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Trip Report: West Face of Mt. Shasta

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When: June 24-26, 2016
Where: Mt. Shasta, northern California, USA
What: 3-day mountaineering trip, starting at 6950' Bunny Flat Trailhead to 14,179' summit of Mt. Shasta via the West Face
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Mt. Shasta is the second tallest and second southernmost volcano in the Cascades Range. It is a 4-hour drive north of the San Francisco Bay Area, near the border of Oregon. Peak season for climbing is generally Memorial Day to July 4th.
Twenty minutes up the road from Mt. Shasta City is the Bunny Flat Trailhead, where you can get permits, wag bags, and utilize the pit toilets. But there is no drinking water so come prepared.
The trail starts from Bunny Flat to Horse Camp gains 900' in elevation over the course of 1.7 miles. From there it's another 2.5 miles and 1300' to Hidden Valley, which serves as the base camp for the West Face climb.
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On this trip, the trail to Horse Camp was mostly clear except fora few small patches of snow. The spring water at Horse Camp was running, so we all started with 1/2 liter of water at the trailhead, knowing that we would be able to fill up our bottles here. This water is cold and delicious and does not need to be treated.
From here, the trail splits from the Avy Gulch route. It climbs over several gullies and ridges, gets rockier and steeper, and becomes more covered with snow. The last traverse is actually quite tricky, as you cross a very steep face riddled with large, loose rocks and boulders, and / or is covered with snow that could lead to a treacherous slide. We covered this part of the trail in the afternoon so the snow was soft enough that we could cross with just the aid of our trekking poles.

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We left the trailhead around 11:30 and arrived at Hidden Valley at 3:30pm. A smaller group could probably cut an hour from this time. We set up camp and then went to a nearby snowy hill to practice snow technique. After an early dinner and gear prep, we went to sleep while the sun was still high.
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We woke around 2am and left camp shortly after 3am. We started with crampons on as the snow was frozen, but it was not steep enough for an ice ax so we used trekking poles for the first two hours. At around 10,600' we roped up and replaced our poles with an ice ax. We continued up the West Face for several more hours this way. [Note: this was a guided trip, and I do not recommend un-guided trips to use a rope]
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We climbed slowly, and we took longer breaks than we should have, and so we didn't top off the West Face until 11am. This was the steepest part of the climb so I don't have any pictures, yet lasted for hours. The traverse above Muir Glacier is low-risk, high-consequence (meaning, you are unlikely to fall, but if you do, it'll be a bad fall), so we stayed roped up.
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Misery Hill took another hour to climb, and it I was alternating between too hot (sun) and too cold (wind).
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We got to the top of Misery Hill around noon, and decided to push on across the 'football field' and up to the summit just before 1pm.
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We celebrated a little, but the summit is small and narrow, yet can be crowded. There are several ways to end your trip early, so it's not my favorite place to hang out. We descended down Misery Hill, across the traverse to the West Face.
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We downclimbed a bit before we glissaded 3500' feet in maybe 30 minutes, taking us nearly all the way back to base camp.
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Finally back, we ate and drank and relaxed all afternoon. It would be possible to hike out that night, but that would be quite challenging and not so much fun. Rather, we camped and celebrated and talked. We hiked out the next morning after having become much better friends.
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Please note that I have been guiding on Mt. Shasta since 2008. Another guide and I were leading a group of 4 other climbers, all experienced and in good shape. I'm happy to share about my experience, but please take this for what it is - a trip report and not a 'how to' article. Please feel free to post questions or stories of your own Shasta experience below!
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JerkyKen
136
Jun 28, 2016
Nice trip. You just beat the HOT weather we're having now.
DannyMilks
4557
Jun 28, 2016
JerkyKenThanks! Believe me, it was super hot the afternoon of our summit. We were coming down facing the sun, with the snow reflecting the sunlight, and the whole area was like a giant bowl radiating the heat at us. But yeah, it's not quite as bad as it is now!
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