It's a surprisingly achievable summit, and worth every ounce of effort to climb up once you're there. The base of the trail starts at 8,500 feet elevation or so. Lots of people attempt the trail (in every sort of wardrobe possible - which provides some entertainment on the trail), so it gets a bit crowded in points. Slap on the sunscreen, as only about 50 feet or so of the trail is in wooded shade -the rest of it is on the bare mountain face. The climb up can take from around an hour and a half at a good pace, up to several hours. And it's nothing but uphill. The views get increasingly spectacular as you climb above all the surrounding mountains. The entire trail is a seemingly endless series o
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Hiking boots aren't absolutely necessary for the climb, but you may appreciate the ankle support once you get onto climbing the loose volcanic rock near the top. Take your time, and stop if you start getting headaches from the altitude or exhausted from the climb. You arrive at a flat area, just short of the true summit, which provides some information about the eruption in 1916. From here, at last, you can get an incredible view of snow-covered Mt. Shasta, across miles of forest and lakes. If you wish to continue up to the final summit at 10,495 feet, you have to do a fairly tricky climb over lava rocks.
Even in July, there was a field of snow left over in the shadows of the mountain, which you can descend through into the amazing lava formations below. It's worth spending an hour or two exploring this area, and not descending the mountain immediately. Your trip down will be stunningly fast, but dodging other hikers trudging up will slow you down.
All in all, the trip takes about 4 hours round trip. There are no services at the base or peak of the mountain, other than outhouses at the parking lot, so bring everything you might need yourself - including lots of water!
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