Trip Report, Avalanche Gulch
by Steve Malphurs

Posted on Saturday September 8,1998

I just wanted to share my accounts of my recent ascent of Mt. Shasta, August 8th-10th 1998 on the Avalanche Gulch route.

We were lucky to have warm and calm conditions on the mountain while we were there. I was really shocked to see how much snow that had melted since June. The mountain had record snowfall this year followed by record heat. It's been above 100 degrees in Redding, 30 of the last 60 days.

We arrived Saturday afternoon August 8 at the Bunny Flat trailhead at 6840 feet. It was pretty warm; about 85 degrees or so. I was with my same two friends John and Lane, who climbed with me in June. We had attempted to climb Casaval Ridge last June but had to turn around at 11,000 feet due to the weather and our inexperience. This time we would try the easier Avalanche Gulch route. We filled out our permit, donned our packs and were off down the trail to the Sierra Club cabin at 7,900 feet. There was well over a hundred cars in the parking lot, so we were passing and talking to people around every corner. We learned from people coming down that the conditions at the summit were as good as it gets.

We arrived at the Sierra Club cabin in an area known as Horse Camp in about an hour. This is where the summit trail begins. There were patchy mounds of  snow here and there about 3 feet high. We found a dry flat area and set up camp in the dirt. It was weird thinking about how we were 15 feet higher off the ground when we camped here in June in the snow. Camping in the snow turns out to be alot of extra work!

We set up our tents and then strolled over to the cabin to watch the people going up and down the mountain. I'll never forget how totally exhausted the climbers who just came down looked. I wondered if I was going to look like that on Monday. Some climbers going up were not stopping at the cabin and were heading to Lake Helen at 10,400 feet to set up their base camp. We wanted to take it slow and thought it would be best to hike to Lake Helen the next morning and then make our summit attempt Monday morning. We spent the remainder of the day strolling around Horse Camp, watching the climbers on the mountain. From the cabin they looked like tiny dots.

We were off early Sunday morning in shorts and tee shirts. It was sunny, hot and calm. The summit trail begins at the cabin with Obermans Causeway. The first caretaker at the cabin spent 10 years building this stone path that leads up through the sub-alpine zone above the cabin. There are very fragile flowers and grasses in this zone and the causeway was built to protect this area from being destroyed by climbers heavy boots. It's at least a half mile long or more. It was pretty tricky hopping stone to stone with a 45 pound pack on your back. We expected to reach Lake Helen in about 4 hours, so I was carrying 4 quarts of water with me. My pack felt like a ton. I was only down the causeway several hundred feet before I could feel myself panting for air. I knew this was going to be the most physically challenging thing I ever done.

We climbed up the causeway and up on to the first hill called Spring Hill. There is a natural spring here. Some of the water is piped down to the cabin below were visitors enjoy the most refreshing spring water available anywhere. The hill was free of snow, which left a very loose rocky trail. In one place I had to do some mild rock climbing which made me a little uneasy with my pack on, but soon the trail became a constant uphill climb.

We climbed up above Spring Hill and up to a level area known as 50/50 flat at about 9,000 feet. The snow level started here in earnest. The snow was still quite firm from the previous night's freeze, so we put on our crampons and continued on over the snow. We saw many people making there way up the mountain above Lake Helen as well as seeing people glissading down the mountain on their butts. I noticed two climbers overtaking us. I stopped and watched with amazement because these two guys were climbing in tennis shoes, had no sunglasses, no packs, no crampons, and no ice axes! All they were carrying were 1 quart water bottles each. They paid no attention to our surprised look and continued up past us. I thought to myself that these are the kind of people that die or have accidents on this mountain. About 15 minutes later, we stopped and talked to some other climbers that had summited earlier that morning and were making their way down the mountain. We talked about the two people that just past us and learned that there were rangers at Lake Helen and up high on the mountain to deal with people like that. The rangers were there to check permits, advise climbers and turn back the ignorant.

