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• Real-time picture of Mt Shasta
• Mt Shasta home page
• Tourism around Mt. Shasta
• Mt Shasta road conditions
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• Mt Shasta weather
• Mt Shasta advisory
• Mt Shasta climbing route advisory

Climate

Picture of Avalanche Gulch in may
Picture of Avalanche Gulch in august

Picture of Misery Hill in may
Picture of Misery Hill in august

Directions to the trailhead

Spring/Fall

What to bring

• three layer clothing (avoid cotton)
• flashlight and batteries
• snow boots
• sunglasses
• sunscreen lotion
• hat or, better, helmet
• at least 3 liters of water
• 3000-6000 calories in food/powerbars etc
• wind/rain jacket (no matter which season)
• long waterproof pants (to protect from sun and for the cold part)
• a kayaking foam cushion for glissading down
• gloves (no matter which season)

Pictures of the trail

The Trail

1. Bunny Flat trailhead (2300 m)
2. Horse Camp (2600m, 3.5 kms), last drinking water (30', 41')
3. End of causaway (x, 58')
4. 50/50 Flat (1h 30', 1h35')
5. Helen Lake (3169 m, 3hrs, 2h50')
6. Head straight up Avalanche Gulch to Red Banks, but bear right of the "heart" as if aiming for Thumb Rock (usually, you can see a groove for glissading: just follow it up)
7. when you are about to hit Red Banks, turn right and head for Thumb Rock (3962 m, 5h30', 6h5') (if you have crampons, you may go straight up the ice and head for any of the rocky chimneys, a shortcut that may save you some time, but it will be much steeper and icier: the chimneys to the right are the shortest ones) - be careful there might be bergschrund past Thumb Rock (although a popular route for people who don't feel like going up the chimneys)
8. whichever way you go up (chimney, Thumb Rock or bergschrund), scramble your way up Red Banks (x, 6h55')
9. the view south: Castle Crag park, Black Butte, a lake
10. hike up Misery Hill (4200 m, 6h45', 7h38')
11. the view from here: the summit (finally!) and (other side) Lassen all the way east
12. cross the 1km snow field which is relatively flat (4200 m, x, 7h50')
13. at the end of the snow field on your left is the sulphuric area and on your right is the rocky summit, reached through five steep switchbacks (4317 m, 7h 6', 8h6')
14. The total hiking distance is 13 kms. (This is probably an exaggeration, since the elevation gain is 2 kms and your "trail" is basically the height of the mountain at a very steep grade).
15. Coming down takes about 4 hours: 45' to Thumb Rock, 30' to the bottom of Red Banks (this takes a while because it's so dangerous), 1h to Helen Lake, 1h15' to Horse Camp, 30' to the parking lot.
16. By far the most difficult part is getting on Red Banks and then getting down from Red Banks. There are three main ways, and a lot depends on the snow/ice conditions. First, you can just head straight for one of the chimneys. If it's spring, they all have snow. If it's summer, it is likely that the easiest one to climb (my favorite) has no snow, and it's easy class-2 climbing. Second, you can coast Red Banks till you get to Thumb Rock, then (keeping Thumb ROck to your right) turn left onto the glacier and walk about 50m until you can easily walk up Red Banks (needless to say, this is a bit scary because you are walking on a glacier, but this is probably the most popular route because it involves no rock climbing). Third, you can walk to Thumb Rock but climb the rocks on your left (at any point). I usually hike in the summer when there is little snow on Red Banks: going up i use the first chimney with no snow, that is easy and safe to climb, and going down i use the little hole at the very eastern end of Red Banks and then go down to the same chimney.
17. Pictures and Maps (click on Shasta)

Permits

Warnings for summer hikers

1. This is a technical hike, that requires some skills and presents some obvious dangers.
2. Falling rocks all over the place (in August 2001 it was impossible to hike beyond Helen lake, in july 2005 a huge avalanche covered most of Avalanche Gulch). When you are hiking up, you can see the rocks falling, but when you are coming back down the rocks will be behind you.
3. The "trail" lends itself to all sorts of serious injuries if you are not careful. Besides some permanent snow, it is extremely steep. You will have to climb up Red Banks, and whichever chute you choose it will be tough both climbing up and climbing down (the further east/right you go, the lower the gap to climb to get on Red Banks). Once on Red Banks, the trail is slippery because of very loose gravel. When walking down, walk backwards on every stretch that is very steep and slippery. Almost nobody can go all the way up and come down without slipping and falling at least once. Since the terrain is mainly a mixture of snow and gravel, you will not break any bones, but be prepared for cuts and bruises.
4. Without crampons, you can hike up Avalanche Gulch to Red Banks only in the summer, and, of course, it is not easy. Unfortunately, this is also the time when falling rocks are the main danger. So you have to be lucky enough to find a day when you can already hike without crampons but falling rocks are not yet a serious risk to your life. The trick is to use footprints (that freeze during the night) as steps to go up: look for the groove that people use to glissade down, and most likely you'll see steps made next to it. This generally works all the way to Red Banks. Later in the summer, the long straight Avalanche Gulch is like terraced by the rocks, so you can work your way up using the rocks as steps. The only tricky part is getting on Red Banks. Whichever route you decide to follow, you have to climb up rocks (chimneys) or gravel (Thumb Rock), which is a lose-lose proposition.
5. Until the end of May it is very popular to glissade down on your butt (you will see grooves created by previous sliders), and you can come down from Red Banks to Helen Lake in minutes instead of hours, but after May this gets dangerous because the groove is melting and may end suddenly: you will slide down at very high speed for a few minutes and then end up against a rock.
6. Sunscreen is essential as the snow reflects light. You will get badly sunburnt even if you have a good hat.
7. For most people, three liters of water are needed to get to the top. In the summer, there is drinkable water at Horse Camp (very beginning) and then a little bit of flowing water at Helen Lake, but the rest is barren. Eat snow that is still white white white if desperate. Food depends on how hungry you get. But water is essential because your body consumes a lot of water at high altitude.
8. All considered, the best time to hike Shasta should be june/july, but it really depends on how much snow the mountain gets. If it gets a lot of snow, then august may be the best month. If it gets little snow, then june is the best month. You want enough snow to keep the rocks from falling but not too much to require crampons all the way.

Idiots abound. People have almost died of dehydration (there are no creeks, waterfalls, lakes on this mountain), frozen to death (it is a glacier, 1000 kms north of Whitney), been hit by falling rocks (when the ice melts, rocks are loose) and risked their lives in thunderstorms. Watch for falling rocks during summer. If it gets cloudy in summer, remember that this is a bare mountain (not your typical Sierra hike with plenty of forests): you are the only electrical object on a mountain that is famous for lightning. Your chances of being hit by lightning are colossal during a thunderstorm. The only way to minimize chances of all these incidents is to start hiking early, way before sunrise. The sooner you are out of the mountain the better.

Campgrounds

Plenty of lodging in Mt Shasta town.

Piemont Restaurant is a celebrated Italian restaurant. The Black Dear diner is a very popular old-fashioned diner. The small Mexican restaurant Lalo's is my favorite.

Phone numbers