Lauren Lamonica

Just prior to an important birthday, I hiked Mt. Shasta . Like life, the top is higher than you think. I didn’t make it to the official summit this time, but I got very far, and learned what I need to get to the top. I made it above "the heart", and "red banks" and up to lower Misery Hill and Thumb Rock at 13K ft . We began our descent after sunrise at 6:30 a.m. It felt and looked like the top, walking along the crevasse between Avalache Gulch and Konwafkton Glacier.

Shasta isn’t miserable. Shasta is beautiful, especially along the ascent. The bleak white landscape creates the illusion of flatness and shortens the distance to the summit. While I was hiking up through the clouds, I realized why I love the architecture of Hugh Jacobsen, who uses white and gray to play with depth. I saw one of his houses years ago on a snowy day in the Berkshires and fell in love with the elegance and minimalism of his work. So beautiful and mysterious, like Shasta.

This was my first mountaineering experience. The trip required planning, as well as lessons in the use of crampons and an ice axe. For anyone who wants to summit Mt. Shasta, here are some things to know.

• You will need a bunch of gear and can rent almost all of it in Shasta. Things I rented were: Boots (for hiking in snow, and must fit crampons), crampons (spikes that attach to boots, to hike in ice), ice axe, climbing helmet, warm sleeping bag and pad, leg gaitors (go over pants to keep snow from getting in boots). I rented all of this at a place called Fifth Season and the total was about $145. You can buy most other necessities at the shop, too. We had a big checklist of things to bring, and I’d be happy to provide it upon request.
• You can do this hike in 2 or 3 days (or in 45 minutes, according to local lore!). The first day you can either hike to Horse Camp (about 9K ft) from Bunny Flat, or you can hike all the way to Helen Lake (10.4K ft). The difference is a day.
• Helen Lake is not a lake. It’s a ridge of snow, behind which is “tent city.” This is where hikers camp out the night before the summit to 14.1K feet. At Helen Lake, you camp until around 1:30 am and then begin the last leg of the hike. Getting up at 1:30 in 20 degree weather is…um…refreshing.
• You have to be in really good shape to even mildly enjoy this trip. It’s beautiful but aerobically tough and technical.
• Don’t take a camelback to the summit. The mouth tube will be frozen when you wake. Take a plastic bottle like a Nalgene. It will still begin to freeze, but the mouth should be wide enough to use for drinking the unfrozen water.
• Don’t leave or walk ahead of your group unless you have food. I hiked ahead, and at one point, I had to bum food from a descending hiker to get enough energy to make it to Helen Lake.
• Do the first 2 legs in 1 day, not 2. If you can’t do the first 2 legs in 1 day, you probably won’t be able to summit. The people who fell behind on day 1 did not attempt the summit.
• My main reason for not getting from 13K ft (lower Misery Hill) to 14.1 ft (summit) is that I couldn’t feel my right foot. Not sure what to do about that, but you must not let water into your boots. It will freeze overnight rather than drying, and then it will melt when you begin hiking—and proceed to freeze your feet. I found some battery-powered foot warmers online that I may have to get before my next attempt.
• My crampons kept falling off. So, be sure to get quality crampons or just learn to keep fixing them. Nothing is more disappointing then having them come off over and over again, in the dark, with little sleep, in freezing weather.
• Go with someone who has made the summit before. If you’re nice, they’ll help you put on your crampons (thanks, Chris!)