Mt. Shasta

I had my eye on Mount Shasta for quite a while this year, but for most of the time the weather looked not very favorable. When the forecast had a sunny day for Thursday I jumped on the chance and drove up to Shasta on Wednesday afternoon.
I arrived at Bunny Flat around 7PM. After getting the wilderness permit and the summit pass I strolled up the trail a bit, so I was sure on where to go in the morning.
After dinner, I found a nice flat spot to camp out for the night, set the alarm to 3:45 and read until it got dark.

Getting up was tough. It was quite chilly. Fortunately I had prepared my pack for the day the previous evening and was on my way at 4:30 after breakfast.

After last years experience on the mountain, which was quite miserable and unsuccessful, I made some changes to improve my odds of reaching the summit.
The biggest problem last year was starting off-trail. I had taken care of this by checking out the trail in daylight Wednesday evening. Another issue was that I did not eat enough on my previous attempt. To make sure that didn't happen again, I stacked up on GU gels, and would eat one every 30 minutes on the ascent.
Also, last year I over heated... my clothing choice was not appropriate for the conditions on the mountain. This year I choose some very light gear, and figured that I move faster if I'd be cold.
I must have done something right this time around.
I reached Helen Lake at 10400 feet at 7AM, took a 10 minute break eating something and putting on my gloves. The next stop was the top of Red Banks, the spot where I turned around last year. This time I reached it around 10AM, feeling great and with plenty of time left.
Misery Hill definitely deserves it's name though... It was so good to get to the ridge on top and see the summit block! I got to the summit by 11:30. The winds up there were pretty intense, so I didn't spend too much time on the summit, but headed back down.
Glissading from below the rock band of Red Banks to Helen Lake was so much fun! Definitly better than trying to walk in the by now slushy snow. The rest of the descent was rather uneventful, and I got back to the car by 14:55. After hanging out and resting for a bit I hopped in the car and drove back to the Bay Area...

It's quite funny... last year I put the attempt on Shasta on the list with the hardest things I had done. Yesterdays attempt was just pleasant. I think keeping well fueled was essential. Another point might be a change in my diet... having the farm box increased my consumption of veggies and reduced my eating out. Also I have been doing CrossFit rather regularly lately, which might have had an effect too, since I felt strong all the time, and recovered quickly when I took breaks. Nothing like last years "walking for two minutes, resting for one"!

Happy! :-)