First Sun Breaks on McLoughlin Mount Shasta through the Pines McLoughlin Northeast Bowl Alex on a Snow Bridge NE Bowl and Pelican Butte Climbing the East Ridge McLoughlin Summit Ridge McLoughlin Summit Photo McLoughlin Lookout Ruins View of Mount Thielsen McLoughlin Summit Ski Dropping into the North Bowl Skiing the Upper North Bowl Skiing the Northeast Ridge Skiing Below the Clouds Steep Drop into NE Bowl Skiing the Northeast Bowl Stunted Tree in NE Bowl Figure-8 Ski Tracks in NE Bowl Looking Back at NE Bowl Skiing out of the NE Bowl Map of McLoughlin Ski Route Alex Skiing Up a Tree View of McLoughlin and Lake

On the fifth day of our trip, we awoke to a rainy Monday in a motel in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Despite the gloomy conditions, we decided to try our planned ski trip to Mount McLoughlin, hoping for sun breaks later in the day. We got a late start, leaving the trailhead (5500 ft) at 10:30 AM. Continuous snow above 6400 ft made the trail impossible to follow, and we headed west by map and compass, with the cloud layer above often lowering into the treetops. Occasional glimpses of brightness above gave us renewed hope, and as we neared treeline (8000 ft) we finally broke free above the clouds.