Shasta, Thielsen, Mcgloughlin and the kitchen sink

[markv]

Hi. Time for my annual visit to the northwest, and my annual vague and stupid questions!

 

This early August i'm in southern Oregon for a change. (curses on the people at Olympic for not hiring me back...maybe they figured out i was using their "work" pretty much as a base camp. ) I gather i'm a bit past ideal season for the 3 volcanoes i mentioned, but i'm looking into climbing them anyway. Does anyone have any advice? Is Clear Creek up Shasta going to be as miserable as the guide book suggests? Will Avalanche Gulch be a bowling alley? Are there other viable 1-day routes for semi-experienced solo glacier climbers. (have done Hood and Rainier by the standard routes, but not solo.) Any tricks to climbing the Thielsen pinnacle without flying into a vertigo-induced panic? Any other things absolutely NOT to miss in the area? I have plans to spend a little time around Crater Lake, but all in all i'll be limited to about 3-4 days of fun.

 

Thanks!

 

no real reason, but i always wanted to do this one...

[Alpinfox]

Shasta - The Clear Creek route is straightforward, less crowded, and less exposed to wind than Avy Gulch. I don't know what it will be like in late August; probably a dusty scree fest with a crack or two. Probably still better than AG though.

 

Thielsen - the summit pinnacle is exposed easy class 4 for about 50ft.

 

McLoughlin - it's a hiking trail as far as I know. Never done it.

 

[Off_White]

Hotlum-Bolam glacier side of Shasta is good.

[John Frieh]

Thielsen's standard summit pinnacle route is 80 ft of 5.0. Multiple variations exist up to 5.9. PM me if interested.

 

McLoughlin is 3rd class climbing... first class primo blend scree. Only Oregon's finest...

 

Second for Hotlum Bolam (Bolum?)

[Double_E]

Is Clear Creek up Shasta going to be as miserable as the guide book suggests? Will Avalanche Gulch be a bowling alley?

 

Shasta - The Clear Creek route is straightforward, less crowded, and less exposed to wind than Avy Gulch. I don't know what it will be like in late August; probably a dusty scree fest with a crack or two. Probably still better than AG though.

 

Clear Creek was my first choice, esp. cuz of less wind potential .... wind actualy seems to be the most common reason I hear of people not making the summit. Then I talked to a Shasta guide who said that CC will in fact be a dusty scree fest this time of year. And as long as you do Avy Gulch mid-week -- which I will be, next week -- you should "only" have about 25-30 others camped next to you at Helen Lake. I'll take crowds & snow slopes (oh, and did I mention, snow slopes?) over scree, any day.

 

 

 

I'll be camped at Helen Lake six nights from now!

 

[Alex]

I dont think you are past season, I did all three of these in August when I was working in Bly one summer, and they were nice trips

[Chriznitch]

I would also recommend the following for a solo climber:

-Trinity Alps (west of Redding)

-Mt Lassen (east of Redding) for an easy day hike

-Thielsen for sure!

-Mt Yoran and Diamond Peak (east of Eugene)

-if you get further north (Bend area), check out Middle Sister and Broken Top

[Alpine_Tom]

I did Shasta (Clear Creek) and Thielsen in early Sept a couple of years ago. Thielsen was fun, and quite pretty, though not a very long outing for the trip. Shasta was a scree slog -- bring gaiters!

http://home.comcast.net/~tbreit/thielsen.htm

http://home.comcast.net/~tbreit/shasta.htm

[markv]

Hmmm...still hedging on Shasta. If i could only be sure i'd make it back some year in June, i'd skip it now. Thielsen's pictures have me nervous. I'm not as comfy on rock as i am on snow...i don't do any tech rock climbing at all. Is the route obvious on the pinnacle? I might get caught like a cat in a tree.

[nolanr]

If I remember right, the last little bit of climbing on Thielsen there isn't an "obvious" route because there are any number of easy lines to scramble up, whatever looks best go for it. The rock all seemed solid, too. I would definitely recommend doing it, don't let the picture intimidate you.

[Alpine_Tom]

I was anxious about the summit of Thielsen, since I think "Oregon High" calls it low-5th class. In fact, I brought a 30m rope in case I had to rappel down. But it's very straightforward, and not at all difficult.

[PVD]

McCloughlin is easy, just a hike, really, and nothing more than Class 2 if you stay on route.

I second the Diamond Peak suggestion. I did it last summer in a short day from Corrigan Lake, on the west side of the peak. I think this is the quickest route. Hike the short trail to the lake, then head cross-country in open forest due east. Only about 4-4.5 miles to the summit. Easy scrambling (Class 2-3), tons of mosquitos, beautiful views.

[nolanr]

On Thielsen, I would highly recommend taking your time on the way up or way down and scrambling around on some of the small, funky towers on the west slope or south shoulder. Volcanic rock has a reputation for being totally rotten, but this stuff is not friable as far as I experienced, lots of texture to it so it's extremely grippy, fun to play on.

[kurthicks]

Thielsen's standard summit pinnacle route is 80 ft of 5.0. Multiple variations exist up to 5.9. PM me if interested.

 

if you go up on to Thielson, please chop the bolts...

http://www.summitpost.org/show/mread.pl?f_id=10&t_id=4962

[curtveld]

As I recall, Thielson is one of the coolest and most solid scrambling routes in the Oregon Cascades, once you get up the obligatory scree trail.

 

But holy crap, either the summit pinnacle has changed a bit or there's some serious grade inflation going on down there. I recall the standard route (around on the upper E. side) being class 3 - airy, yes, but reasonable. I stand by that rating because a rather unatheletic friend said she had scrambled it unroped. Hmmm...that's considered fifth class nowadays?! Maybe that was a call made by attorneys for the publishing house of the guide book.