Climbing the Avalanche Gulch Route
by Paul Kuroda

Sergio, Nick and I just returned from a trip to Mt. Shasta. On June 19, we arrived in the town of Mt. Shasta, visited the ranger station, and bought a few last-minute supplies. Then we headed up the trail to Horse Camp (elevation around 8000 feet).

On June 20, we started up towards our high camp at Helen Lake (10,400 feet). I brought along too much stuff (pack weighed over 60 lbs), and was the last to arrive at Helen Lake. By late afternoon, there were at least 30 to 40 other hikers there, making preparations for an early start the next day.

By 4:30 a.m. on June 21, most of the climbers were heading up Avalanche Gulch by headlamp. Conditions were pretty good, but the wind was picking up, and once in a while you had to hold onto the axe and crouch down for a few seconds, to avoid being knocked off balance. The snow was firm, and you could slide a long way on the 30 to 40 degree slopes. Also, on several occasions, rocks came tumbling down the gulch at high speed. One of them missed me by about 15 feet.

After reaching the Red Banks at 12,800 feet, there was finally a flat spot to take a break, eat a Cliff bar, apply sunscreen, etc. Sergio and I took different routes through the Red Banks, but met up again at 13,000 feet, near the base of Misery Hill.

Nick reached the summit (14,162 feet) first, and we met him as he was heading back down. He warned us about the high winds near the peak (gusts around 50 mph).

We continued to the top of Misery Hill and then across the summit plateau. There were great views of Shastina, Lassen, and the glaciers on the north side of Shasta. We continued up the final switchbacks, occasionally getting blasted by the wind, and reached the summit at around 9:00 a.m.

On the way down, we couldn't glissade too much, because it was early in the day and the snow hadn't softened up yet. We caught up to an inexperienced climber who was about to glissade down a steep icy chute, with her crampons on. Sergio reached her just in time to warn her about the danger, so she changed her mind and didn't glissade after all.

By the time we returned to Helen Lake, it was very warm. We took down the tents, packed up, and hiked all the way out to the trailhead.

We were lucky with the weather during this trip. Although the winds made things difficult at times, there was no snow or rain, and temperatures were mild.

Trip Photos

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