Spotlight: Shasta MAGIC MOUNTAIN
A mighty volcano of the Cascades, Mount Shasta dominates its landscape, visible for more than 100 miles from parts of Northern California and southern Oregon. While at just over 14,000 feet, it’s not the state’s tallest peak, the sight of the mountain looming ahead, rising alone on the horizon, is intoxicating.
Mount Shasta was a great fixation for John Muir. He wrote extensively about the Shasta region, but perhaps the best distillation of his feelings about the majestic cone and its surrounding lands is in his most famous quote about the mountain, from an 1874 letter:
“When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.”
Muir wasn’t the only person captivated by the mountain. From hikers to mountaineers, cyclists to rafters, skiers to lovers of the great outdoors, many are struck with reverence for Mount Shasta.
It’s nothing new. For centuries, American Indians of the Shasta, Klamath, Pit, Modoc and Wintu tribes have honored the mountain as sacred, and today they still carry out rituals in honor of the mountain and the spiritual power it’s believed to emanate. It’s especially important to the Wintu tribe, who trace their people’s origin to a sacred spring on the mountain.
Spiritual seekers are attracted to the peak’s purported mystical power, and Mount Shasta has been labeled a cosmic power point, a UFO landing spot and even an entry point into the fifth dimension (or parallel Earth). And then there is the legend of the Lemurians — believed to be higher-dimensional beings from an ancient continent who fled to live inside Mount Shasta after getting into a war with the residents of Atlantis.
Form your own opinion on a visit to the Crystal Room (www.crystalsmtshasta.com), on West Castle Street in Mount Shasta City. Wander the eight rooms of crystals, geodes, animal carvings, cut and polished stones and singing bowls. Does one speak to you? Even if the answer is no, it’s like walking through a museum.
Or consider a tour. Shasta Vortex Adventures, for example, offers everything from sacred site tours and guided vision quests to exploratory hikes and backcountry ski and snowshoe tours.
Regardless of what one believes about the mountain, it’s easy to see why it has so many legends to its name. One of the best ways to get to know the region is by getting into the outdoors, whether it’s to climb the massive snowcapped stratovolcano, camp in miles of national forest or hike on the many trails.
Robin Kohn, who wrote the “Mount Shasta Guide to Fun” and is also a local guide, says one of her favorite hikes is a moderate 10mile round trip to the Deadfall Lakes and Mount Eddy.
“When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.” John Muir
“The wildflowers along the trail are spectacular,” she says. “The trail has about five lakes: Lower and Middle Deadfall Lakes appear first, and another mile up the trail is Upper Deadfall Lakes. The next section is heading up the ridge where the Sisson-Callahan Trail intersects, and the trail that goes to the top of Mount Eddy. This area has the rare foxtail pine tree that only grows in certain areas.
“Heading up the trail to Mount Eddy offers incredible views of Lake Siskiyou and the city of Mount Shasta. Mount Eddy is the highest point (9,025 feet) in the Klamath Mountain Range.”
The most famous event John Muir recounted from the time he spent around Mount Shasta was the epic snowstorm he survived on the summit. Have your own adventure (preferably without the snowstorm) when you climb Mount Shasta.
Don’t worry — you don’t have to go it alone. Shasta Mountain Guides and SWS Mountain Guides offer guided excursions to the summit, most of them via the spectacular Avalanche Gulch route.
My Alpine-style (two-day) summit ascent included ample time for snow school training, which covers ice ax and crampon use, as well as ice-ax self-arrest.
All the hard work was worth it to watch the sun rise from the summit of Mount Shasta. Muir had it right. I did not feel weary.