We finally got to the last hill before Lake Helen. It's aptly named standstill hill. This hill is only 500 high or so, but it is really steep. We spent our last hour climbing this hill. We got to Lake Helen at about 12:30 or so. Lake Helen is a flat area of about 2 or 3 acres. Lake Helen is normally buried in snow most of the time; only during long droughts does the small 30 foot round lake appear.

There were alot of people starting to come down the mountain. We didn't have to wait long before a good tent spot opened up. We didn't bring a shovel to make a good tent platform, so it was good that we got two sites next to each other that were already prepared. Our tents were next to the rangers tent. One of the rangers was there and talked to us about our plans. He warned us about glissading down from the top of the ridge above Lake Helen known as Red Banks. The slope up to the Red Banks climbs over 2500 feet and is the steepest part of the ascent on this route. It is about 35 degrees or so at it's steepest. I know this does not seem like alot, but believe me it's steep. Many climbers were getting injured glissading down because they were getting out of control. The ranger suggested we climb down to a lower elevation before glissading to avoid the really steep portion.

The ranger commented that we seemed to know what we were doing. We explained that this was Lane and Is third attempt and Johns second. We told him about our experience on Casaval Ridge. He mentioned that Casaval Ridge was one of the hardest routes on the mountain. I had to agree. The ranger said he was going down the mountain, but the other ranger up top would be down and would talk with us and check that we had our climbing passes. The passes are $15 and only good for three days. The ranger wished us good luck then packed his backpack and headed down the mountain.

We spent a good portion of the day resting in our tents. The sun was very intense. I got badly sunburned my first time on the mountain. I put on SPF 30 sunscreen at the cabin and didn't reapply until I reached Lake Helen 4 hours later, but by then it was too late. When I climbed in June, I was better prepared. I applied SPF 30 sunscreen every hour but I still got sunburned, though not as bad. This time I had SPF 45 sunscreen. I applied it every hour and I still got a little sunburned.

We got up in the late afternoon and started melting snow for our water the next day. It was difficult finding clean snow. I was dreading the thought of accidentally melting someone's frozen pee! We walked off a ways and dug down a couple of feet and found some fairly clean snow. We filled up a black trash bag with snow and set it in the sun. It wasn't long before the snow was melted. Lane and I boiled the water while John just added iodine to it. I hate the taste of iodine.

Before long we had all the water we needed for the next day, so we started dinner. For me, dinner consisted of half a dry salami, a cup of noodles and a chocolate bar. A heartburn special as it turned out. John and Lane were eating the freeze dried dinners where you just add boiling water to the pouch and let it sit for awhile. I had a bad experience with these dinners the last trip so I thought I'd try something different. Well anyway, I guess I should keep trying different foods. As it turns out, you lose you appetite at altitude. You need to have food that you can eat even if you feel like throwing up. Not an easy order to fill.

The temperature begin dropping rapidly as we finished dinner. The ranger that was up the mountain finally came down to camp. He walked over and asked us about are plans. We explained we were going to make an early start for the summit. He said that was a good idea as there was a slight chance of an afternoon thunder storm for the next day. He asked if we had our climbing passes. We each showed him our passes. It's a $700 fine if your caught above 10,000 feet without a pass. Because of the high cost of rescues, it was necessary to start charging climbers for climbing. Fifteen dollars is a bargain compared to $700.

We asked the ranger about the conditions up by the Red Banks. He warned us about the snow bridge over the bergschrund on the Konwonkiton glacier. The snow bridge was melting fast, so he suggested getting down early in order to cross the bridge before the snow softens in the heat of the day. The other alternative would be to climb the steep snow filled chimneys through the Red Banks and avoid the Konwonkiton glacier. The chimneys are steeper than 35 degrees. I wasn't sure if I was up to climbing that way. John and I figured it would be better to stay on the main route up next to the glacier since it wasn't as steep as the chimneys. Well anyway, the ranger bid us good luck and was off to talk to the other new arrivals. He had mentioned that there were 86 people camping here the previous night. Tonight there would be less than 20.

