It was a smokey but otherwise uneventful three hour plus drive from Sacramento to Mount Shasta. Ain’t nothing new about wildfire smoke. Forest fires, like hurricanes, are a seasonal event and something people will never be able to completely manage. The intensity and frequency of these fires, however, is something to note. And it is getting worse by the season.

Mount Shasta is a 14,000 + foot potentially active volcano. It is not a National Park which means it is only minimally protected from development, clear cutting and other such traumas. Perhaps sensing this vulnerability, the Sierra Club purchased about 720 acres near the summit. Then in 1923 they built a nifty little hut which today serves as a base camp for those attempting to ascend this mighty sentinel. You just drive on up to the Bunny Flat trailhead (about 7000 feet) and then head up to the cabin or further along to  Helen Lake. And then you chill for a day or two while your body acclimates to the elevation. On climbing day you head out maybe as early as 1 AM with your pick axe, crampons and helmet. You want to leave early before the snow gets mushy from the midday sun. If all goes well you’re back at the car sometime around noon.

We didn’t do half of that. What we did do was take a steep but otherwise pleasant stroll up to the cabin where we talked to a lonely caretaker. And we pestered a lot of climbers with silly questions. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but the climbers, many of whom appeared dejected after not making it to the summit hours before crossing our path (early morning smoke played a factor), seemed to welcome the chance to rest/talk to a stranger. Corey and I then walked another half mile or so past the cabin (and past the cabin is where the shit gets real) until we got tired and headed back to the car. For the record we hiked four miles in and back with an elevation gain of about 1500 feet (so just a mere 5500 feet in elevation from the summit). Not exactly anything to brag about but it was something we later celebrated with ice cream and coffee.