Climbing the Causeway to Mt. Shasta - Or, "Why's My Bunny Flat?"

Hi Blog. Today is Sunday, October 6th.  We've been in the area now for 11 days and finally made it up Mt. Shasta.  When we first got to Mountain Gate, we stopped at the Ranger Station near our campground (before they all closed) and were advised that if we wanted to get up close and personal with Mt. Shasta, that Bunny Flat was where we should head. No, they did not name the trailhead after bunnies run over by traffic.  It just so happens this area is relatively flat and has lots of bunnies.  Here is Kathy at the trailhead (6940') at the start of our climb.

The trail takes us through the open flats with great views of Shasta.

The lower trail is wide and easy to follow.

In just a couple miles, we find ourselves at the Shasta Alpine Lodge.  This shelter was built by the Sierra Club.  During the climbing season, the lodge is manned by a caretaker.

Inside the hut is a fireplace, picnic tables and a bookshelf.  We signed the guest register and left a small donation.

Just behind the hut is an amazing flagstone walkway that leads up past tree line to the base of the summit scree field.  Some of these stones weigh more than 1,000lbs.  What is more amazing is that the guy that built this walkway was in his late 60's - early 70's when he did it.  J.M. Olberman was hired in 1922 at the age of 60 and worked until he retired in 1934.  During his tenure as caretaker of the lodge, he worked on this causeway to help protect the fragile alpine vegetation from human trample.  After his death, the Sierra Club names the flagstone walkway the "Olberman Causeway."

After a quick snack at the lodge, we headed up and up and up.  We knew we didn't have enough time to summit, but wanted to get high enough to see over the trees.  Our goal was that last stand of tree on the left.

As we turned around to see just how far we came, we could see the summit of Black Butte (6,334 ft.) below us.

Here you can see the trail heading down into the trees.  In the valley below is Lake Siskiyou, a reservoir formed by the Box Canyon Dam on the Sacramento River.

We made it too our turnaround point (8500 ft) and were rewarded with some spectacular views.

While the summit was only three miles away, from this point it was still over 5,000 feet of elevation gain over loose cinder, scree, snow and ice.

We decide to just enjoy the view and save the mountaineering for the mountain climbers.  If you are curious about the summit, you can follow the link and watch these other climbers summit.

The causeway leads straight back to the lodge.  We stopped at the lodge on the way down for Kathy to eat her sandwich (Dave ate his on the way up).

As we were leaving the lodge, we meet a climber who came up for a day hike with his full pack in order to get some exercise.  He had summited three times and was looking forward to the next climbing season, so he could make another go at it.  He took some time and showed us several different routes up to the summit.  We learned there is no "trail" to the summit.  Each climber has to decide the route that is best for them.  Most summit attempts are made in the spring when the snow is packed down and easy to walk on with crampons. After a lovely chat, it was time to head back down the mountain.

We had an hour drive to get back to camp.  We finished our day with a soak in the hot tub. Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure.  Not sure what that will be, but I'm sure it will be epic!