Lassen / Shasta Conditions Anyone?

[BlatantAlias]

Any guesstimates of how long the 'good stuff' will last on Lassen and Shasta? I'll be out of the country mosy of July and thinking it'll be kaput by August, or at least questionably worth the climb to ski.

[B__]

August can be worthy, especially after a monster year like this past one. I've found great multi-thousand foot corn zones on the NE side in August and even (once) in September. Upper thousand or so and the lowest few thousand should be approached with low expectations but there is a good chance of a sweet spot in the between, weather permitting.

[BGnight]

Sunday was the day for sure. Only ran into one person on top of Shastina. On the way out of Diller in the afternoon we ran into fresh, strange footprints in the snow from someone who came in the same way we did. However, the footprints never went all the way out. At one point some rocks started tumbling down above us in the woods. We were for sure the first cars this season to go up that road (had to move some rocks and small parts). And there was no vehicle around when we got out (we were blocking the road). Spooky. Probably a lumerian/bigfoot hybrid.

Epic pond skimming potential here:


Lots of fast, wet slough and large dislodged rocks. It rode really good though.

[h-atlas]

Great day on the Hot-tun yesterday. Can park at 6900' now so only adds 15-20 min. Minimal sun cups!

[jibmaster]

Great day on the Hot-tun yesterday. Can park at 6900' now so only adds 15-20 min. Minimal sun cups!

Thanx for the report! Heading up tomorrow.
Starting from the Gravel Creek TH/Clitoris Falls Gully.

[fool]

Have fun, jib!

Anyone going up for the weekend of the 4th? I'm sure it will be a madhouse but I'm thinking of doing of Shasta + Lassen or Shastina.

[SchralphMacchio]

Looks like I might be headed up to Lassen on Sunday or Monday with my wife.

Anyone get up there over this last weekend? I wonder what the coverage is like at Devastated and near Sulphur works. Sounds like it was pretty good at Sulphur Works last week but I wonder how much melted off.

I really hope they get the road open to Bumpass parking area before the holiday weekend, but who knows, as these posts have been a bit cryptic:

June 17 - We made it about a mile and a half from the Emerald side hill to the Bumpass
Hell parking lot this week. There is about 10 feet of snow there. Also, we will decide next week if we will work on clearing the parking area or push ahead on the road. It could be more helpful to push ahead on the road and allow the sun to do some of the work in melting before returning to the parking area. There will be an update next week on the decision. If you want to see Lake Helen, expect a snowy sight! Not even the edges of the lake have melted yet.

June 24 - After a delay with equipment breakdown, we are now working at the deepest snow on the road, the Lake Helen drift and approaching the road summit at 8,512 feet.There is about 35 to 40 feet in the drift this year! We haven't seen that amount since 2006! Our We were hoping to have the entire road completed by Independance weekend, but now our estimate of completion with road clearing is mid-July.

[powdrhound]

Is a high-clearance vehicle required to reach the trail heads?
i.e. Would any of the roads be passable with my little motorhome?

Thanks.

[pajamas]

Hey Schralp - the lassen webcam at the visitor's center has shown a lot of melting. my guess is north facing is still holding. I'd be shooting for Devastated Area if I was getting out. Congrats on getting hitched. We need to do a couple's tour next year.

Regarding trailhead access and vehicles - I've heard north gate needs 4x4, for clear creek I'd bring at least an awd with moderate clearance. I'm not sure a normal car would make it and I wouldn't test a little motorhome up that road at all. Not sure about Brewer Creek road.

[SchralphMacchio]

Thanks PJ. We're breaking in new boots so I'm really crossing fingers for roadside skiing on the south side of the ridgeline, at least for the first day.

Also, you guys may have to come up to Bend or McLoughlin for that couple's tour. I might be doing a bit more Shasta next spring ... 4.5 hours from Eugene to Bunny Flat, so that's at least the halfway point to the Bay Area & Tahoe peeps. Loading up the Oregon-bound moving truck on July 8!

[Dhelihiker]

We did the Shasta Marathon last weekend drive 4 hours>Sleep 4 hours>climb 6 hours>Ski and drive home. summited and skied the chutes again. It was good, thats all I have to report

[bullhorn]

My non-skiing wife and 11 year old child are thinking of going to lassen later this week. They will be staying in the manzanita lake area. With all the snow as well as road and trail closures in the area, will there be anything for them to do?

[SchralphMacchio]

https://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvis...assen_park.htm

Looks like the trail to Chaos Crags is clear, so that's at least one cool thing to do besides just boating/kayaking and fishing Manzanita Lake.
Cinder cone is awesome, looks like there is still some snow however.

[Ottime]

There is also a state park not too far north with killer waterfalls.

[Mtndaddy]

I'm heading up to Shasta this weekend and would like information on the road and snow conditions. How far is the road open? How far down can you hit consistent snow? Suncups getting bad? thanks!

[plurpimpin]

Hey Schralp - the lassen webcam at the visitor's center has shown a lot of melting. my guess is north facing is still holding. I'd be shooting for Devastated Area if I was getting out. Congrats on getting hitched. We need to do a couple's tour next year.

