On Memorial Day weekend of 2002, I went with Jamie and some of her friends from work on an attempt of Mount Shasta. Rather than slog up with the masses up Avalanche Gulch, we opted for climb the West Face via Hidden Valley (Class 4). The proved to be a good decision because we other than one or two other climbing parties, we mostly had that side of the mountain to ourselves.

The first day was a long slog up to our camp at Hidden Valley. but once there, we were glad we made the effort. Once we got our tents up, we brewed up, made dinner and then got some rest before our alpine start at 2:00 a.m.

The climb went well, we navigated our way up despite some pretty thick white out conditions. When we reach to top of the route, at the base of Misery Hill, we decided to turn back do to very high winds and low visibility. We didn't realize it at the time, but while we were climbing high on the mountain, a lenticular cloud had settled over Shasta, bringing with it the super high winds we encountered. We were able to see the edges of the cloud, which made the horizon curve, as we descended the mountain.

On our retreat, we crossed the Casaval Ridge, which made Jamie and me froth at the mouth and set the stage for another attempt at Shasta the following year.

We all made it down safely and had a lot of fun. We were satisfied that we completed our chosen route--even if we didn't make it all the way to the summit--something to shoot for next time!

. See the pictures of this trip*

  See recommended reading for this trip

  See a gear list for this trip

*Thanks to everyone on the trip for these pics (my disposable camera got crushed in my pack)