[TR] Shasta, Mcloughlin & Thielsen in a day - Standard routes 9/3/2011

[Travis.H]

Trip: Shasta, Mcloughlin & Thielsen in a day - Standard routes

 

Date: 9/3/2011

 

Trip Report:

Since moving to S. Oregon a bit over a year ago and finding there to be something of a lack of technical alpine climbing*, I came up with the idea of linking together three of the major peaks in the region - Shasta, Mcloughlin, and Thielsen - in a single day, as a way to stay motivated. This Saturday the weather & conditions came together for me to take a shot at it (not to mention a three day weekend = extra day to recover before going back to work).

 

Here is a rundown of the trip:

Mt.Shasta: After getting about 3 hours of sleep in the car after work on Friday night I started climbing at 12am. The firm snow was perfect and made for fast climbing; I topped out in the dark at 4:45am where I quickly signed the summit register and headed back down with the sun just coming up towards the bottom of the Heart. I was back in the car and on my way to Mcloughlin by 7:45. Shasta was by far the biggest peak of the day and the altitude was exhausting but the worst part was already feeling worn out and knowing I had two more peaks to climb before the day was over.

 

[img:left]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-78O6M0lrXm8/TmOaVxnEF1I/AAAAAAAAAPk/4wYeaacY6do/s400/IMAGE_1000000474.JPG[/img][img:left]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_qUnwLEqb1E/TmOabHYmN9I/AAAAAAAAAPo/akxoHtorVnM/s400/IMAGE_1000000476.JPG[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt.Mcloughlin: A 2.5 hour drive, a strong cup of coffee and three slices of leftover pizza got me to the Mcloughlin trailhead. I was surprised to find about 30 cars crowding the parking lot - I’ve only been up Mcloughlin in the winter/spring and never seen more than one other car there! I started hiking at 10:30am and the first couple miles were painful due to blisters and achy knees acquired on Shasta. Eventually the pain subsided and I managed a pretty decent pace despite the increasing fatigue. I arrived at the summit at 12:30 and spent just a couple of minutes with about 50 other people before turning back down the mountain. I got back down to the car at about 2:15pm feeling terrible - including walking crooked and stumbling across the parking lot. The prospect of another peak was really not sounding very appealing but the prospect of quitting and having to try the whole thing again from scratch was even less appealing.

 

Mt.Thielsen: The 2 hour drive from Mcloughlin to Thielsen, and the last couple slices of pizza, helped me recover enough to feel like I could pull it off. My feet were bleeding, my knees and ankles were screaming, my lungs were revolting (I developed a cough while on Mcloughlin), and my muscles were cramping... clearly Thielsen was going to be the “fun” one of the three! There were still a handful of cars in the car park when I headed up the trail at 4:15pm and I soon passed by those groups as they were heading down after finishing their day’s climbs. The last group heading down, when seeing me on my way up commented that “It’s a little late to go up, don’t you think?” my response as I passed was “yeah, but I’ve been climbing all day”. I realized afterwards they probably thought I had been climbing Thielsen all day - which must have been fairly worrying for them as I was only halfway to the summit by then. I’ve been up Thielsen several times but by now I wasn’t in top shape, and I was concerned about getting up and off the summit pinnacle before dark. My speed slowed on the steeper, loose climbing below the summit but eventually I made it up the summit pinnacle and still had plenty of daylight to sign the book and down climb with plenty of daylight left. The scramble down the loose scree and rubble back to the PCT was slow going and by the time I reached the junction the sun was gone but I figured I still had 30 minutes or so of daylight left and 4 miles back to the car. Since the trail was good I decided I’d jog back and see if I could beat the darkness. The running downhill hurt but just as the trail was getting too dark to see without a headlamp I arrived at the car … just over 20 hours after starting up Mt.Shasta.

 

[img:left]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XjlXDeeqnco/TmObQXlDptI/AAAAAAAAAQI/KEU1V7lxfD4/s400/IMAGE_1000000500.JPG[/img] [img:left]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WDGORSkPHkI/TmObV2otDyI/AAAAAAAAAQM/KmqB5X8xlBw/s400/IMAGE_1000000506.JPG[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total damage:

3 peaks: Shasta(7hr30min rt), Mcloughlin (3hr45min rt), Thielsen (3hr45min rt)

Total time: 20hr:07min;20sec

15,000ft/4,600m ascent & descent

35miles/56km distance on foot

16 energy gels

At least 1 toenail

 

*As a side note, if anyone in the area might be interested in scoping out some winter climbing on Thielsen, pm me or email me at holman.travis (at) gmail.com

Edited September 5, 2011 by Travis.H

[ScaredSilly]

Nice!!!!!!

 

[JasonG]

Ah yes, a day spent riding the

. Terry Tate would be proud, strong work!

[wayne]

Wow dude. Thats some link=up. Love the start photo.

[dougd]

LOL

[Travis.H]

Ah yes, a little cellphone camera magic. Can't control it, but every once in a while it produces a happy accident.

[stevetimetravlr]

Way aggro! Awesome feat.

[Alex]

But someone has to ask...what about poor Lassen??

 

[billcoe]

WAY TO GET ON IT! WOOT!

[Travis.H]

But someone has to ask...what about poor Lassen??

Ha, it does seem quite neglected down there. But an extra 5 mile round trip, plus 2 more hours driving? I reckon it could be done...but I think I'll leave it to someone else - the 4+ hours in the car was more than enough.

[Water]

congrats, hell of a feat. speedy on shasta!! set your sights on 3 sisters traverse? no driving between the mountains necessary..

[lavaclimber]

That's impressive, nice job man

[EastCoastBastard]

looks like you've gotten yourself a new watch. You're not missing the rain, I suppose?

 

G

[Travis.H]

That's right, I just needed to do something to have an excuse to show it off!

 

The dry summers are nice indeed - I can actually start out climbing in good weather and be reasonably confident it won't be raining/sleeting/snowing by the afternoon. I actually miss NZ though, we've even been thinking about moving back (not to Palmy of course)