April 11, 2004, Whitney Glacier and Shastina Access
4/11/04
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After the ski descent of Mount Shasta on Saturday, I really needed a day off. So Sunday was spent relaxing a bit and then driving/hiking to Whitney Falls on the NW side of Shasta. This trailhead (5500 ft, called "Whitney Falls Trailhead" on the Forest Service map, but signed "Bolam Trailhead" there) provides access to both the standard Whitney Glacier route and the superb ski run down the North Face of Shastina. I thought that if there was snow around near the trailhead, I might try to ski a bit, but the low trailhead elevation and lesser snowfall on Shasta's north side meant that was unlikely. So this is only an access report.
The road 43N21 to the trailhead is in rough shape (4WD / high-clearance recommended), and a massive debris flow has buried the last few hundred feet of the road and the actual trailhead under 4-5 ft of ash and boulders (only the tops of the signs which say "Bolam Trailhead" stick above the surface now). The trail is an abandoned jeep road, now brushy and overgrown, but not too hard to follow to over 6500 ft where it was covered in 2-3 ft of solid snow. Whitney Falls is a spectacular 250 ft high cataract visible from an overlook at 6200 ft, but surprisingly on this day it was almost completely dry, with only a trickle of water. Despite the recent warm weather and snowmelt, Shasta is a very porous ashy mountain which readily soaks up surface water, and the streams on the north side are not flowing now.
The photo below looks directly south up Road 43N21 at the smooth, steep, and snowy North Face of Shastina, which drops directly from crater rim of Shastina at 12200 ft with a 38-40 degree pitch on the upper part. This route looks like it would be in great shape in May or early June this year, on a day with 12000+ ft freezing level. It has roughly the same elevation and vertical gain as the south side route on Mount Adams, so it should be a nice day trip. Anyone want to ski it?
Following Shasta, it looked like it was time to head back north a bit to southern Oregon and Mount McLoughlin. Other trip reports:
Amar Andalkar
click here for a double-size version of this photo.
The road 43N21 to the trailhead is in rough shape (4WD / high-clearance recommended), and a massive debris flow has buried the last few hundred feet of the road and the actual trailhead under 4-5 ft of ash and boulders (only the tops of the signs which say "Bolam Trailhead" stick above the surface now). The trail is an abandoned jeep road, now brushy and overgrown, but not too hard to follow to over 6500 ft where it was covered in 2-3 ft of solid snow. Whitney Falls is a spectacular 250 ft high cataract visible from an overlook at 6200 ft, but surprisingly on this day it was almost completely dry, with only a trickle of water. Despite the recent warm weather and snowmelt, Shasta is a very porous ashy mountain which readily soaks up surface water, and the streams on the north side are not flowing now.
The photo below looks directly south up Road 43N21 at the smooth, steep, and snowy North Face of Shastina, which drops directly from crater rim of Shastina at 12200 ft with a 38-40 degree pitch on the upper part. This route looks like it would be in great shape in May or early June this year, on a day with 12000+ ft freezing level. It has roughly the same elevation and vertical gain as the south side route on Mount Adams, so it should be a nice day trip. Anyone want to ski it?
Following Shasta, it looked like it was time to head back north a bit to southern Oregon and Mount McLoughlin. Other trip reports:
Amar Andalkar
click here for a double-size version of this photo.
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