I climbed Mount Shasta!

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Shasta is a big ass mountain. I circled it on my motorcycle a few years ago and it was an all day affair. Did you see any Lemurians?

No Lemurians. But there were jokes made about them.

[pwd72s]

I drove by it once...

[aigel]

Congratulations! The mountain will be there next year, and the year after and so on. You got a lot of the sights and you will know what to expect next time. So just go again when you get a chance.

It is on my bucket list! I have seen a lot of stupid stuff in the Sierra where people are hell bent climbing Mt. Whitney or through hiking the JMT or PCT. Again, all that stuff is still there next year. Some of it certainly is social media - after announcing your activity, you better finish!

[Hard-Deck]

I love this story. In the military we are taught to be smartly aggressive. You displayed that in world-fashion. You will make this climb when it is smart to do so.

[Seahawk]

I really enjoyed your post, ckissick. You can trace your path on Maps.

I have driven A10 to the loop and hiked for an hour or so...pretty much the same thing you did

I look forward to your next report!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Shasta is a big ass mountain. I circled it on my motorcycle a few years ago and it was an all day affair. Did you see any Lemurians?

Originally Posted by ckissick

No Lemurians. But there were jokes made about them.

I had no idea what you were talking about. When I looked up "Lemurians" I was still not sure WTH you were talking about, so I added "mt shasta" to the Lemurian search and than yielded an article about the loonies.

https://www.npr.org/2015/06/07/412098380/a-mountain-of-many-legends-draws-spiritual-seekers-from-around-the-globe

Finally, there's the legend of Telos.

According to Ashalyn, Telos is a crystal city inside the mountain, inhabited by higher-dimensional beings called Lemurians.

"That goes all the way back to the ancient continent of Lemuria that was in the North Pacific Ocean many thousands of years ago," she says. "It actually was inhabited before Atlantis was inhabited."

As the story goes, Lemuria and Atlantis got into a thermonuclear war and sank their continents. The Lemurians fled into Mount Shasta, and that's where they've remained ever since. Mostly.

"Well, there's a couple stories from the 1940s where the Lemurians were actually seen walking into town," says Ashalyn. They were 7 feet tall, dressed in long white robes and sandals. They went to the general store to buy supplies, and paid for their purchases with chunks of gold. "The shopkeeper would take the gold, turn around and try to give them change, and the Lemurian would be gone."

These days, no one reports eyewitness accounts of Lemurians in the flesh — but some locals believe the smooth, saucer-shaped lenticular clouds that often gather at the summit of Mount Shasta are engineered by the Lemurians to camouflage alien cargo ships docking at Telos.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by Hard-Deck

You will make this climb when it is smart to do so.

I will. Next time I'll bring a strong, light, 4-season tent and goggles. I can handle 40-50 mph winds that way, no problem. I'll be checking conditions for the next month or so, for Avalanche Gulch.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by ckissick

......I still feel energized by the experience...

The cold and timid souls are not familiar with that feeling. You and I know it, and are addicted:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
—Theodore Roosevelt

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Way to represent the Higge lifestyle of outdoorsmanship and adventure.
The principle of stressing your mind & body for improved longevity is what its about.
Skoal
-

[LWJ]

Fantastic!

Live to climb another day. There are stories of climbers in the Cascades almost every year that make poor decisions. Mt. Hood is a great example. It has been summited by a woman wearing high heels. It has also killed quite a few. The conditions dictate the decision.

Be well! Love the narrative and pictures.

[rusnak]

I drive right by Mt. Shasta when I go to Washington to go look at Christmas Trees. I always thought there must be crazy people who try to climb up that thing. It's not just elevation, it's the angle and amount of vertical traverse that looks insane. Many safe wishes to you when you return there. We will all be rooting for you.

[Tishabet]

Love this thread, very cool ckissick!

As I have shared on some other posts, outdoor pursuits in general and mountaineering in particular are lifelong vocations of mine and I even spent a couple of years guiding back in the late 90s. Let me tell you, I would guess I have around a 25-30% peak bagging rate... the rest of the time I turn around. Sometimes it is because someone in my party is not feeling it (sometimes literally "cold feet") but the majority of the time it is about weather (or weather-related conditions like snow loading or rockfall), and wind in particular is a constant menace. Even when temps are in the 70s, you add a tiny bit of precip and a good wind and people can get in trouble fast. That's just how it goes, everyone bails a good amount of the time and that is normal as well as a sign of someone who actually has experience and the wisdom that comes with it.

As far as 4 season tents go, I am a big fan of my Mountain Laurel Designs Supermid.

Attaching a picture here of a climb from a few years ago on "The Tooth" at Pineapple Pass (near Alpental for you Seattle folks), the picture shows the weather moving in and we have just made the decision to set up a rappel... so we can bail! (my back is to the camera)

[ckissick]

I understand your passion, tishabet. I'm not so sure about the supermid. I like the low weight but I think I'd prefer a floor. How do you handle that?

Your pic reminds me of this one in early March on Crystal Crag near Mammoth.

[VINMAN]

Me on one of my Rainier climbs a few yrs back..

[ckissick]

I'd love to climb Rainier some day.

[ckissick]

[VINMAN]

That particular one was in Feb. Had many "WTF was I thinking doing this" moments..



.

[ckissick]

February? That's kind of insane. Did you summit?

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by ckissick

February? That's kind of insane. Did you summit?

Yeah that is extra hardcore, like "gee I wonder what could make this 9,000 feet of vertical even more difficult? I know, post-holing!"

Hardcore! Looking at the pic, I'll say that based on the non-locking D biner, your OR Crocodile gaiters, TNF Mountain Jacket and alpine harness with buckles on the thigh this pic is circa about 1995?

Attaching a pic of me wearing the same gaiters circa 2018, I still use them regularly and bought them around 1992.

[VINMAN]

Very observant !

Yep that climb was 1996. Summitted on Feb 13.

and yeah.... I still have and use those gaiters also.

I just tossed that NF shell about a year ago.

.