I had been training for Mount Shasta since last winter.
At slightly over 14,100 feet, it isn't the highest peak in CA but the beauty of it is so unique and the climb is challenging enough to earn Shasta a prominent place in the mountaineers' book of must-climbs
Mihai, our hike leader, designated two teams, one overnight and one day-hike for the shasta climb
5 of us are in for the overnight trip.
Mihai chose the "easiest" route, which is Avalanche Gulch, for all of us Shasta virgins.
Sunday we took off from Bunny Flat trail head to reach Lake Helen (there's no lake, in name only) to be our base camp.
This backpacking portion was hard on me because I did not enjoy hiking with a heavy pack (who would?).
The snow was slushy thus render the use of microspikes ineffective.
I should have put on my crampons.
Whenever the climb gets hard, i count numbers.
My friend Jeff and i counted 1 to 50 in different languages to get our mind off the hardship.
It was a relief to get to Helen Lake to conclude the backpack portion.
We got to the base camp by 1pm therefore we had plenty of time to set up and for me and Eric to learn to use crampons and ice axe for self arrest.
I had not put on a pair of crampons and learned to use ice axe until the day before the climb.
When I told Mihai, who was leading the 6-member day-hike team, after I came back to town, he was NOT pleased.
For some reason he was under the impression that i knew how to climb in crampons and knew how to self arrest. ;)
The rest of Sunday was spent resting, getting our summit pack ready, and studying the "heart", "red banks", and weather.
The heart was a wide spand of bowl before a row of reddish boulders.
The red banks consist a row of reddish boulders on the left of "the Thumb Rock).
Monday morning we took off by 5:15am.
I struggled mightily to get a rhythm going
the existing foot prints were helpful but the long switchback was tiring.
Jeff, Eric, and Dan pulled further and further ahead from me and Gary.
By the time i finished half of the heart i had exhausted my breakfast calorie intake.
After swallowing a pack of GU gel with 2x the caffiene, I was fired up.
I had such a surge of energy that instead of staying on the switchback, i went straight up the bowl.
Doing so in crampons, French stepping is the way to go
I took it up like a duck to water, no problem at all
The steepness and altitude did not affect me one bit.
I was able to catch up with Jeff, Eric, and Dan up the red banks, to their amazement.
After the red banks, the misery hill portion started.
It was named misery hill for exactly the sentiment the climbers felt upon seeing it.
it was not as steep as the heart but it was not flat either.
Already tired from climbing up the heart, misery hill looked like a big misery waiting.
However, at this point, there's no turning back.
I'd come this far, i could get it done.
after misery hill there's a short stretch of flat portion but it wasn't a relief for me.
For some reason i'd rather climb than hike on a flat terrain (not a fan of cross country).
i felt the biggest struggle at this portion.
Once it was over, there's a short but steep hill with 5 switchbacks to get to the summit.
When i got to the base of the last hill i was ready for it (after another pack of GU).
By 10am I summitted.
The summit was amazing, 360 degree of view and the weather was so clear, not a cloud in the sky.
The best feeling was that we beat the ranger's prediction.
Upon knowing we took 6 hours to cover 3 miles from trail head to Helen Lake, he said that it should take us 6 hours to cover the 2.5 miles to summit.
Jeff, Eric, and Dan took 4 hours 20 minutes and I took 4 hours 45 minutes.
Going down it was my first time glissading.
it was super fun and enjoyable, even though my pants were wet from sliding down the butt track (need to buy a pair of rain pants for future glissading fun).
The portion to get from Helen Lake back to Trail Head was a pain in the butt.
it just seemed endless to cover that 3 miles.
When I saw the parking lot i was so relieved i almost cried!
it was a watershed moment for me to reach that summit.
i felt the confidence building within me to tackle more technical climbing.
all i need is to build up my core and upper body strength for class 3/4 terrain and learning the proper technique for glacial and vertical ice climb.
Next year's goal is Mount Hood in Oregon
It is not tall at 11,400 feet but the summit part is technical and the weather is unpredictable.
More people die from climbing mt hood than other taller peaks in the Cascade Range.
we will start training for it as soon as the winter weather hits southern california.
i can't wait to put my crampons back on and learn how to rope climb with other people.
let's hope that the weather god will be nice to us like it did in Shasta.
2013: Mt. Hood
2014: Mt. Rainier (hopefully!) |
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