offered up interesting formations and the light was rarely of note, as the sky was too laden with storms to yield much memorable.

That said, there were a few rare occasions where the clouds cleared enough to get some light on the mountain and something more than the meteorological equivalent of a ritz cracker. The above image is about as interesting as it got. Of course, any color, clouds and other conditions on Mount Shasta are still exceptional. I am fully aware of how spoiled I have become… Still, the storms have been good to us. The rivers are in full, the snowpack is deep and Shasta Lake, ever the litmus test of a good winter, is only 17 feet below its crest. That the lake is practically full, and before the wet weather has past and the thaw set in, is testimony to how good this, and the two previous, winters have been.

The most notable thing that happened in March was my family returning to Pecos Point on Truchas Ridge. It is very, very difficult to believe that we have not been out there for nearly two years. This was a place we visited almost weekly until it was…violated…in April of 2023. In some ways, the trauma of that event snapped the spell the ridge had my family under. It was good to go back, despite the changes and the pervasive sense of loss we still feel there.

The site of much trauma, the scars on the land are getting harder to see…

However, despite the hurts inflicted wantonly on the land, it is also gratifying to see the healing touch creation has and to see how much the land has actually recovered in our absence. It will never go back to what it was but it can still be a place of goodness. We all look forward to returning again, especially as the land continues to heal. Perhaps I will write of this saga soon…

As if to welcome us back, our time at the ridge was met with a newcomer to the avian denizens. At least, a newcomer in terms of our experience there. A host of cedar waxwings fluttered all about the junipers at the bottom of the ridge. These crested fellows were a welcome sign that things are alright at Truchas Ridge. As were the abundant elk prints…

An Enchanted Land: Truchas Snow

Posted by bubbasuess on February 15, 2025
Posted in: Echo Point, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley, Truchas Ridge. 9 Comments

Over the last couple of weeks the Mount Shasta area has hosted a series of heavy storms that have left a heavy deposit of snow. After the exceedingly dry January, this has been a welcome and necessary change of pace. What really set the storms apart, however, was the amount of precipitation that fell in the high desert of the Shasta Valley. It’s not unusual to see rain fall in this arid area. That happens a few times each winter. It is not unheard of for snow to fall in the valley. That seems to occur every few years, though the snow is light and fleeting. What is unusual is for a winter storm to dump deep snow and for it to remain cold enough for the snow to stick around for days. This is what precisely happened and the conditions were such that thick fog shrouded the magically white land, cloaking the snowy landscape in mystery. The conditions left by the most recent storm in the Shasta Valley were rare indeed.

Naturally, I need to get out there to see it for myself and there was not question that my destination was Truchas Ridge. I have been trying to photograph this area in the snow for a few years now. The closest I have come was in February 2023. The valley got a couple inches of snow but by the time the sky cleared and Mount Shasta was visible, the snow had melted off most areas and only the northern exposures and the far west side of the valley (where the shade of the Scott Mountains keeps it cooler). While beautiful, it was still not quite what I was hungering for. This time would be a bit different.

Cerro Pedernal rises behind a snowy Truchas Ridge. The fog is creeping back into the valley…

Heading toward the preserve, the snow was thick and the road was really, really muddy. I was guessing there would be 4-6 inches tops. It looked about right on the broad flat areas and the southern exposures. The northern side of the hills looked deeper. After surveying the situation, I decided to head up to Echo Point, which is not on Truchas Ridge proper. It does have “easier” access and the view from there is epic. I knew I had to hurry though, as the fog which had blanketed the valley was creeping back in and my opportunity to get a view of Mount Shasta was slipping away.

Getting up to Echo Point proved to take longer than I expected on account of the snow being 14 inches deep. I could see the northern exposures were snowier but I was not expecting that much show. It had never even occurred to me to bring snowshoes but now I was wishing I had. When I finally got to the summit, the fog was sailing over my head, but it had not obscured the view yet, thankfully. The light of the setting sun was hitting the mist as it filled the gap between Echo Point and Cabezon. The flowing glow filling the gap was magnificent and was worth the climb all on its own.

The rest of the view of the Shasta Valley was incredible as well. Most of the clouds had cleared but the fog was racing in. The setting sun was drenching the peaks around the valley in alpenglow. Ice-encrusted Sheep Rock was a spectacular snare for the pink light, highlighting the crags and canyons of that underappreciated set of cliffs. Even Deer Mountain, normally an assuming hump on the horizon was now a crystalline dome pulsating with light. What a scene…

Without question, the greatest spectacle of all was Mount Shasta rising magisterially above the valley. The snow was thick in Echo Basin, though the lake was frozen and not offering a reflection. The fog flowing in gave the entire area an ethereal atmospheric. With the snow and fog on the ground and the darkening sky, it seemed the land and sky were merging. Only along the horizon, where the alpenglow burst on the flanks of Mount Shasta and the Whaleback did a different array of colors break up this most spectacular of sights. This was the snowy view I had long been after. Finally.

