Welcome to Mount Shasta - a great place to ski, hike, and mountaineer - and a place that is home to innumerable mysteries.
At 14,180 feet, Mount Shasta is an impressive volcano and mountain. It is the second tallest mountain in the Cascade Range; and it is the fifth tallest mountain in all of California. Every year, tens of thousands of people come to hike, camp, backpack, ski, snowshoe, and otherwise experience everything the mountain has to offer. But the mountain isn't all about leg crunching pain, boiling water and wilderness experiences. Unlike the other mountains in the Cascade Range, Mount Shasta is a mystical location that may or may not have a myriad of strange creatures; and may or may not have a hollow core. One thing is for certain, however: Mount Shasta is the premier mountain in the United States to possibly experience the most weird things at; including, but not limited to the top six items here.
1) Batsquatch. Nope, it’s not a fruit. Nope, it’s not a Last Adventurer spelling error. It’s BATSQUATCH. You thought Sasquatch – the mythical creature that roams the hills, mountains, and other mysterious places of the world was creepy, as he/she/it could be a throwback to another, more primal age – but you were wrong. Sasquatch is a furry cuddly teddy bear compared to BATSQUATCH. All Sasquatches want to do is roam around and eat fruits, vegetables, and basically ignore man, as they’ve been doing for thousands of years. All they want to do is keep on keeping on. BATSQUATCH, however, is another thing. For starters, he/it/she is a giant bat, and everyone knows that aside from eating bugs and fruit and having cool echolocation skills, bats are the epitome of pure evil, because bats are vampires. What’s that you say – I need proof for a statement like that? Ok, fine. My proof is this little book called Dracula as well as any vampire movie ever made. Case closed. Bats fly around secretly singing, “I’m a vampire! I’m a vampire!”, and in all honesty, they probably have a little dance they do while they sing their song. Bats=evil. So, something called BATSQUATCH is definitely evil since it is a large mutant vampire/bat. I do, however, give it cool points for its name: it makes me think this: “Nah nah naaaaaaah Batsquatch!!!!”. Mt. Shasta Danger Scale: 5 ice axes out of 5. It’s a giant bat/potential vampire. Enough said. Personally, I’d say everyone should start climbing with garlic clove necklaces for protection. (More info here, and here)
The real reason mountaineers carry ice axes: BATSQUATCH. Also, bonus item in this photo: look at that woman's helmet!
2) Sasquatch. I have to be honest here, if we were anywhere else, it would be pretty darn cool to be discussing Sasquatch. After all, it’s a primeval creature from the distant past. But, last time I checked, Sasquatch did not have wings. Nor was Sasquatch a giant vampire. Therefore, Sasquatch has just been totally upstaged by BATSQUATCH, and since Sasquatch is basically a recluse, he’s actually kind of boring. Mt. Shasta Danger Scale: 1 ice ace out of 5. He/it/she is probably mad that BATSQUATCH has upstaged it. Also, like bears, sasquatches like their solitude, so when startled, then can become quite aggressive and rip off people’s arms. (More info here, and here)
Drink enough of these at Lake Helen, and you'll be seeing Batsquatch, Sasquatch, Lemuria, and everything else on the mountain.
3) Count St. Germain. Picture this: it’s 1930 and you’re climbing Mt. Shasta. While on the mountain, you encounter another climber. Since there’s only two of you on the mountain, you stop for a chat. At this point, the other climber tells you that he’s: a) a time traveler; b) from the 18th century; c) a “wundermann”; and d) a Count. Now, I’d know what I’d say at this point: “Hey buddy, let me: give you some food/give you some water” or “You need to get out of the sun” or “Do you have AMS?”. But, alas, I am not Guy Ballard, who decided to go with another option, which was to take this mysterious person at his word, that he was indeed, a time-traveling Count from 18th century France. Then again, if you think about this for a second, maybe Ballard was the one who needed some help, because maybe there was no one else on the mountain. Mt. Shasta Danger Scale: 1 ice axe out of 5. The only danger here seems to be dangerous like propaganda is dangerous. Then again, perhaps Count St. Germain is like Dr. Who – ruminate on that as you visit Mt. Shasta, if you want. (More info here, and here)
This is not Count St. Germain. This is just a normal, ordinary, non-Lemurian Mount Shasta Volcanic Rock.
4) Lemuria/Lemurians. Ever heard of Atlantis? Of course you have. Lemuria is Atlantis’ secret long lost cousin that no one else knows of. Like Atlantis, Lemuria is a continent that sank beneath the ocean. The only difference is that Atlantis is purportedly around the Mediterranean/Atlantic Oceans, and Lemuria was around the Indian/Pacific Oceans. I don’t know about you, but it sounds totally plausible to me that each hemisphere of the world has its own lost continent; totally fair, and feasible. In any case, the Lemurians apparently made it to California and to Mt. Shasta. Rather than live above ground, they elected to live in a golden city tunneled out of the volcano. Now, I know what you’re thinking: volcanoes are full of lava, wouldn’t they get cooked? Answer: not necessarily, maybe they’re resistant to magma, or maybe they’re so advanced that they use the heat to keep themselves toasty warm. In any case, again, according to Guy Ballard, and other interested parties, sometimes they want a vacation so they come up to the surface to wander around in white robes. Mt. Shasta Danger Scale: 0 ice axes out of 5. (More info here, and here)
No tips as to how to get into Lemuria from the Mount Shasta summit log - the investigation continues.
5) UFO’s. Enough said. Everyone knows aliens are probably hostile, especially if you’ve ever seen Fire in the Sky or know about the conspiracies present in the X-Files. Mt. Shasta Danger Scale: 4 ice axes out of 5. (More Info here)
That's a tree - not a UFO. As for the Mount Shasta vortex? It could be in this photo. Maybe.
6) Vortexes and other myths: this may surprise you, but there are plenty of other myths about the mountain that I haven’t even covered here – so, go out and see what you can find!