We watched the sun set before climbing into our sleeping bags. It's amazing how fast the temperature drops at 10,400 feet. We set the alarm for 3 AM and tried to get some sleep. The wind picked up a little, but it was nothing compared to how strong it was during my June trip here. It was hard getting any sleep as I couldn't stop thinking about the climb.

I awoke at 3 AM to the sound of my obnoxious alarm clock. I peeked out the tent and saw that the sky was clear with bright moonlight. I quickly put on my clothes and boots and went outside to wake up John. The snow was frozen solid which is good for climbing steep slopes. We put on our crampons, grabbed our ice axes and summit packs and headed up the hill towards Red Banks.

It was about 3:45 AM. The temperature was just around freezing, but there was hardly any wind. I had on all the clothes that I brought, but I soon overheated and had to remove the Gore-tex jacket that I was wearing. I didn't feel so great. I felt very lethargic and had little energy. We hadn't had any breakfast yet, so I knew that was why I wasn't feeling good. After 30 minutes or so into our climb, I felt dizzy and weak. I told Lane and John that we should stop and eat something. Lane was getting way ahead of John and I. Lane said we could stop at the big rock above us. I took a few more steps before finally stopping. I couldn't wait. I needed some fuel. I started to get sick. I blew chunks which made me feel better. I ate a Kudos bar and rested awhile. I wasn't feeling hungry at all, but I forced myself to eat the candy bar. I never thought I wouldn't ever want a candy bar.

We probably were only 300 feet or so above Lake Helen. I still had another 2200 feet to go just to get up to the Red Banks. The Red Banks are at 12,800 feet. It seemed like we would never get there. From there we would still have to climb 1000 feet up the infamous Misery Hill before reaching the summit plateau. The actual summit is at the top of a steep, rocky 300 foot pinnacle of icy rock above the summit plateau.

After 10 minutes or so of resting, I got going again. I felt a little stronger. The slope began getting steep. I found it very tiring trying to position my feet uphill with each step. I began sidestepping my way up. This is called the "French technique" or "flatfooting". My ankles and calves were getting quite a work out. John and I were maintaining about the same pace. Lane was already getting way ahead. He was soon at the rocks above us where he waited for John and myself. Lane is younger than John and myself; only 25 years old. John's birthday was today. He is 37. Lane had been working out for this trip. John and I hadn't done much working out. I was in much better shape in June. Two months before that trip I started working out everyday on my torture machine (my E-force). I was in pretty good shape then. After our failure in June, I just wasn't as motivated as before. I didn't work out at all and it was showing. I was only taking 5 or 6 steps before pooping out and resting. At this pace it was going to take all day to get to the summit. I didn't rest long though. I tried to keep the slow upward progress. John and I finally met up with Lane. We were probably 700 feet or so above Lake Helen. We saw other climbers beginning the climb up. We were the first one's going up. We rested awhile before starting up again. The hint of sunrise was in the sky. It was really beautiful. The moon was just a couple of days past full and was high in the sky. You could see the city lights in the towns of Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir, and McCloud. Far off we could see the lights of Redding.

We started up again when I noticed the straps on one of my crampons were loose and I was close to loosing my crampon. I stopped, sat down and redid my crampon straps. John waited for me while Lane continued on at a fast pace. I finally got my crampons on tight and continued climbing. Lane was climbing much faster than John and I. It wasn't long before he was far above us. We were so slow that the first two climbers below us finally caught up to us. They were a nice young couple from Bellingham WA. We told them we were from Santa Rosa. They knew were that is. I told them I lived in Bremerton WA and I knew where Bellingham WA is. The guy mentioned he felt too old to be doing this stuff. I asked how old he was and he said 30. I told him I was 33 and today was Johns 37 birthday. Both of them seemed surprised about Johns birthday.

