Spring on Mt. Shasta is an exciting prospect and each day brings something new; an updated weather forecast, cool temperatures, sun, wind, maybe even some new snow. Such is spring in the Cascades. Our weather in California can be stable and consistant but in early spring of an El Niño year, anything is possible.

One of the challenges of mountaineering is to manage our goals and attitude to reflect the current reality. It’s easy as climbers to focus on the end result, did you stand on the summit or not? But the adventure of alpinism absolutely lies in the process. And if we ignore the beauty and struggles of the entire expedition and judge our success on whether or not we reach the summit, then we’ve missed the whole point.

With the variable weather and unseasonably cold temps, reaching the summit has been especially challenging this month (May 2016) on Mt. Shasta. We’ve carved small windows of opportunity from the weather forecast, adjusted our climb schedule to maximize climbing chances, bundled under layers of fleece and down and huddled from the blowing wind. The truth is, not everyone reaches the summit; goals fall short and objectives un-met. It’s easy to feel disappointed but we want to remember that whatever our high point, just by choosing to climb and taking that first step, we’ve already accomplished so much pushing beyond our comfort zone. Congratulations to all climbers, whatever your high point is.

Early spring and summer on Mt. Shasta is one of our favorite times of the year. With cool evenings, mild days and occasional storms smoothing out the snow surface. We joke of our recreational stress syndrome (R.S.S.) and manage the affliction with a cold beer on the tailgate or camp chair after a full day. Morning ski tours followed by afternoon bike rides. Do you pack the climbing gear or load the kayaks, mountain or road bike, glacier hike or trail run? So many decisions…

We at SMG are locals, we live in Mt. Shasta, this is our home and our guides are like family. This past week on a perfect spring day, we had a group of guides volunteer their time to help with an annual project that SMG supports; a garbage clean up of public lands. Special thanks to Adam, Razor, Aysha, T.L., and Chris who filled 2 large trucks with garbage, appliances, and junk from the South Fork of the Sacramento River drainage. Bravo!

Currently there is 2-3 feet of snow at Bunny Flat, this and the Northgate trailhead are the only trailheads accessible. Clear Creek is 2-3 miles and Brewer Creek is between 5-6 miles to reach the trailhead.

Our calendar is rapidly filling, please be in touch if you have any questions or wish to join a Mt. Shasta summit climb. Good luck, be safe, and enjoy Mt. Shasta!