Mount McLoughlin

Once again, I had big weekend plans to climb Shasta. But, as UW meteorology professor Cliff Mass writes in his popular weather blog, we seem to have a weekend weather curse going in the Pacific Northwest. By my count, it was the fifth week in a row southern Oregon had some sort of weather system move in on a weekend (despite perfectly clear weekdays). And for the second time in three weeks, one of those systems intervened with my weekend plans to summit mount Shasta. 

Mount McLoughlin from the Dead Indian Memorial Highway

Lassen's "Bowloir" and Reading Peak

Lassen Peak from Highway 89 (photo by Galen Carrico)

Shasta was our first choice for last weekend's ski mountaineering destination. However, with forecasts for 95 mph winds at 11,000 feet Saturday and snow showers Sunday, it was clear by late last week that summiting Shasta wasn't going to be an option. So instead of battling extreme winds and snow at Shasta, Galen and I decided to head further south, and knock out a couple of projects at Lassen Volcanic National Park: the "Bowloir" (as coined on the Earn Your Turns message boards-- not exactly a bowl, and not exactly couloir), and Reading Peak, an eroded plug dome volcano to the southeast of Lassen.