4WD Rally the Volcano

4WD Rally the Volcano!

Dear SoCal Grotto... 46 years later, we accept.

Tune up your 4WD, load the ice chest, grab a few of your best caver friends, and join our rally around the fourteen-thousand foot Mount Shasta Volcano!

At an elevation of 14,179 feet, Mt. Shasta towers above the local terrain at Weed, CA, by nearly 11,000 feet. Local inhabitants have held this impressive stratovolcano in reverence since they first passed through and settled between 11,000 and 7,000 years ago. Photo by Matt Bowers, NSS

We're not completely sure what day this will happen yet - might be Friday, might be Saturday - but it's certain to be a fun time. The rally will begin and end at College of the Siskiyous. If we get enough interest, we might even make nameplates (see below). Once we recruit a coordinator to manage this, we'll post their information here so they can answer your questions.

There are seven named glaciers on Mount Shasta, with the four largest (Whitney, Bolam, Hotlum, and Wintun) radiating down from high on the main summit cone to below 10,000 feet primarily on the north and east sides. This road rally will give you some of the best views of the mountain that are mostly hidden from casual visitors. The impressive Hotlum Glacier is the largest in the State of California.

This is a semi-maintained road. Conditions may range from mild washboards to, well, something much more sporty. It pretty much all depends on how badly the road gets beaten up over the winter.

You know the drill. Take extra supplies and your camera! There is no cell signal out here. Travel with friends, let someone know when to expect you back and take what you might need to un-stick your vehicle. Even though this route is only 70 miles long, it will take you about 6 hours.

Nameplate from the 1978 4WD rally in Texas. Photo by Gregory J. Valent, NSS.