Mount Shasta

For the city, see Mount Shasta, California.

Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta (Úytaahkoo in Karuk), a 14,179-foot (4,322 m) stratovolcano, is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range and the fifth highest peak in California. It is a member in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and is located in Siskiyou County, and has an estimated volume of 108 cubic miles (450 km³), making it the most voluminous stratovolcano of the Cascades. Physically unconnected to any nearby mountain, and rising abruptly from miles of level ground which encircle it, Mount Shasta stands some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the surrounding area. The mountain is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

The mountain has attracted the attention of poets, authors, and presidents. Shasta was memorably described by the poet Joaquin Miller: "Lonely as God, and white as a winter moon, Mount Shasta starts up sudden and solitary from the heart of the great black forests of Northern California." Naturalist and author John Muir said of Shasta: "When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since." Theodore Roosevelt said "I consider the evening twilight on Mt. Shasta one of the grandest sights I have ever witnessed."

Geology and climate

Mount Shasta as seen from Lake Siskiyou, just west of Mount Shasta City, or about 12 miles southwest of the Mount Shasta summit. Taken on August 4, 2007

The mountain consists of four overlapping volcanic cones which have built a complex shape, including the main summit and the prominent satellite cone of 12,330 feet (3,758 m) Shastina which has a visibly conical form (see image at left). If Shastina were a separate mountain, it would rank as the third-highest peak of the Cascade Range.

Mount Shasta's surface is relatively free of deep glacial erosion except, paradoxically, for its south side where Sergeants Ridge runs parallel to the U-shaped Avalanche Gulch. This is the largest glacial valley on the volcano, although it does not presently have a glacier in it (see image below left).

There are seven named glaciers on Shasta, with the four largest (Whitney, Bolam, Hotlum, and Wintun) radiating down from high on the main summit cone to below 10,000 ft (3,000 m) primarily on the north and east sides. The Whitney Glacier is the longest and the Hotlum is the most voluminous glacier in the state of California. Three of the smaller named glaciers occupy cirques near and above 11,000 ft (3,300 m) on the south and southeast sides, including the Watkins, Konwakiton, and Mud Creek Glaciers.

Mount Shasta and Black Butte as seen from the north on I-5 at sunset on 8-4-2007

There are many buried glacial scars on the mountain which were originally created in recent glacial periods ("ice ages") of the present Wisconsinian glaciation. Most have since been filled-in with andesite lava, pyroclastic flows, and talus from lava domes. Shastina, by comparison, has a fully intact summit crater indicating that Shastina developed after the last ice age.

About 593,000 years ago andesitic lavas erupted in what is now Mount Shasta's western flank near McBride Spring. Over time an ancestral Shasta stratovolcano was built to large but unknown height; sometime between 300,000 to 360,000 years ago the entire north side of the volcano collapsed, creating an enormous landslide or debris avalanche, 6.5 mile³ (27 km³) in volume. The slide flowed northwestward into Shasta Valley where the Shasta River now cuts through the 28 mile (45 km) long flow.

Avalanche Gulch on Mt. Shasta. Sergeants Ridge is at center right.

What remains of the oldest of Shasta's four cones is exposed at Sergeants Ridge on the south side of the mountain. Lavas from the Sergeants Ridge vent cover the Everitt Hill shield at Shasta's southern foot. The last lavas to erupt from the vent were hornblende-pyroxene andesites with a hornblende dacite dome at its summit. Glacial erosion has since modified its shape.

The next cone to form is exposed south of Shasta's current summit and is called Misery Hill. It was formed 15,000 to 20,000 years ago from pyroxene andesite flows and has since been intruded by a hornblende dacite dome.

Nearby Black Butte from Weed, California

Since then the Shastina cone has been built by mostly pyroxene andesite lava flows. Some 9,500 years ago, these flows reached about 6.8 miles (11 km) south and three miles north of the area now occupied by nearby Black Butte (see image at right). The last eruptions formed Shastina's present summit about a hundred years later. But before that, Shastina, along with the then forming Black Butte dacite plug dome complex to the west, created numerous pyroclastic flows that covered 43 mile² (110 km²), including large parts of what is now Mt. Shasta, California and Weed, California. Diller Canyon (400 ft (120 m) deep and quarter-mile (400 m) wide) is an avalanche chute that was probably carved into Shastina's western face by these flows.

Shasta from the south, taken near Dunsmuir, California. Shastina is the satellite cone on the left.

The last to form, and the highest cone, the Hotlum Cone, formed about 8,000 years ago. It is named after the Hotlum glacier on its northern face; its longest lava flow, the 500 ft (150 m) thick Military Pass flow, extends 5.5 miles (9 km) down its northwest face. Since the creation of the Hotlum Cone, a dacite dome intruded the cone and now forms the summit. The rock at the 600 ft (180 m) wide summit crater has been extensively hydrothermally altered by sulfurous hot springs and fumaroles there (only a few examples still remain).

