Avalanche Gulch route is awesome, I highly recommend it. Way better than the Clear Creek scree slog of the year before. You can read about that here. We were fortunate to have great weather and great snow. Thank you, Lord!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Mark Christison and Sean Conklin did the Avalanche Gulch route with me on the southwest side of Mt. Shasta 14, 179 ft. on July 18-19, 2009
It was awesome!
We left the Bunny Flat parking lot 6950 ft. (a short 20 min. drive from the town of Mt. Shasta) with 50-60 pound packs on. Our destination was Lake Helen 10,440 ft. where we would camp.
Avalanche Gulch Route Overview
Lake Helen Camp 10,440 ft.
The
Heart
Red Banks 12,500 ft.
Misery Hill 13, 800
Summit 14, 179 ft.
(not visible behind Misery Hill)
•About 6 miles from Bunny Flat trailhead to the summit (3 miles to Lake Helen).
•Last water on trail is the spring at Horse Camp 7880 ft. (an hour from the trailhead).
•7229 feet of elevation gain
•Camping at Lake Helen 10,440 is a good way to go; plenty of campsites there.
We stopped at the Sierra Club hut at 7880 (also known as Horse Camp) where a spring is running and they have outhouses.
There’s no running water (or shade) above this point, so we filled up our Nalgenes and enjoyed the mini-oasis before heading up the hill.
It took us 7 hours to get to Lake Helen at 10,440 ft., which is not really a lake, it’s a flat area with a big snowfield. I guess in the very warmest of years when it melts down to almost nothing there’s a blue-ish puddle- “Lake” Helen.
We set up camp and started getting ready for dinner.
An important and time consuming job was melting snow for water- to replenish what we drank, to fill up the bottles for summit day, and to cook for dinner. It took us two hours (with 2 stoves!) to melt all the snow we needed. I’m determined to figure out a faster way to do this.
About 40-50 people camped at Lake Helen that Saturday night.
The Russian climbers next door brought Budweiser (very heavy and not helpful for acclimatizing!).
The next morning we were out the door by 1:30AM. We wanted to beat the crowds to the narrow chutes in the Red Banks. I had over-exerted myself the day before (and probably had a little too much for dinner) and tossed my cookies a half hour into the climb. I took it slow and recovered fine as we went up the mountain.
Sean and Mark at sunrise just above 12,000 ft. near the Heart (just below the Red Banks). The shadow of Mt. Shasta rises behind them.
Mark climbing just below the Red Banks.
Me climbing in the Red Banks about 12,500 ft.
Mark in the Red Banks.
Sean at 13,200 ft. getting ready to head up Misery Hill. It’s really not that miserable.
Top of Misery Hill 13, 800 ft.
Almost there!
Summit plateau at 13, 800 ft., top of Misery Hill, looking towards the summit.
Summit plateau looking towards the summit cone.
Mark Christison and I on the summit of Mt. Shasta 14, 179 ft. Mark’s first time to the top. My third.
Sean Conklin and I on top. Sean was on top with me in July of 2008 as well. Yeah!
