By Khalida Sarwari
In letters to his friends, American naturalist and wilderness preservation advocate John Muir recalled coming across the beauty of Mt. Shasta for the first time. “I was 50 miles away and afoot, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.”
Muir would return to Mt. Shasta several times over to traverse its 14,179-foot height. Joining the ranks of men such as Muir is Bala Kasiviswanathan, a new Saratoga resident, who recently embarked on a two-day ascent to one of the highest peaks in the Cascade Range.
Kasiviswanathan was similarly awed by the mountain’s magnificence.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be that high and look down,” he said. “It’s a phenomenal feeling.”
Standing at 12,000 feet, Kasiviswanathan said he was able to see other peaks in their entirety, notably Lassen Peak and the Trinity Alps.
“It’s not the same as being in Tahoe,” he said with a laugh.
Kasiviswanathan did the climb June 8 and 9 with a group of 11 others as part of a fundraiser for the American Liver Foundation. The group began training for the journey in February, mainly by doing long-distance hikes on trails around the Bay Area, both individually and in groups. The two most memorable, he recalled, were Mt. Tam and Muir Woods.
For Kasiviswanathan, who moved to Saratoga last July from Seattle for work, this was a great way to explore the Bay Area. It was also his first foray into hiking. One thing that surprised him, he said, was how accessible hiking trails are in the Bay Area. One downside, he found, was that the weather in the Bay Area heats up much quicker than it does in Seattle.
Kasiviswanathan and his crew headed toward Mt. Shasta on a Friday morning, got there by noon and checked into their hotel. From there, they went to a shop to rent equipment for their trek before heading back for a group dinner and then retiring early for the night.
The next morning, the group gathered for a quick breakfast before meeting up with four guides. The guides went over a checklist of items they needed for the journey and then distributed those items among themselves and the group members. The group then made the 20-minute drive to the trailhead and began the climb around 1 p.m., stopping three hours later at the base camp. Once there, the guides helped the group set up their tents and gave them tips about mountaineering, ice climbing and how to use their equipment.
“Some people were new, others were seasoned; they wanted to make sure everybody was on equal footing,” Kasiviswanathan said.
The group then sat down for a meal and retired early again to get as much rest as they could for the long journey ahead of them. Around 12:30 a.m. they were on their feet again, putting on their helmets, head lamps and other snow gear. Kasiviswanathan said they were lucky because it was one of the warmest days Mt. Shasta has ever had so the climb up was pleasant. After a quick breakfast, they began the climb at 1 a.m.
“The reason we leave early is to reach the summit by noon, before severe weather comes in,” said Kasiviswanathan.
He said he made it as high as 12,000 feet before he had to turn around due to altitude sickness.
“That’s one thing you can’t train for,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how fit you are and how much hiking you’ve done. You don’t know how your body reacts.”
The group made it back to the base camp site around 2 p.m., “exhausted, but in a good mood,” Kasiviswanathan said. There, they packed all their equipment and supplies and then hiked back down to the trailhead, where they were greeted with volunteers with hot pizza, “which tastes so yummy at that time because you’re starving,” said Kasiviswanathan.
The group went back to the hotel to freshen up and then gathered again for dinner to share stories about their adventure.
Kasiviswanathan said he was motivated to join the American Liver Foundation’s Mt. Shasta climb challenge because of a colleague at Apigee who has done it for the past five years. Doing the climb through ALF allowed him to focus on training for the climb and on fundraising, he said. In the end, he raised more than $3,000 in the span of 2½ months, and his team raised around $30,000. ALF provides support for research, education and advocacy for people affected by liver disease.
“I feel very good about having raised awareness and funding for the cause,” he said.
Kasiviswanathan felt well physically, too. By Tuesday, he was already back at work. He encouraged others to consider taking on the ALF Mt. Shasta challenge.
“As long as you can spend some time and effort in terms of preparation and fundraising, it’s definitely going to be a good experience,” he said. “It’s very doable.”
He added, “I’m pretty keen to doing it again next year.”
