In every inspiring natural
creation there is a realism that speaks to you. In every moment on a
mountain you find it more and more. You discover yourself in ways not
possible through other means. This stays with you and guides you for the
rest of your life. May everyone have this chance at least once.
~ Dave, Dave's Travel
Corner
Mt. Shasta from Bunny Flat
trailhead.
It was late
Sunday afternoon and I was driving through the faded yellow hills of
Lake County, on my way south, back from Mount Shasta City. I thought
back to three days ago when I had one goal for the weekend, and that
was to summit the highest mountain in the north state. I thought back
to my time high on the mountain.
I was perched on the edge of an icy chute, halfway way down an area
known as Red Banks, at about 12,800 feet. It was early morning, the
sun was barely touching the tops of the western hills. I was slowly
negotiating this narrow steep passageway with my ice ax and crampons.
Every step required that I jam the pick of my ax into the slippery
ice. The steepness, narrowness, and beautiful blue ice of the
passageway forced me into a slow descent. Perhaps it was the effects
of the altitude or a dangerous miscalculation, but about 3/4 of the
way down this steep chute my right foot missed its slippery toehold on
the blue ice, and I slipped. Dangling from my ice ax and my precarious
foothold with my left crampon, I looked down about 4000 feet and began
to pray..