Heading back, the beauty of this magic land remained unrelenting. The alpenglow was fading but purple lingered in the sky and reflected off the snow. Looking out over the snowy domes at the distant peaks that lined the eastern side of the Shasta Valley, I was struck how in these conditions the Goosenest (at just 8,294 feet, one of the tallest peaks around the foot of Mount Shasta) is a really impressive mountain. With its upper flanks frozen in ice, it seemed more immense than it usually does.

While I was up on Echo Point, the fog had really taken over in the lower parts of the valley. Heading back now, it was getting noticeably thicker. I retraced my steps through the deep snow on the northside.

Following my path back, my tracks ran parallel to those of a coyote. I knew I was not alone out there. At least, based on the size of the footprint, I am assuming it was a coyote. I had seen a wolf not far from here so it could have been that canine neighbor instead. There is a wolfpack up around Goosenest and Whaleback and they do come into the Shasta Valley at times. I knew they were out there, but I had never seen one around Truchas Ridge. It was a nice finish to an incredible sunset. Thank you Lord!

The next few days were busy and I had no time to make a serious attempt out in the valley again. I felt a certain amount of urgency, since the snow was bound to melt at some point and the this rarest of opportunities would be gone. Fortunately, the fog continued to be thick and the temperatures were frigid. At my house it got down to 1*, the coldest I have ever seen it there.

This meant that not only was the snow lingering in the valley, thanks to the fog and low temps, the junipers were laden with rime ice. At the next clearing of the skies I was ready to take another bite at the apple. I was headed out to the valley again but not with plans to climb Echo Point. Time demanded I head to and easier vista but I was not complaining. From there the sight of the moon rising over Herd Peak was terrific and the trip more than worthwhile.

At the same time, the view south of a winter scene was also grand. Low clouds to the west kept the light off of the landscape and even the high flanks of Mount Shasta but the entire scene was still strangely soothing. Only the clouds offered a colorful break to the blue sequence. It was strange but comforting.

By the end of the week it had warmed considerably and I knew the snow was melting. I decided to much the apple core and head out one more time. The magic had passed. The snow was going fast and clouds were blocking the mountain. The generational snow event in the Shasta Valley was past.

Heading home, I stopped at my favorite pools to see their scope after the storm. As expected, they were very large but very frozen. Small openings in the ice gave me a bit of a reflection of Mount Shasta aflame. I couldn’t resist pulling my camera out one last time. I never can resist, really.

Fire, Hanging In The Sky

Posted by bubbasuess on September 9, 2024
Posted in: Cascade Range, Hiking, Mount Shasta, Shasta Valley. 4 Comments

August, a month of surprising and beautiful extremes on Mount Shasta, passed by and September arrived. School commenced and work continues. Yet, though there is some congruence to rhythms of human of human and activity and the seasons, for now the summer season persists, though the “summer” is now at an end. I, for one, am most pleased by this. Fall is my favorite season of the year and now it draws nigh. Truth be told, despite some warmer (or downright hot) days, the wind has left its cutting edge of summer heat and now blows with an autumn mood.

This was certainly the case a few nights ago. After days of clear sky, a sudden burst of cloud cover motivated my wife and I to head up into the Shasta Valley to enjoy some warm and breezy wandering and some incredible views. Mount Shasta, as always, dominates the scene no matter where you are in the valley.

The light was gold as the sun descended toward the horizon. The valley’s golden grass glowed and waved as it was buffeted by steady but gentle breeze. After all these years, it still amazes me that the summit of Mount Shasta looms nearly 12,000 feet above the valley floor.

After the sun sank behind the Little Scott Mountains, which hem in the Shasta Valley on its western edge, the daylight eased into alpenglow. Mount Shasta turned red, as did the exposed corners of the clouds overhead. Even without a deep snowpack to really reflect the sunset colors, Mount Shasta’s andesite flanks still radiate the warmth of the sunset.

While the spectacle of waning lights on Mount Shasta was captivating, as it always is, our attention was turned to the north. Beyond the hill ahead of us, it was obvious that the clouds were doing something altogether different and it was filled with lush color! We headed that direction, hoping to round the edge of the hill before the light faded.

When the view became clearer, what we beheld was incredible. The clouds were aflame and contrasting beautifully against the darkening blue sky. The higher clouds, bathed in more sunlight as the declination of the  setting sun changed. The deepest color was the lowest clouds, which in this case was actually a wispy summer rain falling somewhere over the east side of the Shasta Valley. This squall caught the light like a spark to tinder and set the rain ablaze. It looked like fire hanging in the sky.

It is not often that the pyrotechnics over the Goosenest overshadow what occurs in the sky above Mount Shasta. Though rare, this was certainly one of those times. If fire hung in the sky over Mount Shasta like that, it would have been a most superlative spectacle. As it was, it blessed both the Goosenest with memorable élan and the witnesses with affirmation of good things.

Still, even with a display such as the sky aflame, Mount Shasta cannot be ignored and as the final color faded from the clouds overhead, the mountain brooded over its domain, awaiting the nearing autumn, when snow will fall, leaves will turn and, Lord willing, I will be there with my camera.