Mt Shasta summit climb via Avalanche Gulch in July 2020 solo hike (4K)

Описание: One more time. It's the best experience I had while traveling over US National Parks and Forests.
It was done without any preparations. Last year I was doing long hikes in advance before climbing Mt Shasta. But this spring was very different due to a pandemic and my new project for the expedition truck.

Despite this, I decided to go on a trip with my family and used the same date, the 4th of July, as before. This means that the truck should be prepared for use as a vehicle and a camper. The details about the truck camper will be posted later. For now, I can say that I finished the main part of the camper the day before driving north.

Trailhead was crowded with a lot of parked cars. The trail itself is the same that I used last year(Avalanch gulch from Bunny Flat). Two years ago I used another route from the Eastern side(Clear Creek) and there were just a few people except me on it.

This year there is less snow on the mountain which leads to a slightly different type of climbing. The first part of the route is the same every year. It's a regular family-friendly hike from trailhead to the Horse camp. After that, the rocky trail guides you to the base camp. Actually, there are a few of them above 10000ft(3000m). I prefer a popular one which is named Lake Helen. It's not a lake but just a flat surface on the slope that usually covered by snow year-round.

Last year I camped there right on the snow and it was quite cooler in the tent. For this year almost all people in the base camp put tents on the rocky surface. Just for the sake of testing, I used my backpack to wrap the legs in addition to a zero-degree sleeping bag(rated to -17C). This worked very good, even too good.

At about 3am the next day I start climbing. The part of the route to the Red Banks reached angle to 35 degrees. The end of it has two sub-routes: regular and hard one. I was not choosing, just climbing straight to the top and in the middle, I realized that this one is not simple. It's a perfect spot for training with ropes and a few groups were doing it.

Now small remark about the climbing gear. I use spikes instead of crampons. There are a number of ways to go up by using tracks of previous climbers and by using natural hollows on the snow. I don't see any necessity of crampons for this route and this type of climb. I used it once and it looked overkill and a little bit heavy and bulky for me. Simple spikes do the job well.

So, after Red Banks, which is kind of a milestone for the whole event, there are two more hills with a smaller angle. And finally the summit with traditional journal of records and photos. Small break on the top and go down to the oxygen.

During this climb, I was focused on the breath a lot. Previously I did not pay attention to this part and now things changed. It's two things: synchronized breath with steps and don't lookup. this helped me a lot and I will try to improve it later.

Location: USA, California, Siskiyou County
Place: Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Mountain type: stratovolcano
Elevation: 14179ft (4321m)
Route: Avalanche Gulch
Trailhead: Bunnyflat
Key points: Horse camp, Lake Helen, Red Banks, Misery Hill

Equipment:
60-liter backpack Nordway
1-person tent Alps Mountaineering Lynx
Unigear Inflatable Sleeping Air Pad
Sawyer Products MINI Water Filter
EnergeticSky Ice Cleat Spikes
Black Diamond Half Dome Helmet
Paria Outdoor Products Thermodown 0 Degree Down Mummy Sleeping Bag
Platypus Hoser Hands-Free Hydration System
GoSystem burner
Splav kettle
GoPro HERO8 Black

Truck: 2017 Toyota Tacoma Off-road 4x4 Double Cab Short Bed Magnetic Gray

Truck add-ons:
ARB SS172HP Safari Snorkel Intake Kit
Smittybilt winch X2O COMP 10k synthetic rope
CBI T3 front Aluminum bumper with bullbars
Pelfreybilt Aluminum full set of skid plates
Nilight NI04-200W LED BAR 41inch
Nilight 60001F-B 18w LED BAR 4inch
BEP Battery Switch 275 Amper
Blue Sea Systems HD-Series switch 600 Amper
Tram 1180 Amateur Radio Dual-Band antenna
Blue Sea Systems ST Blade ATO/ATC Fuse Block
Camp Chef Everest 2 Burner Stove
Hi-Lift Jack HL485 48"
Maxtrax MKII Safety Orange Vehicle Recovery Board
DIY solar shower
DIY truck rooftop tent wedge style camper

Music: https://www.bensound.com/