Regarding trailhead access and vehicles - I've heard north gate needs 4x4, for clear creek I'd bring at least an awd with moderate clearance. I'm not sure a normal car would make it and I wouldn't test a little motorhome up that road at all. Not sure about Brewer Creek road.

We drove my girlfriend's VW Golf to North Gate Memorial Day weekend, it was slow going but fine. Anything with alittle more clearance would be smooth sailing.

[jibmaster]

I'm heading up to Shasta this weekend and would like information on the road and snow conditions. How far is the road open? How far down can you hit consistent snow? Suncups getting bad? thanks!

Was up at the Gravel Creek TH earlier this week.
Didn't check out the Brewer Creek access, but that one snow drift
might be gone by the weekend.
Suncups are not an issue.
The north facing drifts heading up and to the right always seem to
stay smooth late into the summer.

[jorion]

Was up at the Gravel Creek TH earlier this week.
Didn't check out the Brewer Creek access, but that one snow drift
might be gone by the weekend.
Suncups are not an issue.
The north facing drifts heading up and to the right always seem to
stay smooth late into the summer.

What's the advantage of Gravel Creek vs Brewer Creek? Do you take the Hotlum Wintun Ridge route from there or take the Hotlum Glacier route? Or something else?

I was up there exactly a year ago and the Hotlum Wintun Ridge route was pretty suncupped up to around 11,000' IIRC. I'm tentatively heading back up next weekend and wondering if I should take the same route (weather didn't allow summiting last year so I'd be happy to repeat it) or try to ski northern aspects.

[whatsupdoc]

Skied the Hotlum-Wintun 6/30. Conditions were pretty good. Kinda bumpy everywhere: suncups, runnels, tracks. None of it was too bad but don't expect super smooth skiing. Still worth it though. You can park to within about 3/4 mile from the TH. Skis on at 7400'. I started skiing at about 9:15-9:30 and it was plenty soft. It was softening by like 8 am. Get on it early.

[jibmaster]

[QUOTE=jorion;5050496]What's the advantage of Gravel Creek vs Brewer Creek? Do you take the Hotlum Wintun Ridge route from there or take the Hotlum Glacier route? Or something else?

The Gravel Creek TH is nice when Brewer Creek is not open yet.
It offers quicker access to the Hotlum Glacier route.
Or you can cross the lower part of the Chicago Glacier and hook up with the
classic Northgate route.
It sits right between the Brewer and Northgate routes.





Some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MrJibms...y=gravel+creek

Plus, you get to see Clitoris Falls







200+ photos of the Gravel Creek TH area/route:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_...eek&view_all=1




The north facing slopes heading up and to the right from the Brewer Creek, Hotlum/Wintun route
hold snow for a long time.
Less suncups than the traditional Brewer Creek route.

[jorion]

Thanks for that! Super comprehensive. I'm curious to check that area out, but I don't have glacier travel training or ropes so I wouldn't want to go too high from there.

[TEXASS]

So, Im supposed to go up to Lassen Saturday and Shasta sunday. But the forecast for Sunday at 12,369 feet is 38 degrees and windy.
Anybody know what the temps up high at mid day on Shasta been lately? Looks like a wind/drop in temp for the weekend.
Wondering if it will be worth it

[SchralphMacchio]

Lassen NP brief update from Monday 7/3:
* Road opened to Bumpass lot. Drifts too deep at Helen Lake to punch it to Summit lot.
* Limited roadside skiing options ... South face of Ski Heil connects to the road but is of medium-low quality with respect to bumps/cups. Southwest aspect of Ski Heil mostly burned. North Face of Bumpass is looking like reasonable skiing.
* North facing is reasonable quality, mild sunbumps that are easily skied through. We skied on N face of Ski Heil. It was fun but f(*$ing HOT.
* I did not get onto Lassen proper, but I imagine accessing NE face from Devestated is definitely the best skiing option, based on what we skied and saw elsewhere.
* 2nd hand report from East face of Lassen (talked to another skier) that suncups are of poor quality. Seems like it hasn't frozen a real freeze overnight in forever, despite the clear nights. S face proper is burned, no snow above the Vulcan (navel). There is a decent ramp down to the summit lot, but by the time it gets plowed out, the ramp will likely be gone.
* Coverage on North face of Diller, Pilot Pinnacle, Ski Heil still really deep, but a bit of an effort to get to that stuff, best way is from south face of Ski Heil.

[TEXASS]

Thanks Alex. Can you camp at the devastated area lot still or do you have to have a campsite ? Ill pull in late Friday night and will be sleeping in the truck

[SchralphMacchio]

I don't know the answer to your question. If you have a subtle camper setup you probably will be okay.

I know when there is a lot of snow on the ground and the road is closed at Devestated, NPS Rangers have not enforced any camping restrictions at the Devestated lot. They definitely know that skiers camp there to get early starts on skiing, and haven't mentioned anything when driving through the lot while skiers are obviously getting ready to go while tents are still set up etc. I've camped there this season, about 2 months ago, with no issue.

Now that the main northside campgrounds at Manzanita, Butte Lake are open, who knows if they are going to be more strict. However, summit campgrounds are still closed, so maybe the rangers are willing to accept that as an excuse.

But in your case, in a camper, they probably won't give you any hassle.