Buckaroo Posted September 23, 2002 Share Posted September 23, 2002 Climbed Shasta on Sept 8th and 9th. Did the Hotlum -Wintun Ridge with the RH snow gully variation at the top. The "snow" was smooth alpine hard water ice. Sort of interesting with flexible leather boots, lightweight strap-on's and a Grivel "Mont Blanc" toy ice axe. I came back down on the rock. Nice long bouldery rock ridge this time of year. Hardly any scree or snow on the ridge. Quite a bit different from Rainier in that the area is quite a bit drier, vegetation, snow and size of glaciers. It was way easier altitude wise as I had been in Yosemite and high sierras so was aclimatized somewhat. Shasta City is at 4,000' so aclimatization is easier. Also the trailhead is at 7,000' so it's closer to the summit. Recommend the ridge this time of year, it was good for soloing in that no glacier crossing is required. Plenty of nice bivy spots from 9,500 to 12,000, including some tent spots. I looked at Hotlum-Bolum ridge but it had big shrunds and lots more mandatory ice slopes. It was pretty warm, never even used the ski gloves, and clear as a bell, excellent summit views. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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