FKT: Erin Ton - Mt Shasta (CA) - 2026-06-01

The morning began with a casual hike up to Horse Camp. I shed my heavy layers there and cached them under a rock to collect on my way down. I started at 6:30am, which made for great conditions heading up the steep snow. Towards the top of the ridge near the thumb there were a few places where my steps began to sink, so I could have maybe even started 15-30 minutes earlier. Nonetheless, it was still close to perfect conditions. The steps out of Horse Camp make it difficult to maintain an even cadence, but they don't last for long. I opted to take the dry switchbacks up to the snow line instead of the snow gully that most skiers take. I think this was the correct decision, as I ended up descending that gully later and it was quite post-holey. At the top of the dry bump, I spent a couple minutes putting on my crampons. I think that I would have been fine in microspikes, but the crampons gave me more confidence on the steep sections. From there, it was a mixture of power hiking to the summit with intermittent jogging on the flatter sections. I passed a couple parties who all cheered me on. Thanks for the stoke!! Once I topped out on the ridge, I stopped for a minute or so to eat something and drink water. Had I known that I was going to be close to 2:13 I probably would have pushed harder and not done this lol. Next time! For some reason I also thought I had much more climbing than I actually did at this point. But when I reached the top of Misery Hill I realized it was a short romp to the summit. There was a party of 3 up there who I later spent some time chatting with. Reached the summit, snapped a few pics, and called it an effort! I wore just shorts and a tank top all the way to the summit. Grateful for a beautiful day out there! Already scheming of when I will return and get it closer to 2 hours... :)