Looking up the mountain from our camp at Lake Helen. It the morning we'll head up to the Heart and then go up on the right side of the Heart to Red Banks. We'll cut through a chute in Red Banks and then it will be on to Misery Hill and the summit.

A weekend climb of Mount Shasta, which is the highpoint of Siskiyou County, with Ron - we were blessed with beautiful weather in the unpredictable Cascades. We backpacked up to Lake Helen on Saturday 6.8.08 and then climbed up to the summit of Shasta from Lake Helen and returned to the trailhead at Bunny Flat on 6.9.08. A good weekend.

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KathyWing > The route on the map is the actual track of our route downloaded from my GPS from Lake Helen to the summit and then back down to Bunny Flat, but I didn't record a track for the backpack in on Saturday from Bunny Flat to Lake Helen. On the way up we took the climber's use trail that goes up the hill from the Causeway and up to 50/50 at 9400' and then went up in the snow from there to Lake Helen along the same path as we took coming down between 9400' and 10400'. On the way down we stayed in the snow gully down just before the Causeway at Horse Camp because we were actually able to boot ski and glissade most of the way. The mileage/elevation gain is about right for the round trip from Bunny Flat to the summit and back to Bunny Flat because I extended the ascent route from Bunny Flat to Lake Helen following the same track as the descent route.

KathyWing > Ron at Bunny Flats with Mount Shasta behind him.

KathyWing > Mount Shasta as we headed up the trail toward Lake Helen to camp for the night.

KathyWing > The Sierra Club Cabin at Horse Camp

KathyWing > The causeway that leads away from Horse Camp.

KathyWing > Heading up the hill toward Lake Helen.

KathyWing > Looking up the mountain from our camp at Lake Helen. It the morning we'll head up to the Heart and then go up on the right side of the Heart to Red Banks. We'll cut through a chute in Red Banks and then it will be on to Misery Hill and the summit.

KathyWing > Looking back down the hill as I approach Red Banks on Sunday morning.

Looking up the mountain from our camp at Lake Helen. It the morning we'll head up to the Heart and then go up on the right side of the Heart to Red Banks. We'll cut through a chute in Red Banks and then it will be on to Misery Hill and the summit.