We climbed with them for awhile before they finally started to get ahead of us. I was beginning to wonder if we were moving like slugs or what. As John and I were watching this couple kick our butts, we noticed that the early morning sun was causing Mt. Shasta to cast a shadow over the town of Mt. Shasta in the shape of the mountain. It looked really cool. I dug in my pack for my camera then snapped a picture. It was now about 6:30 AM or so and we around 12,000 feet up. We could see Lane near the Red Banks. He was probably at least 30 minutes ahead of us by now. John and I continued at a very slow pace. It seemed I could not take anymore than 10 steps before running out of breath. I was feeling a little stronger than I was earlier. I think the sunrise was helping me psychologically. The slope up to the Red Banks was now at it's steepest. Looking below me I could see climbers at all different levels. Most were moving at about the same pace as John and I.

I had to now concentrate on firmly anchoring my ice axe while carefully stepping up. One false move and you could be rocketing down the mountain. I felt a little uneasy looking down. I kept my attention on my feet and the route in front of me and tried not to think about the exposure of the slope. Looking below me reminded me about what my manual on mountaineering says about self arrest with an ice axe. "Act fast! Get the ice axe pick in the snow as hard and as quickly as possible, before you've accelerated to an unstoppable speed. Don't give up if self arrest fails. Keep fighting! Self arrest might work in softer snow or at a lower angle farther down the slope." I tightened the leash on my ice axe and carefully continued on. I noticed Lane making his way through one of the chimneys of the Red Banks. John and I stayed to the right towards a large pinnacle of rock at the top of Red Banks called Thumb Rock. This is the traditional route, however the heavy snowfall this year made passage through the chimneys much easier than usual. Still, John and I decided to stay away from the chimneys. At 7:30 AM we finally reached the top of the Red Banks by Thumb Rock. As we approached the crest, the morning sun finally bathed us in sunlight. Right in front of us was the Konwonkiton glacier. The glacier was pulling away from Thumb Rock creating a huge crevasse called a bergschrund. We stopped for a long rest. I started digging in my pack for the pouch that had my sunglasses. I pulled everything out, but my pouch with my glasses was not there. I started to panic. How could I continue climbing across the snow in this intense brightness without burning my eyes? I was beginning to come to the realization that I would have to turn around and go down when John mentioned he had his ski goggles in his pack. John wears prescription eye glasses that automatically darken in intense light. His glasses seemed to be enough, so he gave me the goggles to wear. That problem was solved.

As I was kicking back at the edge of the burgshrund in the morning sun, I suddenly began to feel the urge to take a crap. I thought about trying to hold it, but as I looked around, there was nothing but the exposed rocky slope of Misery Hill. The burgshrund offered the only privacy around. I figured it's now or never. I told John what I had to do and he started laughing. He crapped in a paper bag the previous night at Lake Helen. He didn't want to worry about it on the climb. I wanted to take care of business then too, but I didn't need to go. Well anyway, I opened the small paper bag that had a handful of kitty litter in it and did my business. I felt several pounds lighter. Well I guess I was. I just rolled the paper bag up and stuffed it in a big zip lock bag. I put the bag in my shovel pocket on the outside of my pack. I thought the whole affair was disgusting, but it's even more disgusting to see turds and toilet paper all over the snow. We saw a really disgusting one at Lake Helen.

Well after a long rest, John and I were ready to go. We looked at the next hill we had to climb. The trail we wanted was to our left at the center edge of the glacier. We saw that the bergschrund continued around the glaciers edge all the way along side and up the slope we wanted to climb. There was a small snow bridge spanning the burgshrund right about were we needed to go. All's we would have to do is easily climb onto the glacier from where we were, walk about 100 feet to the snow bridge, cross over and we would be at the trail. The other alternative would be to climb down the Red Banks 100 feet and traverse across the snow to the nearest chimney and climb up through the chimney to the rocky slope.

