^ the little Kelty Clark tent with its view of the surrounding country
^ this was a room with a view of upper Avalanche Gulch
On Saturday morning, I started up to the summit wearing the new (Feathered Friends) super-duper heavy down parka that I had just purchased a few months ago. Since I was expending a lot of energy, I left it open as I ascended the top of Avalanche Gulch on crampons. Without too much trouble, I went up to about 12,900' but then a horrendous wind storm blowing from the southwest caught up with me. It sounded like a locomotive as I started up Misery Hill. The wind gusts became unmanageable and then became a sustained 60 mph. At about 13,700', I was forced to hunker down to wait. The wind was so bad that I simply could not walk. I resorted to crawling along on all fours for a time, but the wind even knocked me over that way. So I just curled up on the rocks about 300 feet below the summit plateau and waited it out for about an hour and a half. The parka was worth its weight in gold. Finally the wind dropped from about 60 mph to maybe 40 mph, so I scrambled up to the top between gusts. The last 100 feet horizontal had to be crawled since the wind gusts were buffeting me right and left.
^ I had to lean into the wind as a stranger snapped the shot.
^ There was no way that I could mount a camera on a tripod with all of the wind.
So, it was pretty exciting. Maybe a little too much.
On a normal Saturday in May, maybe 50-100 climbers make it to the top of Shasta. For this Saturday, I believe that the total number was about three.
I made a hasty retreat to Helen Lake. The glissade track was fast and the snow was just right for my ice axe. I packed up camp and skied down, reaching Bunny Flat before 6 PM.
Casualties: Two black big toenails. One sunglasses frame broken. One warm hat blown away.