Climbing and Skiing Lassen & Shasta: Day 6 of 7

Field Notes

Jun 5

Day 6: Setting Up Camp on Mount Shasta

as always, the full gallery is at the bottom, so skip there if you don’t care about the words

Nobody tells you about the unglamorous days. The ones where you are hauling gear up a mountain for hours, making mistakes you should have avoided, and wondering why you chose this life. Day six was that day. And somehow it was also one of the most beautiful days of the entire trip.

I started the approach around noon. Not early, not rushed. I had talked to a few people who mentioned that bringing my skis would actually make the approach to horse camp faster. The ski route cuts a more direct line than the hiking trail. So I packed my skis, threw everything together, and headed up feeling pretty smart about the whole plan.

I was not smart about the whole plan.

Follow Dalton on your favorite platform: @storiesbydalton

For reasons I still cannot fully explain, I stayed on the hiking trail almost the entire way up. Everyone had told me the ski route starts about a quarter mile in. I hiked over three miles holding my skis. Three miles. On a steep approach. With skis on my back like a complete bozo. By the time I got to horse camp my legs were cooked and my pride was bruised. Sometimes you just make a dumb call and you live with it.

But then I set up my tent and everything changed. Horse camp on Mount Shasta is stunning. Like genuinely take your breath away stunning. I stood there exhausted and sweaty and just looked around at this incredible place and felt grateful to be there. That is the thing about adventure. The suffering and the beauty often show up at exactly the same time.

And then I realized I still had to go back down for a second load.

Camera Gear I Packed For The Shasta & Lassen Project:

Sony a7r4
Tamron 16-30; probably my favorite lens right now
Tamron 28-75; I think this is the best all around focal length
Tamron 70-180; I don’t use this a ton, but it’s a great lens
Peak Design Tripod
Peak Design Lite strap (I was lucky enough to get the camo version from the Sitka collab that sold out in less than 24 hours and feel cool about that)
GoPro 13

Here is the part they do not show you in the highlight reel. I was up there creating content for real brands. Crazy Creek, Out There, and others. That means a tripod, a full camera kit, and all the products I needed to photograph. None of that fits in one load when you are also carrying a tent, sleeping gear, food, and climbing equipment for two nights out. So I put my skis on, skied all the way back down to the van, grabbed everything I had left behind, and headed back up. This time I took the ski route. It was dramatically faster. Of course it was.

That second load was the hardest part of the day. My legs were already tired from the first carry and now I was doing it all over again with more weight. That is the unglamorous reality of being a solo adventure photographer. Nobody is carrying your gear for you. Nobody is setting up your shots while you rest. You are the photographer, the producer, the pack mule, and the creative director all at once. It is a lot of work. But it is your work and that means something.

By the time I got back to camp and got settled, the sky was putting on a show. I set up a time lapse and watched the last light of the day move slowly across the face of Mount Shasta. Golden hour on a fourteen thousand foot volcano is something I will not forget anytime soon. I cooked a big dinner, sat with the mountain, and just let the day wash over me.

By nine o'clock the sun was down and I was in my sleeping bag with every piece of gear packed and ready to go. Three AM wake up. Summit day tomorrow. The weather looked perfect. Low wind. Clear skies. Everything I had been hoping for since I left Lake Tahoe a week ago. I closed my eyes and told myself to sleep fast.

The mountain was not going anywhere. But morning would come quick.

Again, thank you to anyone and everyone reading this. If you have enjoyed this journal entry, shoot me an email to say hey: dj@dalton-johnson.com

✌️