John and I looked out across the glacier. There didn't seem to be any noticeable crevasses around us so we decided to climb onto the glacier. We walked along the edge of the burgshrund to the snow bridge. We could see sunken footprints all over the bridge. We probed the snow bridge with our ice axes and everything seemed to be solid. We carefully stepped across the bridge and onto the rocky slope. Everything looked different than the pictures I'd seen. I wasn't sure if Misery Hill started above the hill in front of us or if this was Misery Hill. It didn't look as steep as the slope we just climbed. It seemed only 300 feet up or so. We couldn't see past it. The slope was mostly covered in snow. There were patches of rock here and there. We decided to put our crampons back on. We took them off earlier at Thumb Rock. My strap on style crampons take forever to put on and take off. Johns are a 1 strap design and mine are a two. He started off before I was finished. When I finally got going, John had already got ahead of me. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Soon I saw John reach the top and then duck out of sight. I climbed for what seemed a half hour or so before I reached the top.

When I reached the top, I saw another larger hill. I could see John way ahead of me. He was already close to being half way up the next hill. I looked everywhere for the summit. I couldn't see it. Just a steep hill with rocks on one side and snow on the other. Lane was nowhere to be seen. I wondered how high I was. John had the altimeter, so I could only guess somewhere above 13,000 feet. I was starting to feel a dull headache. Up to now, the only affects by the altitude were my appetite and how easily I became exhausted.

As I made my way up the next hill, I could see John nearing the point near the top were the snow seemed to end. I could see him stop and take off his crampons. I was at least 20 or 30 minutes behind John by now. I figured Lane must be at the summit wondering what happened to us. John soon was out of sight. I slowly followed behind. I finally reached the end of the snow. I stopped and removed my crampons. The rocks all around me were very loose. It would have been easy to rock ski the hill I was on. I felt like I was in an airplane, looking out across the valleys below. The sky was clear so you could see a very long way away. Below me I could see Thumb Rock, and the deep burgshrund on the Konwonkiton glacier. I pulled out my camera a snapped a picture.

As I was admiring the view, Lane walked over to me from around some rocks. He asked how I was doing. I told him I was dragging butt, but I was making progress. He asked me where John was. I told him he was 30 minutes or so ahead of me. Lane said he didn't see him. I asked Lane how much farther to the top. He said I was about an hour or so away. He said he summited at 9:00AM, then sat around for a half hour or so, signed the summit register, then started down. It was almost 10:00 AM now. We have been climbing for over 6 hours. Lane and I sat there for awhile before we finally went our own ways.

The rocky trail I was on only went 100 yards or so before it started to go back into the snow. It climbed about 200-300 feet above me. I couldn't see the summit yet. I was too tired to put my crampons back on. The snow trail was softening in the morning sun, and it wasn't too steep, so I figured it was safe enough to climb without my crampons on. It took me about 30 minutes or so to get to the top of this hill. When I got to the top I was rewarded by finally reaching the summit plateau.

I could plainly see the summit pinnacle. To my left, I was high above Shastina, Mt Shasta's main vent. Flowing down the northeast slope of Shastina was the Whitney glacier. I could see huge crevasses up and down the glacier. This is California's largest glacier; what a sight. I could see John climbing on the summit pinnacle. He was about half way up. I saw some people climbing down from the summit. The summit plateau is a flat area of about 5 acres. The walk to the summit pinnacle wasn't far; maybe a 200 yard walk. I  slowly made my way across the plateau. Each step tired me out. I had to stop for 5 or 10 seconds before continuing.

By the time I was half way across the plateau, I saw John reach the summit. I could see him there waving his hands. I slowly trudged along until I got to the base of the pinnacle. It looked really rocky and fairly steep. I met the couple from Bellingham at the base. They were heading down. They asked how I was  doing. I said I was feeling good, just real tired. They said they sang Happy Birthday to John. I guess John won't forget this Birthday anytime soon. They said the hike to the summit was short. There were a dozen or so short switchbacks to the top. I slowly made my way up. The last 50 feet of the trail was covered in snow. I carefully climbed this last section before finally reaching the summit.

