Mt Shasta

[beauvais]

I plan to climb Shasta next week solo and would like some info on an easy route that requires no gear except poles. I have been told by the rangers that Avy Gulch is not a good option and been referred to Clear Creek. My first time on the mountain, but have finished all the Colorado 14ers, but don't have any glacier experience! Any info would be appreciated. I know it's a big mountain, should be one hell of a day next week!

[Luzak00]

Shasta this time of year is not too fun on the south side.

 

I would probably want crampons, too, for the top. A slip in the wrong spot could end in a slide into a crevasse up there.

[B Deleted_Beck]

There's glacier-free routes on all of Colorado's 14ers?

[beauvais]

There are no glaciers on any of the CO 14ers, the new challenge these days is getting them in calender winter. The spring is a good time to get a good snow climb on the 14ers, many steep snow couloir routes.

[Alpine_Tom]

I did it mid-September nine years ago, up the Clear Creek route. It's a long scree slog.

 

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

[beauvais]

Got Shasta from Clear Creek TH, it was a 13 hour day. Hike to spring was not bad and filled up there. The scree wasn't too bad, but it did make me traverse over to a rocky ridge nearby. There was some good switchbacking trail here and there, but a really good one up near the orange rock hoodoo that reminded me a lot of Grays Pk in Colorado. Weather cooperated, windy with 40 mph sustained winds on the upper mountain. Didn't need my crampons at the glacier on top, but did climb a class 5 chute on the eastside of summit block, very exciting finish on a very big hill. Plunge stepping back down really got me sore the next day, but overall it was a great day, huge trees, really different place above treeline here as almost nothing grows and void of pikas, marmots, birds and even insects. 9 hours up, 3 hrs, 50 min down, well worth the effort for my intro to the Cascades!