When driving north from the Sacramento valley, it’s impossible to miss Mt. Shasta (14,179 feet /4,322 m). The mountain is just impressive! When I saw the mountain driving north towards the Oregon border, I decided I just had to give it a go! 

We spent the night in Mt. Shasta city, and drove up to the trailhead at Bunny Flat the next morning. I wanted a pretty late start, so that I would be sure that the snow would be soft on my descent. When the snow is soft, it is easier to «brake»/reduce the speed with my butt if I fall. This plan worked well, and I reached the summit after 3 hours and 15 minutes. The descent took about an hour. I felt very safe, and that there was no need for ice axe, crampons or snow shoes.

Down again at the Bunny Flat trailhead after my second summit attempt.

After a couple weeks in Oregon, we made our way south again. The weather forecast was very positive, so we made a new stop in Mt. Shasta city on our way back south. The forecast was accurate, and we wake up to sunshine and no wind. My second attempt at Shasta was a bit quicker than the first. I hope it is because I was in better shape at the second attempt, not that the conditions was a little bit better. Anyway: I’m super happy that I made it to the summit of Mt. Shasta twice. The views are just awesome!

Gear/nutrition:  Altra Lone Peak 2.0, apparel from Gore Running Wear, socks from Injinji, hydration from Simple Hydration and Salomon race vest. Garmin 920XT. Tailwind Nutrition in my bottles and a couple of gels.

View from the summit.

Mt. Shasta!

First summit! Thanks to Gore Running Wear for letting med test the Fusion Windstopper jacket. Awesome piece of equipment on fast attempt like this!

Base camp. Most people camp here and make a very early start (2 AM). I prefer to do it in one go 🙂

View down towards base camp from Avalanche Gulch.

Mt. Shasta is an active vulcano. You can smell sulfur at the summit.