I began the hardest physical journey that I had undertook in my life. I was packed in a van with 5 other high school classmates and 3 adults leaders, and we looked out to the daunting mountain ahead. The peak of Mt. Shasta was at a towering 14, 179 feet above sea level. The highest "mountain" I had summited before Shasta lied at 7,000 feet... I had been training for the past month: running, hiking, and weight training. However I knew that no matter how much physical preparation I did, in the end what would really matter was how mentally prepared I was. Mind over matter right?
We arrived at the parking lot, about 6,000 feet above sea level, and had our last breakfast of champions before setting out on a 4 day journey.
We were summited during May, but it was still 100% snow on the mountain, which meant snow shoes and crampons! We prepared ourselves with anti-blister tape, because one bad blister on a mountain can ruin your whole journey.
Up we went! We were troopers, heads down, knees up.
Despite the below freezing temperatures, it was exhausting hiking up snow with 40-50 pounds on our backs. So one of my classmates found a solution to his rising body temperature...
Our first day we made it up to 8,000 feet and had "snow school". We found a pretty steep part of the mountain and began practicing self arrests with our ice axes (which proved very important during my descent). It was a blast! We literally spent 3 hours purposely falling down a steep slope head first, feet first, on our backs, on our stomachs, and then catching and stopping ourselves with our handy ice axes. We also had a very serious talk about the risk of avalanches, the which we had already seen several from a distance.
A week before I left, I went to the dentist and told Holly about my upcoming journey. She replied, "Oh honey that's so amazing. Good luck to you! You know, my friend actually just went up Shasta and died. He was caught in an avalanche and didn't make it out. But he had a locator on him, and when they found his body he had the biggest grin across his face. He had died doing something he really loved". As much as that story freaked me out, it was beautiful all the same.
Our second day we pushed up to base camp at 10,000 feet. During the evening we made a little "kitchen" (pictured below), and did pretty well if I may say so myself! We sung songs, ate food, and chatted about the next day's summit attempt.
The boys all shared a tent together, and did not stake it down well enough. They were supposed to "stake" the tent down in the snow by packing snow around the stake so much that it became an ice block gluing the stake to the surrounding snow. However, somehow they managed to overlook the necessity of doing this task. As we were prepping dinner we saw the tent start to blow away, heading straight towards a 400 foot drop. The boys ran straight for the tent and caught it right in time, thankfully. However, all I could think about is what would have happened if the tent had blown over the edge and the guys had not realized and let go in time...
I must admit that one of the highlights of my trip was during one of my bathroom breaks. I went around to the other side of base camp to do my business. Btw, if you don't know what shitting in the snow would entail, picture a piece of paper with a bulls eye on it. You want to aim for the "10"/ bulls eye. Hopefully you make it. Then you wrap up your crap and put it in a paper bag full of cat litter. Then you bury it halfway in the snow overnight to freeze and carry it out with you. Wonderful process right? But back to the story...I was out having some quality time, doing my business, and everything was silent around me. The sun was setting, making the sky a perfect, soft pink. I could see Shasta City sparkling in the distance. And then suddenly a dry lightening storm began, streaking bolts of vibrant pink across this mellow sunset sky. I was magical.
As lone as God and white as a winter moon, Mount Shasta starts up suddenly from the heart of the great black forests of California.
You would hardly call Mount Shasta a part of the Sierras; you would say rather that it is the great white tower of some ancient and eternal wall, with here and there the white walls overthrown.
It has no rival! There is not even a snow crowned subject in sight of its dominion. A shining pyramid in everlasting mail of frosts and ice, the sailor sometimes, in a day of singular clearness, catches glimpses of it from the sea a hundred miles away to the west; and it may be seen from the dome of the capitol 340 miles distant. The immigrant coming from the east beholds the snowy, solitary pillar from afar out on the arid sage-brush plains, and lifts his hands in silence as if in answer to a sign."
- Joaquin Miller, Life Amongst The Modocs, 1874
Summit day had come - starting at 10,000 feet and praying that we'd make it to 14,179. This day was by far the hardest physical experience I have ever had. I honestly can't even remember the struggle or the pain, because at some point my body stopped fighting against it all and just moved. I went into survival mode, and my mind went to a place where it didn't even question if I could succeed, my body went into a place where it didn't even question the next step. It just moved forward because that was the only thing to do.
We were almost at the top and a whiteout storm blew in. Thankfully, we had been marking our path with red flags every 30 or so feet, in case something like this were to happen. If it weren't for these red flags, we probably would have been stuck up there, unable to find the way down.
WE MADE IT!!! We were all so exhausted, but the minute we reached the top, uncontrollable tears starting to pour down our faces. We couldn't believe it. We were really there. Thank you Shasta Thank you Shasta Thank you Shasta I kept on thinking to myself.
