Mount Shasta.
After going 1 for 2 on the first two California-14er's,
I managed to elist my roommate and take it to the "next
level" of California high peaks. Shasta is officially
listed as a class 3 mountain, but I rank it as class 2
- the snowy slopes just weren't that hard, even for novices.
We did it nice and slow, taking three days to cover only
slightly over 10 miles. En route to the top, we camped
at the Horse Camp and Helen Lake, ate freeze-dried food
like there was no tomorrow, and heard tales of Everest
from other hikers on the trail.
The
dark of the calpine ascent.
It seemed like it was midnight the day of our ascent,
but it was really only 4:30am. Most of the snowfield would
pass beneath our boots under the cloak of darkness, eventually
leading us to the last bits of fun, "Misery Hill"
and the the snowfields and sulfur vents under the summit
by mid-morning.
At
last the summit.
By 1:30pm, we reached our objective in the company of
some other intrepid adventurers we had met on the slopes
of the mountain, in the middle of nowhere! The trek down
(in one long afternoon) became the bane of my existence
as I brutalized both knees, giving this mountain its 4
skull rating for injuries. Afterwards, we enjoyed a fine
steak dinner, and I hobbled out to the car to drive Tobi
and I the five hour trip home. All in a day's work!