On Monday, Peggy and I flew from Seattle, Washington to Sacramento California. It was cloudy through Washington and Northern Oregon, which was hardly a surprise given the weather in the West this year. In mid-Oregon, however, the clouds suddenly parted. We enjoyed great views of the Three Sister volcanoes and the iconic Crater Lake. 

As we crossed into California, I told Peggy to hold her breath. Mt. Shasta was coming. We would be flying to the East of it. We didn’t have a clue what the weather would be like. Shasta could be cloud covered, partially covered, or totally clear. What we got was a rare treat, a lenticular cloud was perched on top of the mountain. While Peggy oohed and awed, I grabbed my camera to snap a few photos. 

I love Mt. Shasta. It’s one of the most beautiful volcanic mountains in the world. I’ve been driving by it for decades as I made my way from California to Oregon and back. I even climbed the mountain in 1979 with my 75 year old friend, Orvis Agee, who’d been up it so many times that he was  known affectionately as ‘The Old Man of the Mountain.’ For my own 75th birthday in 2018, I had spent two weeks of my 750 mile backpack trek down the PCT enjoying spectacular views of the mountain as I made my way south from Mt. Ashland to Burney Falls.

It was my intention to slap up a quick post on our Monday fly-over but we were in Sacramento for a personal and sad reason. Peggy’s sister, Jane Hagedorn, and my friend of 50 years had unexpectedly passed away. We had come in from Virginia to attend a celebration of life memorial and help her children for a couple of weeks as they sort though things and prepare for the memorial. So, I put the post off. I actually forgot it.  

Until Saturday. I was reading a blog I follow by Bubba Suess, hikemtshasta.com, and he had photographed the same lenticular cloud and others from the ground. I suggest you jump over to his web site and click on his blog at the top. He had photos from both Sunday and Monday. They are amazing, especially the flying saucer lenticular cloud! They inspired me to put up my photos as well. 

Jane drove up to see us several times while Peggy and I were living in Oregon, sometimes with her husband, Jim, and sometimes by herself. She considered our home and property as a retreat. Along the way, she would pass by Mt. Shasta. She shared our awe of the mountain’s beauty. She was a faithful follower of my blog and I know she would love this post on Shasta. This one’s for her.

My post on the buffalo sculptures of Custer City, South Dakota that I was going to run today will be posted next Monday. My post on the history and mythology of Egypt will be on the following Monday.