Mt. Shasta - Hotlum-Bolam Ridge 6/20/2009
Posted By: mitochondria100 in California
Trip: Mt. Shasta - Hotlum-Bolam Ridge
Date: 6/20/2009
Trip Report:I met with OL and Justing in the parking lot of the Northgate entrance (~6700’) on 06/19/09 (midnight) where we camped O/N before heading for the Hotlum-Bolam ridge next morning. German skiers were as always too loud and did not bless us with too much sleep. Oh well, what else does one expect of spending a night in a parking lot on a weekend? Weather was nice and clear at this point and according to NOAA forecast we certainly were not prepared for what turned out to be a real torture later on. It is not that I mind the occasional tortures like that - I was supposed to get used to them by now.
We packed up, left the trailhead at 8 a.m. and quickly reached the Northgate entrance (~8000’) of Shasta.
After heading up the glacier right across the Northgate,
we progressed to the first high camp area where we replenished our water supply from the still running waterfall. Weather begun to change every five minutes from clear skies to complete whiteouts making us wonder what is going to come next. My attempt to convince OL to continue towards the second high camp – Marine Camp (~10800’) – for our O/N stay -was successful despite the fact that hunting for the nice flat sites in whiteout conditions left much to be desired. I was whining about sticking the tents in the snow rather keep wandering. The guys were more persistent to stay away from the snow. After eventually settling down on the dry moraine, we cooked our Mountain house dinner and dessert and melted enough water for the next day.
Temperatures were quickly dropping with wind gusts reaching 60 mph which was gradually turning into a blizzard with ice and snow. My hopes of the summit were diminishing in exponential progression and my efforts to get some sleep were not crowned with much success either while the best part was yet to come. Justing was helplessly snoring and I was trying to be understanding. Condensation inside the tent was turning into ice particles and every time we moved our bodies against the tent, we got hit by an ice fall right down on our faces. All vents were open, so I have no clue how I was supposed to avoid that. Temperatures hit 10F (first day of summer in Cali) and at 2 a.m. I got up in desperation to realize that all water, cookware, food and fuel canisters were frozen.
On the positive side, the miracle had happened and all of the sudden, we were greeted with clear skies and subsiding winds. At this point, OL dropped: lets catch the moment and go for the summit and so we did. Melting a new batch of snow took 2 and half hours to make just barely enough water to get us to the summit. OL was not happy about the waste of time but we had no other choice. BTW, OL those hand and feet warmers you graciously offered to me turned to be a real life saver! Finally at 5 a.m. we crossed the moraine, put the crampons on and headed up the glacier. The sunrise was gorgeous and made our lives much easier to negotiate open crevasses and a bergshrund up the glacier.
After a few sketchy traverses, we reached “The Step” at 13000’
and noticed the clouds begun gathering again but remained at ~12000’. Oxygen deprivation made its presence noticeable in our needs for more frequent stops which exacerbated en route to the summit ridge. After passing through “The Rabbit Ears” (see pics) we begun the shitty airy traverse across the ice-covered class 3 rock
and the Bolam Glacier up the final pitch to the summit ridge on the north face.
At this point, excruciating headache and my thoughts of whether to throw up or not became sickening and unbearable but I was trying to stay in one piece. Thanks a bunch for the aspirin to Ian I met at the summit! Unfortunately it did not help much but I did not throw up either. Our descent via the Bolam glacier variation was uneventful. We got back to our tents left at the Marine camp, packed up and headed down to the cars.
First day of summer in Cali 2009:
Gear Notes:Helmet, 12 point crampons, axe
Approach Notes:12 miles on Military Pass road on the approach to the Northgate trailhead is a nightmare and my car badly needs a wheel alignment
