This will be an easy 2 day trip and the one night spent will be at Helen Lake, at 10,500 feet on Mt Shasta. The plan is to leave Redding by 6am and be on trail, packs loaded, by 8am. We will begin at Bunny Flats headed towards Horse Camp which is a 1.7 mile hike, from Horse Camp we will continue heading up the mountain via Avalanche Gulch which will make the next major point 50/50 Flat, which is just 1 mile from Horse Camp, and is where many people camp. From here it will just be another .7 mile to reach our destination, Helen Lake, making the total trip from the trail head 3.4 miles. This is where we will be setting up camp for the night.
As far as gear, 3 season tents should be fine for this trip as long as no weather comes in, a decent sleeping bag and pad will be a great help to you however almost anything will work as it will not be getting very cold at night during this season. As far as other gear good hiking boots are a must and depending on what you like to eat or if you want to carry all your water for the trip a stove and cooking gear would be great to bring but I have extra gear if anyone needs. Other than that a good set of trekking poles will make both the ascent and decent much easier, especially if carrying a heavier pack.
As far as food, obviously make sure you eat a good breakfast the morning of the start, even though its sometimes difficult to want to eat around 5am, its essential. As for lunch on day one almost anything will be fine, I'm planning on just a sandwich or two and trail mix or jerky. For a trip like this I'm planning on using Mountain House freeze dried meals for dinner as they are very light and very convenient, especially after a tiring day of hiking, and are high in calories. For breakfast on day two my personal preference is Carnation instant breakfasts mixed with powdered milk, and that is what a lot of other would recommend, as its quick easy and high in calories and other nutrients. For lunch on day two another freeze dried meal is most likely what I will be having but just about anything that will be fine throughout the heat of the first day will be fine, unlike other mountaineering seasons right now we cant count on the mountain for refrigeration. Then just be sure to have plenty of snacks, whatever you prefer and can easily carry.
The next bit of the trip is the decent, and this may change depending on conditions on the mountain. The two ideas were either to descend via Avalanche Gulch, same route as our ascent, but the other idea was to traverse across to Sargents Ridge and descend via that route which will also bring us back to Bunny Flats where we are starting. This however will depend on conditions, the ideal plan is to descend via Sargents Ridge if the conditions of the mountain will allow that to be done, that would make our descent around 3.4 miles either way.

If you have any other questions about the trip feel free to email me or call me anytime at [masked]. I do also have some extra gear if anyone needs anything.

• 
  Jan

  From: Curt Christensen
  ...sounds like you've been there, but others should know that "Lake Helen" is not a lake at all, but a rocky, semi-level, ledge in the gulch....and it can be damn cold at night even this time of the year. Also it's hard to cook anything at that altitude, and many may find it difficult to sleep (even if they're fortunate enough to find a spot to lie down). If you're staging for the top it's ok, but otherwise I can think of more comfortable "destinations".

  Posted Jul 14, 2010 at 8:55 PM
• 
  Josh and Sarah

  Re: Curt Christensen
  Ya the main point of the trip was because theres some people I know who want to try for the summit but werent confident enough to try this time, looks like no one from the group is interested anyway.

  Posted Jul 16, 2010 at 12:26 AM