Sunset Sunrise Shasta Soiree - Sunset

So, I love Mount Shasta. It is quickly moving its way to the top of my all-time favorite mountains, right up there with Mount Wilson, Mount Sopris, Mount Humphreys, Mount Olympus, Volcan Tres Virgines, Mount Taylor, and Whale Peak. Like these other peaks, I love Mount Shasta simply because it is awesome to look at. You can just sit somewhere and stare at the thing. It's entertaining. Nothing else is necessary.

This weekend Kristen and I went up to the mountain to get two views of it that I knew would be worth our time. The idea was to see Mount Shasta at sunset and at sunrise from two nearby peaks--Mount Eddy and Ash Creek Butte. Mount Eddy sits just to the west of Mount Shasta and is the highest mountain west of I-5 in California. I figured that if we hiked up there at sunset, we would have a chance to watch Mount Shasta (along the rest of California) as the last rays of the day lit it up from the west. The other half of the plan was to see Mt. Shasta from the east, at sunrise. To do this we would climb up Ash Creek Butte, the highest peak on the east side of Mount Shasta.

A map of our destinations. Mount Eddy in the lower left, Ash Creek Butte in the upper right. Shasta in the middle.



This idea was so good that we were able to enlist Val and Michael (Sacto) and Hops (Eugene) to accompany us, which was awesome. We followed the Pacific Crest Trail up from Parks Creek Trailhead.



This big tree caught my eye and I took a picture with Val for scale. When I got home I found the second picture on the web. It is of the same tree, pre-trail work. Apparently I am not the only dork that takes pictures of felled trees (by Reodell).





Like everywhere else in California, the Klamath Mountains are as dusty and dry as almost any other year in recorded history. These are normally lakes.



And this is the meadow above Upper Deadfall Lakes and below the west face of Mt. Eddy. The first pic is what it normally looks like. The second pic is what it looks like in September of 2007. (I found the first pic on summitpost.org).





We camped at the biggest Upper Deadfall Lake. Despite being Labor Day weekend, there was only one other group camped at this lake. However, Lower Deadfall Lake, only a fifteen minute walk down canyon, was a tent city.



A couple pics of Upper Deadfall with Mount Eddy behind.





Around 6:30 pm we headed up to the summit to watch the sunset. The trail up Mt. Eddy is a great one, with views of the Trinity Alp Wilderness, Castle Crags, Mount Lassen, the Yolla Bollys, and everywhere else.

Nerd parade.



More nerd parade.







We spent more than an hour on the summit, lounging on our sleeping pads and sipping "apple juice". Oh, the views!









Looking back down at camp.





The nerds (pics by Val). Before apple juice.



After apple juice.



Dark panorama.



The sunset turned into a crystal clear night, the stars burning until a nearly full moon lit up the sky after midnight. The sky was so dark prior to the moon coming out, that the entire sky, milky way and all, was reflected almost perfectly in the completely still lake. I've never seen anything like it. I could look down at the lake and identify the big dipper. Kristen and I unrolled our sleeping bags in a rare patch of green grass on the lakeshore and slept beneath, and above, the stars.

Final tally. Five nerds. Two gay dogs. 24 hours. One sunset. 12 miles. 2400' vertical each way.

What a shitty week.

Castle Peak

Castle Peak from the saddle. The trail goes right up the obvious ridge. If you look closely you can see three rocky knolls on the summit. The highest point is the one furthest to the east (to the right in the pic).



The summit rock. Not hard to climb, but probably too much exposure for most people that come up here. The route goes right up that crack in the southern face.



The summit register.



From the summit looking south.



Castle Peak. 9103'. 7 miles. 1815' vertical feet each way.

California State Fair

At Kristen's urging we ended up at the California State Fair on Friday night. The best part about the fair is the strange sights. For example, the petting zoo that not only had goats, chickens, pigs, and baby cows running around freely for your petting pleasure, but also a doe and a couple of random kangeroos. Hmmm. Or the guy sitting in front of me at the "12 Dog Training Tips" show that was wearing a camo hat with a patch that read, "Certified Terrorist Killer" and had an image of the Iraqi flag. Or, the turkey race (six turkeys chasing a remote controlled bucket of food around a track). Of course, there was also the food. The deep fried Snickers bars, deep fried Coca Cola, cheese on a stick, egg roll on a stick, funnel cakes, giant corn dogs, smoked turkey legs, brisket sundaes, and artichoke sandwiches.

Dams.

I went to see some of PG&E's dams and diversions on Butte Creek and the West Branch Feather River yesterday. It's always amazing to see the huge environmental damage that is accepted in order to generate relatively little power. As someone pointed out, these dams may be "renewable" but they are certainly not green.

Round Valley Dam.



Snag "Lake" behind Round Valley Dam. All that dam for this? This place was obviously once an amazing meadow. Now it's just dust. Where's the water?



Down there?



I like this shot. This is Hendricks Head Dam on the West Branch Feather. You can see the river on one side, but not on the other.



Looking upstream above the dam.



Looking downstream after the water has been removed by PG&E. PG&E removes as much as 90% of the total flow of this river.



This is supposed to be a fish ladder. Nice try.



This is where the water goes. Into diversion canals that lead into a tunnel bored through the mountainside. The tunnel takes the water to a completely different drainage over six miles away.



This is where the West Branch Feather ends up, in a pond (a forebay actually) waiting to be dropped through a powerhouse. Isn't it purdy?

Ok. Summer happened.

Lying in on a grass slope of Mount Price.



Maybe the most relaxing 30 minutes of our summer, in 30 crappy quality seconds of video.

Mt. Price

Mount Price, Crystal Range, Sierra Nevadas. 3000' vertical feet up and back. 10 miles. 10+ lakes.



Panorama from near the summit of Mount Price.



Island Lakes with Mt. Price in the background.



A great little lake above Island Lake. Peak 9318' in the background.





Kristen picking her way through the talus with Peak 9441' looming behine. Despite its cool looking SW face, this one doesn't get much attention for some reason.



Going up...with a view past Peak 8925', Two Peaks, and Union Valley Reservoir towards the Central Valley.



On top of the pass SW of Mt. Price and above Lyons Lake.



The icy tarn beneath Mt. Price. Despite being mid-August, after one of the driest winters on record, at only 9400 feet, this little tarn was still frozen over with a thin layer of ice.



Looking north along the Crystal Range from the ascent chute.



Boulders on the way up. Our route went straight up from here to the little weak spot visible on the ridge.



Dora as near to the summit as she would get. She freaked out when we stood on the summit so we couldn't stay up there for long.



The Rockbound Valley.



Crystal Range. Aggasiz and Pyramid Peaks to the south.



Coming down.

Saturday on the Silver Fork

Brinn and Travis Pond

Portland, Oregon. August 4 2007

The bride.



The Bride and Groom.



Guess who "caught" the bouquet?