I saw John and two other people sitting on the rocks at the summit. The two climbers were writing in the summit register while John was kicking back. I climbed over to where John was and took off my pack. "Wow! I can't believe I finally made it!" It was about 11:00 AM. What a view from the top. You could see for at least 100 miles or more. We were at 14,162 feet. I had climbed over 7,000 feet in about 12 hours total since we left the car. The temperature was in the upper 50s with no wind. Just right. A perfect day for climbing Shasta. We didn't see any signs of thunderheads so we kicked back and enjoyed the view.

I realized I haven't eaten anything today except for that Kudos bar this morning. I can't believe I made it up here on so little fuel. Hopefully, I burned some of my belly fat. I dug in my pack for some food and a fresh water bottle to refill my canteen. I munched down a granola bar and a fruit roll-up and drank a bunch of water. I wasn't hungry, but I forced myself to eat anyway. John and I signed the summit register. There was all kinds of things in the metal box where the register is kept. I saw a pair of gloves, a power bar and a forestry service badge. There was some other small stuff in the box. People leave behind the strangest things. After signing the register, I took a few photos then got ready to start the trip down. I probably spent 45 minutes at the summit. It was sad leaving so soon after spending all that effort getting here

John and I made our way down the summit pinnacle. It was alot easier going down than it was going up. We easily crossed the summit plateau and came to the beginning of Misery Hill. I took a few photos of the Whitney glacier, then started down. There were two ways to go, one in the snow and one in the rocks. We came up in the snow, but chose to climb down over the rocks. Lane must have missed John at this intersection when he was going down. We climbed down this hill. We passed a few climbers that were heading up. They weren't sure which way to go. We advised them to stay on the snow going up, and then go over the rocks coming down.

We were soon at the last hill above Thumb Rock and the Red Banks. We glissaded down the snowy slope. There was a natural flume made by all the previous climbers sliding down. The snow in the chute was softening and was just about right for good glissading. I pushed off while dragging the spike of my ice axe in the snow to control my speed. In only a few seconds I was going too fast! Dragging my spike wasn't slowing me down fast enough, so I rolled over and forced the pick of the ice axe into the snow. I came to an abrupt halt. I thought if this hill was getting me going too fast, then what would it be like going down the steep slopes of the Red Banks.  I had to self arrest one more time on my way down. I found that I had to really dig in with the spike of my ice axe to control my speed. It was rapidly draining my strength. John and I made it down this hill in only several minutes.

We got to the bottom of the hill, then made our way across a few patches of snow to the foot of the snow bridge across the bergschrund. John probed the area in front of him. His axe pierced through the snow bridge with hardly any effort. We looked at each other with dread and moved over a few feet and probed again. The snow seemed somewhat solid. We carefully crossed over onto the glacier one at a time. We walked along the bergschrund and then down to Thumb Rock and the Red Banks.

We looked down with fright. We could see our tents way far below at Lake Helen. We were 2,500 feet above camp. The steepest part of the slope was at least 1,000 feet or so. We decided to put our crampons on and climb down a ways before trying to glissade. I brought along some rain pants to keep my pants dry. I put on the rain pants and my crampons and headed down the slope. It required alot of bravery to place each step out on that steep slope. Luckily, the snow was softening enough to be able to plunge steps down. My crampon spikes were biting into the snow and keeping me from slipping.

John and I climbed down a few hundred feet, past the chimneys of the Red Banks. John and I stopped and started removing my crampons to start our glissade. You never want to glissade with crampons on. You could catch the snow and flip over into a somersault or slide into someone. I got myself into position and let er rip! The rain pants I was wearing made me slide much faster than I had earlier. I accelerated to incredible speed in only seconds. I rolled over into the self arrest position and stabbed at the snow. My axe was ripped out of my hands. 5 seconds! I was at maximum speed. I saw my axe dangling off my leash. I got control of my ice axe and stabbed at the snow a second time. Again it was ripped out of my hands. I was totally out of control. I hit a few bumps in the snow that sent me flying into the air. I came crashing down rolling from my back to my stomach. I was really frightened by this uncontrolled slide. Many people have been injured on this slope. I looked for my ice axe and saw my leash was almost coming off my hand. I grabbed at it and put the loop over my hand. I hit another patch of snow that sent me into the air again. I came crashing down again. I fought and gained control of my axe and slowly began pushing the pick into the snow and holding it with all my might. I came to an abrupt stop.

