July 10-11, 2005, Mt. Lassen
7/10/05
US elsewhere
2858
3
We headed down to California, leaving the Eugene area early Saturday morning with the intention of going to the Brewer Creek trail and summiting Shasta. For a variety of reasons, the group decided to pass on Shasta and head to Lassen, instead. I was disappointed to leave Shasta, but I had never been to Lassen before and looked forward to exploring new territory.
Since we had two cars, we did the car shuttle shuffle and left one at the Devastated Area parking and drove the other rig to the 8,500' parking lot starting point for the easy South climb trail. We got on the trail at about 2:30 and I was suprised how easy it was.
At one point we were preparing to take a straighter line up the snowfield that adjoined the trail by kicking steps and heading directly for the summit. We were told by a passing ranger that that was strictly forbidden and we would be ticketed if we left the trail. Say what??? She explained that they don't want to have people that are unprepared/unskilled at climbing to see our path and decide that it would be a good idea to follow it. Okay, I can see that logic, particularly when you encounter the wide variety of people hiking up the trail. We continued up the switch backs and reached the summit without breaking much of a sweat.
The north facing devastated area can be skied from just a few feet below the summit, but the snow was looking a bit sketchy and there were many rocks exposed. My buddy Dan dropped in but wound up slide slipping much of the top portion. The rest of us decided to ski from a point skiers' left and just below the summit plug. The snow was very soft. The deep runnels were no problem.
Flying down the nice slopes in the afternoon sun made the drive worthwhile. We skied down some snowfilled gullies as far as we could before taking the skis off and commencing the schwack. The hike back to the road wasn't too bad. We car camped at the Summit Lake camp, which surprisingly was only half filled on a sunny summer weekend.
On Sunday morning we again climbed the south trail, but stopped just short of the summit to ski the south facing snowfield. Soft snow+nice pitches+swooping turns=big grins. We had time for some additional vertical on the other side of the road from the main peak before we had to load up for the long trip back north.
Not exactly the weekend that I had planned on, but it was big fun, nevertheless.
Since we had two cars, we did the car shuttle shuffle and left one at the Devastated Area parking and drove the other rig to the 8,500' parking lot starting point for the easy South climb trail. We got on the trail at about 2:30 and I was suprised how easy it was.
At one point we were preparing to take a straighter line up the snowfield that adjoined the trail by kicking steps and heading directly for the summit. We were told by a passing ranger that that was strictly forbidden and we would be ticketed if we left the trail. Say what??? She explained that they don't want to have people that are unprepared/unskilled at climbing to see our path and decide that it would be a good idea to follow it. Okay, I can see that logic, particularly when you encounter the wide variety of people hiking up the trail. We continued up the switch backs and reached the summit without breaking much of a sweat.
The north facing devastated area can be skied from just a few feet below the summit, but the snow was looking a bit sketchy and there were many rocks exposed. My buddy Dan dropped in but wound up slide slipping much of the top portion. The rest of us decided to ski from a point skiers' left and just below the summit plug. The snow was very soft. The deep runnels were no problem.
Flying down the nice slopes in the afternoon sun made the drive worthwhile. We skied down some snowfilled gullies as far as we could before taking the skis off and commencing the schwack. The hike back to the road wasn't too bad. We car camped at the Summit Lake camp, which surprisingly was only half filled on a sunny summer weekend.
On Sunday morning we again climbed the south trail, but stopped just short of the summit to ski the south facing snowfield. Soft snow+nice pitches+swooping turns=big grins. We had time for some additional vertical on the other side of the road from the main peak before we had to load up for the long trip back north.
Not exactly the weekend that I had planned on, but it was big fun, nevertheless.
Sorry you missed Shasta. Did the Hotlum-Wintun from Brewer Sat. Lucked out on the weather. It's a great route and trip; you gotta go!
Dagnabbit! I just knew that would happen.
We're planning on heading back in August with people who are "motivated" (i.e. in shape). Think it'll still be good then?
We're planning on heading back in August with people who are "motivated" (i.e. in shape). Think it'll still be good then?
At one point we were preparing to take a straighter line up the snowfield that adjoined the trail by kicking steps and heading directly for the summit. We were told by a passing ranger that that was strictly forbidden and we would be ticketed if we left the trail.
We saw those signs, and presumed they applied only to cutting the switchbacks on the volcanic rock. A telemarker from Tahoe City had booted up the snowfield earlier on Sunday, and Lowell had skinned up Saturday (which is what I would have done had I realized that the snowline was continuous almost all the way to the summit). I can't imagine how on-snow travel would be a ticketable offense, especially since it has less environmental impact, but, well, I guess that's their rigid thinking...
The north facing devastated area can be skied from just a few feet below the summit, but the snow was looking a bit sketchy and there were many rocks exposed.
Skiing from the summit was definitely for the sake of skiing from the summit. Quite a contrast with the rest of the skiable terrain!
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