I’m on my way back north towards the Pacific Northwest, sadly leaving my daughter in LA and feeling a little lonely. I stayed in a hotel in Sacramento due to extreme heat and ash falling from the skies. On this day I had already booked an RV campground north of Redding but was looking at 100 degree days; indeed, when I arrived and checked in, it was 97. Thankfully I had plenty of time to head further north to Mt. Shasta and higher climes, where the temperatures were much cooler. I drove up to the parking lot at 7800’ where the old ski area used to be and found a very pleasant 73 degree temperature. My plan was to get in this short hike/scramble of Green Butte (9193’), make dinner in the van in the parking lot, set the van up for sleeping and depart as the sun was going down for the RV park, 1 hour and 15 minutes away. I figured by the time I returned the temperatures would be in the 70’s.

Well, all went according to plan. I had a very pleasant ascent, with no one else on the trail this time of evening….I started the hike at 4:20 PM. Not sure where to depart the trail and start the scramble, I circled around a bit high but eventually made my way to the base of the butte. I have this propensity for going straight up summit scrambles, and I hugged the wall on steep slippery scree and choss. Not the best line but it got the job done, and soon enough I was on the ridge leading to the easy summit. With the late afternoon sun I enjoyed 360 degree views and chilly winds, quite a change from the over baked environs of California of late. I was also surprised to see I had good cell reception, so I took a chance that my daughter was home from work at 5:30 and FaceTimed her. To my delight she answered and got to share the summit views with me; aint technology grand! After a bit I reluctantly said goodbye and headed back down on a gentler arc, arriving at the van shortly thereafter at about 6:20 PM. Plenty of time to prepare the murphy bed and cook dinner; pasta with spinach, Market herbs (from Pike Place Market in Seattle, great stuff), grated cheese, olive oil and pepper. The sun was going down and there were a few people in the lot taking it all in. I cleaned up and drove away, passing the long boarders in the process. I stopped lower down hoping to get some pics as they passed by, but I didn’t have the camera set quite right and most of the promising shots were blurry. One of them saw me and cut between me and the van whilst hauling ass, these guys were skilled and really enjoying themselves. I descended the winding but very nice road and arrived back at my site at 9 PM, plenty of time to take a hot shower and relax on my bed with the rear doors open, looking at the photos and posting this blog while sipping a nice glass of Pinot Grigio. Welcome to retirement.

*Some skilled long boarders doing the upper section of the ski lift road*

*Late afternoon light highlights the flower fields on the trail for the old ski area*