But the journey wasn't over yet. After a few steps down, I realized that I couldn't bend my knee past 120 degrees, or else a shooting pain would run straight down my leg. I later found out that it was due to an intense pressure on my sciatic nerve, caused by my strenuous ascent. So how was I supposed to descend 8,000 feet...? Guess what...I slide on my butt the whole way down the mountain, and it was exhilarating! This is the part where the lessons on how to self arrest using an ice axe came in handy. Many times the slope was so steep that I was sliding down at a dangerous speed, and had to throw my body over to the left and catch myself with my ice axe, only to start sliding down again. I mean, I had to get down, right? I came out of that 8,000 foot descent with some holes in my pants and a really, really bruised behind.
The whole team was ecstatic for having completed our journey. We said our goodbyes to the mountain, hopped in our van, and our first stop was some grub at Big Bear Diner...
Mt Shasta is considered by many to be the root chakra of the world. And boy was it the root chakra for me. It is considered the base of the world energy system where all life energy rushes out of. My experience summiting this beautiful mountain brought me straight to the base of my energy system. It challenged my body, and reconnected me to the physical form that acts as a vessel for all of my life energy. I recently revisited Shasta for the first time since my ascent, and immediately felt the intense energy of this mountain that had once poured energy in and out of me.
Well done, thanks.
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Love Mt shasta! Excited to go to the day out of time on July 25 at City Park.. thanks for taking us along on your adventure with you! Great writing and photos! Getting ready for those healing waters
Awesome! I love headwaters, was just there two weeks ago :-) Also if you haven't already Id recommend checking out castle lake and heart lake!
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you're lucky :P. one day I plan to walk from portugal to china and blog the whole thing on Steemit, but for now my 30 day challenege will do xD
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This is a lovely and well written post. You definately have some bravery to be honest to hike up a mountain as such. I'm glad your journey was great and you got down safe.
Thanks for this epic story.
W
That stunning images, congratulations for the great adventure!
Nice photos, hope you enjoy the trip.
Would like to truy a trip like that one day.
Keep up the good post, and the good work :)
-Kind Regards
I love how happy everyone is at that meal, no better feeling than a big meal after a big physical challenge like that
Nice write up! That looks like it was an intense adventure.
Girl power!!
Congrats and great story. My first big mountain hike was Salkantay and I have to admit, not only are the pictures while doing it great for memories sake it's an all around amazing experience. Your pictures look killer!
Awesome! I have some friends that just did Salkantay and they said it was magnificent, I would love to see your photos if you decide to share them on Steemit.
nice photo !
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Wow thank you so much I really appreciate it :-)
That is cool, I would want to climb a mountain but I can't stand to be cold.
Lol! I can't really either and it was FREEZING. But all part of the experience..
Atleast you dont need to carry an ice-chest
You are very brave !
Well done to you for completing your climb - inspiring
Very nice post. looks like you had an amazing time , almost felt like i was there with you . Thanks for the trip.
Welcome
Welcome
Hello ! Сool Like You)
Good luck to you all!
Looks like fun!! Enjoy!
Nice photos!
What a lovely Journey Anwen, I enjoyed it thoroughly!
Wow - not anything I would do but your story and images are absolutely fantastic.
Amazing story! Sounds like a rad adventure! Very well composed. Makes me want to hit the trails.
Well written post! Enjoyed it very much !
This looks like an incredible trip! Fantastic descriptive story and the photographs keep the reader visually engaged as well. Do you rock climb as well? I recently wrote a post about climbing trying to entice others to describe their hobbies, passions and adventures. Here is the link if you are interested: https://steemit.com/motivation/@hmfoucault/steemit-community-what-do-you-do-for-fun Keep up the great posts!
Thanks,
H
Cool
Awesome
Yo. Can you delete your account so I can have your Username? it doesn't seem like you're using it. I'd greatly appreciate it.
Cool!!! Best wishes for you!!!
hello
check out my little trekking fun https://steemit.com/travel/@vijaychaudhary09/race-to-biggest-tree-trekking-tour-of-arravalis-all-photography-by-lumia-730
omg looks like your having a great time! Love the photos :)
Well done and Awesone post! Thank you for sharing with us :)
Quite the story Awen! An great documentation of it!
Caught any Pokemon up there? :p
Loved your pictures and story. I knew a guy who grew up around there and claimed he would get up really early and do the whole mountain in a day. I think doing the way you did would be much more enjoyable and the way I would go too.
That's around 1km higher than my office/home, an average pass for my yearly hiking.. :) You're always welcome in Nepal.
Whoa awesome! Thanks :-) I plan on going next year!
Hi! You have cool posts. Please check out mine :D
https://steemit.com/photography/@lyubovnam/borneo-beach-malaysia
Your travel diary written by great, I also want to try to write about travel, I come from China, but also not very familiar with how to apply, I will slowly learn.
I went there once, hardly went up that FAR! Bravo!
That was quite the adventure experience, best of luck !
That was quite the adventure experience, best of luck !
Wow nice article and pics - I'd love to visit My Shasta one day.
There are so many old stories about that place claiming all sorts, like its a main entrance to the inner earth, or it grants immortality ..
Dunno about that, but it sure is pretty :)
Very good , I enjoyed the article
"World's Root Chakra"
White people sure are wacky.
You're inspiring!
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Spread the word if you know anyone!