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Another side of Shasta By Lee Juillerat Sep 02, 2022 12:45 AM A A 4 View all photos Hikers make their way along the trail to South Gate Meadows. [Photo by Lee Juillerat] Another side of Mount Shasta looms large from South Gate Meadows. [Photo by Lee Juillerat] A sign marks the Mount Shasta Wilderness Area. [Photo by Lee Juillerat] A waterfall flows below South Gate Meadows. [Photo by Lee Juillerat] Cascade Peak’s south side offers look at other features Mount Shasta is a big mountain. Not only does its snowy peak dramatically rise 14,162 feet above sea level; it dominates and towers over a vast region. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Shasta “is the most voluminous of all Cascade Range volcanoes.” Each year, thousands of people focus on reaching Shasta’s highest point, which I’ve summited dozens of times over several decades. But because that’s been the goal, many other areas of the mountain have been unexplored and unknown — until now. Instead of being summit-bound our group of eight had another destination: South Gate (formerly Squaw) Meadows. The trailhead, located at an elevation of 7,820 feet at the end of Everitt Memorial Highway, is accessed from the upper parking lot of the former Mount Shasta Ski Bowl on Shasta’s south flank. The ski area opened in December 1958, but a massive avalanche in January 1978 destroyed its main chairlift, resulting in the area’s closure. The current downhill ski/snowboard area, Mount Shasta Ski Park, located below timberline, opened in 1985. Nothing remains of the old lodge or ski area, but the parking area provides access to trails up sections of Shasta’s south side, including South Gate Meadows. Unexpectedly, the toughest part of the hike happens almost immediately with the trail gaining a quick 470 feet in elevation. But the reward is a circumference of views, including two nearby buttes — Gray Butte to the south and Red Butte to the east — and, of course, the dominating presence of Shasta. The elevation gained is just as quickly lost descending to a trail junction at The Gate, a distance from the trailhead of about 1.3 miles. The route to the meadows continues east, dropping into and past a desert of sand before entering tree-shaded woods and, in wetter years, small streams. The obvious trail ends about a mile later at the Meadows. Two of our group had made the hike before, so we followed them steeply downstream to a “falls,” a narrow chute of tumbling waters from South Gate (Squaw) Creek. Back near the junction, some of us headed north, frequently crisscrossing the creek while following a sometimes faint path north. It was breathtaking, not only because of the views of the valley below and Shasta’s ever impressively rugged slopes, but because of its unrelenting steepness. After a hard-earned half-mile and 600-foot elevation gain, we reached Monkeyflower Spring. On Shasta’s slopes were knobby Shastarama Point and Sargents Ridge, which rises to Shasta’s summit After rejoining the others, we backtracked on the trail we’d used to reach the meadows to The Gate. Again we split into two groups, with four heading directly back to the South Gate Meadows trailhead/parking area while four of us angled south 1 1/2 miles to another trailhead at the Panther Creek Campground. The tradeoff for our added distance was an elevation loss of 400 feet and, to satisfy curious eyes, new views, including the seemingly out-of-place sandy section below Red Butte. Once across, the route climbed a small ridge, where we escaped the afternoon heat in forests shaded by Shasta red firs, mountain hemlocks and occasional whitebark pines. As the trail dipped toward the campground, where the others were waiting, semi-wet meadows revealed limited smatterings of colorful wildflowers: Indian paintbrush, monkeyflowers, pennyroyal and others. We never neared Shasta’s summit, but that wasn’t the goal. Instead, the hike provided glimpses of some of the mountain’s other aspects and features. Hiking to South Gate was a worthwhile hike, one that — for me — revealed another side of Mount Shasta. Reach freelance writer Lee Juillerat at [email protected] or 541-880-4139.