Wow! I thought. What a ride. I didn't feel like I got injured.  I am so glad I bought a leash for my axe before this trip. I looked up and saw John way up where I was. I must have descended 600 to 800 feet in only 20 or 30 seconds. I checked my self out real quick and determined I wasn't injured. I was very lucky! I looked below me and saw that the steepest part of the slope was above me. I grabbed my axe tightly and let er rip again. I picked up quite a bit of speed in just a few seconds. I wasn't going as fast as I was before. I was right on the edge of my comfort zone. I was going fast enough not to panic, but way faster than was comfortable. I was getting down real fast. I really wasn't in control, but I was headed feet down and in the right direction. I let gravity take over. I got to within a 100 yards of my tent before I stopped myself.

I stood up and checked myself out. My rain pants had filled up with snow. I was getting completely wet. I noticed my hat was gone. I looked around but didn't see it. I must have lost it during the first slide. I also noticed my canteen was missing from it's holder. I wondered what else I had lost. I checked my pack. My shovel pocket was empty. My poop bag was nowhere to be seen. I could live without my hat and canteen and I figured my poop was certainly no loss. At least my poop would be easy for the rangers to pack out since it's all bagged up. I staggered over to my tent. Lane was resting inside. I threw off my pack and started taking off my snow filled clothes. I climbed inside the tent and collapsed. It was around 1:00 PM or so. Lane said he got back at 11:00 AM. I told him about my slide down. He said his slide wasn't that good because the snow was still too hard. He had climbed down alot of the way. I rested for 10  or 15 minutes before I heard John walk up. He threw off his pack and climbed inside his tent. We were both totally exhausted. We laid in out tents quietly. I still had a dull headache and I felt very weak and lethargic.

We rested until about 2:00 PM and then got up to break camp. Lane and I had to drive back to Santa Rosa and go to work the next morning, John had started his two week vacation with this trip and was going to meet his wife Linda at Lake Siskiyou at the base of the mountain. He would leave from here to continue his vacation up north. We needed to get off of this mountain. We began packing our stuff. Everything of mine was wet. I figured I'd stay dry and not glissade any more.

John and Lane were going to glissade down. They got into position and let er rip. They zoomed down the hill with amazing speed. I climbed down after them. I was slipping and sliding while on my feet. I could have done a standing glissade if I knew how. I followed the best I could. I was getting down alot faster than I got up, but I was nowhere near John and Lane. While they were farther down the slope, I could see something fall off of Johns pack. I could here Lane shouting out to John, but he kept going until someone going up stopped him and told him someone was yelling for him. John had lost his poop bag and Lane was carrying it to him. One of the people next to John commented that only a true friend would carry his buddies poop bag! They had a good laugh.

We all eventually made it all the way back down to the sierra club cabin at 8,000 feet. We sat around for awhile and drank lots of cold spring water before hiking the last 2 miles to the parking lot. The trail down seemed to go on for ever. All's I wanted to do was get to the car and collapse. It took us less than an hour to make it back to the car. The parking lot was mostly empty. I dropped my pack off and walked over to bring the car over. My body felt like it was flying without the weight of my pack on. I must have looked funny walking.

It was about 6:00 PM when we left the parking lot. We drove down to the town of Mt Shasta so John could drop off the ice axe and crampons that he rented. After dropping off the equipment we took John to Lake Siskiyou where he met up with Linda. We hung out for a few minutes then Lane and I headed back to Santa Rosa. We got back to Santa Rosa at about 11:00 PM. What a memorable trip. I would be sore for the next 5 or 6 days but it was worth it. I finally climbed the second largest volcano in the lower 48 states. Steve Malphurs Santa Rosa, CA

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