In the last 8,000 years, the Hotlum Cone has erupted at least eight or nine times. About 200 years ago the last significant Shasta eruption came from this cone and created a pyroclastic flow, a hot lahar (mudflow), and three cold lahars, which streamed 7.5 miles (12 km) down Shasta's east flank via Ash Creek. A separate hot lahar went 12 miles (19 km) down Mud Creek. This eruption was observed by the explorer La Pérouse, from his ship off the California coast, in 1786.

Climbing and recreation

Rescue being performed at Helen Lake 10,000 ft (3,048 m) on Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta sees many climbers annually attempt to make it to the summit. The summer climbing season runs from late April until October, although many attempts are made in the winter. The most popular route is Avalanche Gulch, also known as the John Muir Route. It begins at a Sierra Club cabin known as Horse Camp, at elevation 7,900 feet (2,400 m) on the southwest side of the mountain, near tree line. It involves 6,300 ft (1,900 m) of vertical gain over moraines and snowfields, with some danger from rockfall and a bergschrund. Because Mount Shasta is a very popular mountain for climbers in the summertime, it sees many inexperienced climbers who become in need of rescue. Hiking trails also exist in areas around the base of the mountain.

In winter, Sargent's Ridge and Casaval Ridge, to the east and west of Avalanche Gulch respectively, become the most traveled routes, to avoid avalanche danger. Mount Shasta is also a popular destination for backcountry skiing. Many of the climbing routes can be descended by experienced skiers, and there are numerous lower-angled areas around the base of the mountain.

Volcanic hazards

Diller Canyon on Mt Shastina from Weed, California

During the last 10,000 years Shasta has erupted an average of every 800 years but in the past 4,500 years the volcano has erupted an average of every 600 years. The last significant eruption on Shasta may have occurred 200 years ago, as noted above.

Mount Shasta can release volcanic ash, pyroclastic flows or dacite and andesite lava. Its deposits can be detected under nearby small towns totaling 20,000 in population. Shasta has an explosive, eruptive history. There are fumaroles on the mountain, which show that Shasta is still alive.

The worst case scenario for an eruption is a large pyroclastic flow, such as what occurred in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Since there is ice, such as Whitney Glacier and Mud Creek Glacier, lahars would also result. Ash would probably blow inland, perhaps as far as eastern Nevada. There is a small chance that an eruption could also be bigger resulting in a collapse of the mountain, as happened at Mount Mazama in Oregon, but this is of much lower probability.

The United States Geological Survey considers Shasta a dormant volcano, which will erupt again. It is impossible to pinpoint the date of next eruption, but it likely will occur within the next several hundred years.

History

The oldest known human habitation in the area dates to about 7,000 years ago, and by about 5,000 years ago, there was substantial human habitation in the surrounding area.

At the time of Euro-American contact in the 1820s, the Native American tribes who lived within view of Mount Shasta included the Shasta, Okwanuchu, Modoc, Achomawi, Atsugewi, Karuk, Klamath, Wintu, and Yana tribes.

The historic eruption of Mount Shasta in 1786 may have been observed by la Perouse, but this is disputed. Although perhaps first seen by Spanish explorers, the first reliably-reported land sighting of Mount Shasta by a European or American was by Peter Skene Ogden (a leader of a Hudson's Bay Company trapping brigade) in 1826. In 1827, the name "Sasty" or "Sastise" was given to nearby Mount McLoughlin by Ogden. (The name was transferred to present-day Mount Shasta in 1841, partly as a result of work by the United States Exploring Expedition).

Beginning in the 1820s, Mount Shasta was a prominent landmark along what became known as the Siskiyou Trail, which runs at Mount Shasta's base. The Siskiyou Trail was located on the track of an ancient trade and travel route of Native American footpaths between California's Central Valley and the Pacific Northwest.

The California Gold Rush brought the first Euro-American settlements into the area in the early 1850s, including at Yreka, California and Upper Soda Springs. The first recorded ascent of Mount Shasta occurred in 1854 (by Elias Pearce), after several earlier failed attempts. In 1856, the first women (Harriette Eddy, Mary Campbell McCloud, and their party) were recorded as reaching the summit.

Clarence King exploring the Whitney Glacier in 1870. This was the first glacier in the continental United States discovered and named. It was named for Josiah Whitney, head of the California Geological Survey.

By the 1860s and 1870s, Shasta was the subject of scientific and literary interest. The summit was achieved (or nearly achieved) by John Muir, Josiah Whitney, Clarence King, and John Wesley Powell. In 1877, Muir wrote a dramatic popular article about an experience in which he survived an overnight blizzard on Shasta by lying in the hot sulfur springs found near the summit (Muir article).

The 1887 completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, built along the line of the Siskiyou Trail between California and Oregon, brought a substantial increase in tourism, lumbering, and population into the area around Mount Shasta. Early resorts and hotels, such as Shasta Springs, grew up along the Siskiyou Trail around Mount Shasta, catering to these early adventuresome tourists and mountaineers.

