October 17-18th
I left Sacramento loaded up with the appropriate supplies
around 8:30pm. Getting to the Brewer Creek trailhead is not very
straightforward and at least an hour drive off of I-5 (30-40min of which are on
dirt roads). If you are approaching the mountain from the southwest head
east on Hwy 89 towards McCloud, 3 miles after passing through central McCloud
turn left on to Pilgrim Creek Rd (Forest rte 13), 7 miles later turn left onto
Military Pass Rd (Forest rte 19) you’ll be on this road for around 13 miles, at
most intersections stay left. There are signs every now and then that will
point you in the right direction. The later half of the dirt road is pretty
rough with ruts and large rocks however I was able to make it to the trail head
in a ford focus. (I have however been stopped by unexpected snow banks before
when hiking for Ash Creek Falls)
I started hiking between 1 and 2am. It was a clear night and
the moon had not quite risen; it was not too cold and there was zero wind. I
headed south for about 45min in the shelter of the trees until I came to a
clearing with a magnificent moonlit view of the eastern face of Mt. Shasta.
Although there was only a quarter of the moon showing it was
enough light that combined with the reflective nature of the snow I no longer
needed my headlamp. I continued making my way up the mountain picking my route
in an effort to be as direct as possible yet avoid areas that appeared to be
prone to rock fall.
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| A small portion of the Hotlum Glacier |
At some point I had to put on crampons, and not too long
after, a helmet and my ice axe. By the moonlight I could just barely make out
an area of snow ahead that didn’t quite look normal, I took a long exposure
shot with my camera and realized that I was coming up on a glacier field. While
beautiful I had no intention of trying to move through it alone, I headed left
to continue on the ridge between the Hotlum-Wintun Glaciers.
The sun rose peaking out above some low level clouds bathing
me and the mountain in warmth and light as I continued up the ridge between the
second and third largest glaciers on the mountain. The north side of Wintun
glacier seemed to be more like a giant sheet of ice with fins that stuck up
above the snow, where as the Hotlum glacier was much rougher looking with deep
crevasses both exposed and hidden.
(I am actually not sure that I was ever near the Wintun glacier, I think
it was further to the southwest)
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| Shark-fin like ice that probably was not Wintun Glacier |
Hiking/climbing at altitude is difficult. I fully understand
that my cardiovascular system is not as strong as it used to be or could be,
but I was still amazed at how hard it was to chip away at those vertical feet.
The last few hours of the ascent I could take no more than 20 steps at one time
without having to stop and rest for about a minute. For my next high altitude
adventure I plan to bring an O
2Sat monitor, and maybe wear my heart
rate monitor with my GPS watch. It will be interesting to see some of the acute
physiological changes as I push myself in such an environment as Mt. Shasta.
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| GPS watch ran out, the red took 5 hours, the black took 6 hours |
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| One of many crevasses on the Hotlum Glacier |
I had set for myself a number of safety guidelines that I
would hold to during this adventure, one of which was to be headed off the
mountain by 12pm with the goal of being back at my car between 2-3pm. When at
11:45am I encountered a solid sheet of ice extending up towards the summit I
realized that the best thing to do was turn around and head home. I am at this
point not experienced enough, nor do I have the correct equipment to continue
on ice alone. It was not with a sense of regret or disappointment that I chose
to turn around, but rather a sense of relief; I was tired and the allure of the
summit will never be greater than my respect and fear of the danger that
encompasses such an endeavor.
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| Solid ice stymied my path so close to the top |
While descending can be much faster (10.5hrs vs. 3.5hrs) it
is more dangerous than the ascent assuming one does not have any problems with
acute mountain sickness, in which case descending is the best thing to do. I
took the opportunity of the decent to practice self-arresting with the ice axe.
Depending on the degree of the slope and the consistency of the snow or ice an
unexpected slip, fall, or simply tripping over your crampons can potentially
send you sliding very very quickly down the mountain. Practicing these
techniques (safely) is well worth the time. It can also provide a quick way to
descend a large portion of the mountain. By 3:15 I was back at my car eager to
get my backpack and boots off.
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| So Close |
Next time I adventure on the mountain I would like to spend
one or two nights so that I might be able to take things more slowly having
more time to explore different areas of the mountain.
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| No camera is good enough to replicate the real thing |
