Last year during Memorial Day weekend, I attempted to climb Mt Shasta from the Bunny Flat Trailhead. I had made it past Horse Camp easily enough and even all the way to Helen Lake (not as easy and very steep at the end). But the weather (the wind was very strong and preventing most people from making it to the summit that day) and my body (it just saw the steep side of Avalanche Gulch above Helen Lake and went on strike) did not allow me to continue.

With the heavy snow the previous winter and even some storms around Memorial Day depositing fresh snow, I couldn’t do it at that same time this year. In fact the mountain conditions on Mt Shasta had pushed the usual climbing season later by two or three weeks.

Which meant that some prime climbing conditions existed right around the July 4th holiday. Normally, conditions have deteriorated at this point and you get a lot of exposed rocks and it makes getting to the summit very hard.

So after my 5 days in Yosemite behind me (see separate report), I decided to use all that time at 7,000 feet as acclimation time for Mt Shasta and drove from Yosemite to Mt Shasta. Nowhere near each other, but that’s what my Jeep is for. 🙂

Since I had been backpacking in Yosemite using my summer gear, I had to switch out a lot of my gear to be able to handle the snow and late spring conditions I’d find on Mt Shasta. Plus I’d need my ice axe, crampons, and climbing helmet. Fortunately, I had planned on having multiple choices during this week long vacation no matter what the conditions were or what my body felt like doing, so I was able to switch to my winter gear easily enough. I also had enough hiking clothing that I only had to reuse a few things between Yosemite and Mt Shasta (fleece pants, lightweight sweat pants, and my rain shell jacket and pants).

It was ironic that I was complaining internally about the heavy snowfall causing problems with my Yosemite plans, but I ended up spending two days in the snow on Mt Shasta.

With the decision and the repacking of gear done, I started up from Bunny Flat on July 4th a little before 7am. That was about 5 weeks later and an hour and half earlier than the previous year. That really helped since the snow was still very firm as I made my way from Horse Camp to Helen Lake. Not an easy climb, but better than the previous year and at least I didn’t break one of my trekking poles this time. As a bonus, I didn’t need snowshoes this year. Although I did use microspikes up to Helen Lake to help grip the snow better.

So it was early afternoon when I reached the base camp at Helen Lake (the lake is supposedly under the snow somewhere, but I’ve never seen it). I setup my tent in a nice spot with a view down Avalanche Gulch and spent some time admiring the views, melting snow for water, preparing my gear for the next morning, and doing some glissading and self-arrest training. Considering how steep the snow field was rising from Helen Lake to the top of the Red Banks, this last item was highly recommended by the Mt Shasta climbing guides.

I’m by no means an expert technical climber and Mt Shasta is the most technical climb I had ever attempted, so every little bit of training helps.

Being July 4th, they said you could see the Mount Shasta City fireworks from where we were, but since I had to get up around 2am to start the climb up Avalanche Gulch I was unable to stay up for those. After seeing the sun dip behind Casaval Ridge, I had hoped I could grab an hour or two of sleep before they began. My body decided that sleep was more important and I ended up sleeping through them.

I awoke at 2am, had a quick breakfast, and geared up for the climb. Ice axe, crampons, mountaineering boots, gaiters, helmet, long underwear, down jacket… check. Despite the snow and early hour, it wasn’t that cold. As I started up the steep side of Avalanche Gulch, I found that the steep climb was VERY steep and slow going for me and others around me. At first, you basically try to follow the trail of lights from other climbers up, but soon spend more time looking at the ground to find the best foothold as you slowly climb up the snow covering the side of the mountain.

I was maybe a third of the way up to the Red Banks when my body surrendered and didn’t want to continue. Not wanting to give up, I rested there for at least a half hour. Looking between the comfort of my tent down at Helen Lake and the even steeper climb above me, I somehow got my mind and body to agree on continuing. It was slow going, but I started to feel that I was making real progress as the light from the rising sun started to illuminate the snow.

The sun was behind a ridge, so there was still good footing on the frozen snow. Finally after an eternity, I managed to reach the Red Banks! Not my final goal, but considering how I almost gave up a third of the way up and didn’t even start the climb from Helen Lake the year earlier, it was very rewarding to make this milestone.

Again, I rested and ate some energy snacks as I contemplated the mountain.

From the Red Banks, you could pretty much see the entire route from where I started at Bunny Flat, including seeing the parking lot where my Jeep was. That was a spectacular sight to be able to see all that from a single viewpoint.

The biggest problem at that point was that it had taken me well over six hours to reach that point. I had expected/hopped/wished/prayed to take no more than four hours for that part. Although I knew that the climb from Helen Lake to the Red Banks was the most difficult part of the climb, starting the last part of the climb over Misery Hill to the summit was too daunting of a challenge for me that day.

I’d kick myself for the decision for the rest of the day and several days after (and I still regret it), but I ended up aborting back down to Helen Lake. Maybe it was for the best as the snow was already starting to soften up from the sun, which would make descending particularly perilous.

I did put my glissading practice to good use as I got near the bottom of this section. The upper section was way too steep and I had zero confidence in my ability to survive those glissading tracks. Even then lower ones were pretty scary. Think of them as bobsled runs WITHOUT the bobsled. I did manage to control my speed most of the time and put my self-arrest practice to the test several times, but I made it back alive to Helen Lake.

Disappointed at aborting, I thought about staying another night and trying again the next morning. But my heart wasn’t in it. 🙁 Thinking I’d never try to do this again, I even had a fleeting thought to sell off my ice axe, crampons, and helmet once I returned to civilization.

As I made my way back down, the sun had turned the snow into slush most of the way down. I thought that if the rising sun had turned the snow on the upper mountain into slush like this, I could have had problems getting back down from the summit had I continued. So maybe I chose wisely. It just hurts to miss out on such good weather and climbing conditions like that.

Next time.

No selling that equipment after all. This mountain may have beat me twice, but it’s still there and I will return. It’s an easy 2-3 day trip to try again next spring, after all.