In the early Twentieth Century, the Pacific Highway followed the track of the Siskiyou Trail to the base of Mount Shasta, leading to still more access to the mountain. Today's version of the Siskiyou Trail, Interstate 5, brings thousands of people a year to Mount Shasta.

It was declared a National Natural Landmark in December of 1976.

Religion

Shasta and Shastina from the north, near Pluto's Caves

The lore of some of the Native Americans in the area held that Shasta is inhabited by the spirit chief Skell who descended from heaven to the mountain's summit.

Many other faiths have been attracted to Shasta over the years -- more than any other Cascade volcano. Mount Shasta City and Dunsmuir, California, small towns near Shasta's western base, are focal points for many of these, which range from a Buddhist monastery (Shasta Abbey, founded by Houn Jiyu-Kennett in 1971) to modern-day Native American rituals. As reported in the documentary In The Light of Reverence, a group of Native Americans from the McCloud River area practice rituals on the mountain. Other surrounding tribes also continue to use the mountain for spiritual practices.

Guy Ballard's I Am Activity (started in the 1930s) and Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant (started in the 1950s) are probably the best-known among numerous groups to participate in Shasta's spiritual heritage. Some cults hold that races of sentient or spiritual beings, superior to humans, live in or on Shasta, or visit the mountain.

Mount Shasta City hosts 16 Christian churches. If the membership rolls were combined, they would account for approximately 25 percent of the population.

Cultural references

• Joaquin Miller sets his historical novel, Life Amongst the Modocs, at the base of Mt. Shasta. The poet had spent a number of years as a young man living with and near the Native Americans around Mt. Shasta, and based this work on that time. The first line of the novel is quoted in the first paragraph (above) of this article. Miller also refers to Mt. Shasta repeatedly in his poems and other book-length works, including, for example, Shadows of Shasta.
• Frederick Spencer Oliver's 1894 fantasy novel, A Dweller on Two Planets, is about the Lemurian race. In the novel, Lemurians who traveled to Mount Shasta when their continent sank beneath the Pacific Ocean, are now said to live inside the mountain in a series of tunnels. Several other authors have since expanded on these ideas. People still claim to have encountered Lemurians on Shasta.
• Mt. Shasta was mentioned in the 1963 comedy classic "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as actress Dorothy Provine searches a map.
• Mt. Shasta is mentioned in Lost Legacy, a speculative fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein as the home of a group of men who are masters of psychic powers and who decide to teach the world their powers by enlisting Boy Scouts.
• The mountain is also part of a key scene in Ken Grimwood's novel Replay.
• Mt. Shasta inspired singer-songwriter Vienna Teng's song Shasta on her second album Warm Strangers.
• Mt. Shasta is the home to and namesake of the Taiko drumming group Shasta Taiko.
• Isaiah Washington's character Dr. Preston Xavier Burke mentioned Mt. Shasta to Dr. Hahn in the Grey's Anatomy episode 17 Seconds (2.25). ("He can climb Mt. Shasta on a Dobutamine drip")
• Mt. Shasta is the home of the Western Dragon Hestaby in the Shadowrun role-playing game's universe.
• Mt. Shasta is the subject of a poem ("Mount Shasta, Seen from a Distance," 1852) by John Rollin Ridge (Yellow Bird), the Cherokee author.

See also

• Mountain peaks of California
• Mountain peaks of North America
• Mountain peaks of the United States
• Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway

References

• Harris, Stephen L. (2005). Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes (3rd ed.). Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-511-X.
• Mount Shasta Collection at College of the Siskiyous
  • Miesse, William C. (June 17, 2005). "Mount Shasta Fact Sheet". College of the Siskiyous Library. Retrieved 2006-02-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Miesse, William C. "The Name 'Shasta'". Mt. Shasta Annotated Bibliography. College of the Siskiyous Library. Retrieved 2006-02-11.
  • Mount Shasta Collection: First women to summit
• Peninsula Geological Society and Stanford GES-052Q combined field trip, Mount Shasta-Klamath Northern Coast Range area, NW California, 05/17-05/20/2001 accessed 2008-01-25.
• Wood, Charles A. (1990). Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43811-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Zanger, Michael (1992). Mt. Shasta: History, Legend, Lore. Celestial Arts. ISBN 0-89087-674-6. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

See also

• Cascade Range
• Cascade Volcanoes
• List of California fourteeners
• Geology of the Pacific Northwest
• List of highest points in California by county

External links

Mount Shasta

• Mount Shasta on TierraWiki.org
• Shasta Cam provides a live view of Mt. Shasta updated every 20 minutes.
• Live webcam updates @ 10 minutes includes temperature and wind (+ archives)
• Sisson Museum/Mt. Shasta Museum
• Museum of the Siskiyou Trail
• Mount Shasta on Summitpost.org
• Mount Shasta at Peakbagger.com
• Mount Shasta on Bivouac.com
• Geological summary
• Mt.Shasta, Avalanche Gulch Route BestCaliforniaHikes.com