Eric & Lucie's Bus Trip: Alpine Climbing on Mount Shasta, CA

On June 20, we hike to Hidden valley campground. We leave the Bunny Flat parking lot (6,800') at 9 AM and climb 2 miles to the Horse Camp (7,800') cabin. Behind the hut, we find the sign showing the way to Hidden Valley and turn left (note that this sign may be buried under snow early in the season. If you miss this turn, the trail will take you to the Avalanche Gulch route).

Beyond this the left turn, we continue for 1.5 miles, traversing the West side of the mountain until we reach Hidden Valley (9,200'). The "trail" to the Valley is cross-country and can be hard to follow in spots. We cross some loose talus and traverse several 20-40 degrees snow fields. The snow is pretty firm - we do not sink too much and we do not need to use our crampons either.

We reach the Valley just before noon. It's only late June and most of the Valley is still under snow. We set up camp on rock outcrops, just before the slope starts steepening towards the base of the West face. We lounge in the sun most of the afternoon and hit the sack early.

We get up at 1:30 AM the next morning. By the time we've managed to force down some breakfast and get ready to leave camp, it is 3 AM. We follow the gentle slope to the upper section of the Valley (~10,000'). From there, the angle steepens to 40-45 degrees for about 300 feet. At the top of the chute, the gully turns slightly to the right and continues straight up the face. The slope lessens to 30-35 degrees until we reach the red outcrops of Fang Rock (~12,500'). The snow is nice and firm, providing for easy cramponing.

Another 800 feet and we reach the saddle on the top of the face at ~13,300'. We take a long and well deserved break there before continuing to the summit! From the top of the face, we have nice views of the upper section of Whitney Glacier, Misery Hill and the summit.

We then continue climbing the ridge on the right side, and cross Whitney Glacier (no crevasses) to get to the bottom of Misery Hill, loosing about 200 feet of elevation in the process. We find Misery hill free of snow and go straight up on scree.

We then follow the summit plateau to the summit, which we reach at about 9 AM.

The summit is crowded with people (who came up the regular route), many of them on cell phones (which we cannot stand, particularly in the mountains), so we don't feel like staying very long. We reverse the route to the top of the West face where we glissade back down to camp. After a quick lunch, we pack and hike back down to the car.

A fun two day outing. You could probably climb the West Face in a long day (~7,300 ft of elevation gain) from the car but the beautiful camping at Hidden Valley is really what makes this route special. Following the trail cross-country between the horse Camp and Hidden Valley may not be easy in the dark though, so try to leave camp early on the way down

Note that summit passes are required for anyone climbing above 10,000 feet. A pass costs $15 (!) per person, and is good for three days starting on the date of purchase. Self-issue kiosks are available at the Mt. Shasta Ranger Station on Alma St. in Mt. Shasta city, the McCloud Ranger Station on Hwy 89 in McCloud and at all trailheads. Annual summit passes are $25.00 and are good for one year from the date of purchase. Annual passes are available only during regular business hours at the Mt Shasta and Mc Cloud Ranger Stations.