This spring I got connected with a few members of the local chapter of the Sierra Club Foundation. This is the non-profit branch of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club owns a large chunk of land (720 acres) on Mount Shasta that contains has an alpine hut on it. The Shasta Alpine Hut (Formally Horse Camp Hut) recently celebrated it’s 100th year in 2022. The Shasta Alpine Hut is used a basecamp in the late spring and early summer for climbers attempting Mount Shasta at 14,179 ft (4,322 m). The history of the Alpine hut goes back as far as the hut has existed. There have been many caretakers over the years and the job has evolved just as much over that timeframe. If you visit Mount Shasta City, you can go to the Mount Shasta Museum to see a cool display of the history of the hut and caretakers.
For me this was a perfect opportunity to spend weekend mornings and early afternoons in the alpine managing the hut, talking to tourists, working on trails, cleaning the bathrooms, hiking around, doing art, nature journaling, meditating, reading about alpine ecology and somehow getting paid to do all of this! A dream job!
I have a number of alpine ecology observations and nature journal pages to share in upcoming posts.