A trip to remember! On Day 1, we decided to hike up Mt. Shasta to as far as we could…but when we arrived, we realized we’d need snowshoes for the deep snow. We drove back down the mountain to rent snowshoes, then back up to begin our adventure around noon. We got to Helen’s lake – about 10,500ft up – which was around 3.5mi of the 5.1mi ascent. If we had been more prepared (more than our rental snowshoes, crampons, and energy bars…), I think we could have hiked further. It is quite dangerous to summit Mt. Shasta during the winter though with 4,000 ft more until the summit (ie. avalanche possibilities, high winds, icy ridges)….something tells me we’d need ropes, ice axe…a helmet… maybe a blessing in disguise.

Other 3-day weekend adventures included driving out to Burney Falls, running part of the famous Pacific Coast Trail (PCT), watching sunrises/sunsets on the mountain range, and doing a river crossing on our last day to see Mossbrae falls.