Shasta is a proper mountain challenge packing all of the big peak thrills and torments into a two day extravaganza. You don't need a guide to show you the way up so long as you have reasonable gear, orientation, preparation, fitness and a healthy dose of common sense.

Most will camp mid-way at Lake Helen for the night which lies about half way at elevation 10,000 feet. This means lugging your tent, sleeping bag, food, water and cooking gear half way up the mountain and pitching in the snow. Expect a cold night and not much sleep! Oh, remember to keep your boots inside the tent else you may wake up to find them frozen solid outside.

The summit day starts early at 3:30am and consists of tedious uphill walking for about 5-6 hours. Altitude headaches and nauseous sulphur smells constantly make you question 'what possessed me to think this would be fun?'.

But reaching the summit at 14,162ft and looking all around at your hiking achievement makes it all worth while ... and weeks later when you have forgotten the pain, Shasta will endure as one hell of an adventure!