Went on a little road trip last week. Tried to climb Mt. Shasta via Avalanche Gulch but I only made it as far as Helen Lake. I lost my motivation and just turned around. I was so sleepy and even took an hour long nap up there but I was still out of it. It was a perfectly clear day so the solar radiation was intense at Helen Lake, which was surrounded by like 270° of snow. It was like being in the center of a skin cancer parabolic reflector.
Snow conditions were pretty ugly. Everything was severely sun-cupped so it was like walking in an endless field of potholes. To be honest, the route was rather boring. It was low angle all the way up to Helen Lake and I didn't even use my ice axe once. Oh well, I wasn't that disappointed. Maybe I've burned out on this mountaineering stuff because I had more fun driving scenic highways and taking pictures. Driving Hwy 299 from Redding to Burney in the afternoon was really nice!
Jim, yep that's Burney Falls. It's pretty cool because the volcanic rock causes the water to just seep out of it in addition to cascading over the top. It's so beautiful up there in that part of the state, especially the Redwoods...which felt like being in Jurassic Park or well, the Forest Moon of Endor
Thanks Mike and Fritz. Beautiful area up there. Except for the one shot on Shasta, camera was a Canon T2i with an EF 17-35mm f/2.8L, usually on a tripod and with an ND grad filter or polarizer. No Photoshop either, just straight JPEGs out of the camera.
