Last weekend was a great weekend for climbing! The temperatures were warm but not too hot and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Some AO staff took advantage of this opportunity to climb the Cosmic Wall on Mt. Hubris (The Ogre.) This peak is a 950 foot rock spire that is part of the Castle Crags formation southwest of Mt. Shasta.
After a 5am wakeup and quick breakfast the hiking began. It's roughly a 3 mile hike to the base of the climb. The approach features a LOT of elevation gain and a bit of bushwacking. The bushwacking portion is technically a climber's trail, but it's not maintained, so it's easy to get off track and it's impossible to not get attacked by some Manzanita. Fortunately you can see your objective for this entire portion so we soon arrived at the base of the climb and the real fun was soon to begin.
We then climbed 5 pitches, 950 feet, of beautifully featured rock. The climbing on Cosmic Wall is absolutely spectacular, many guide books rate it at the highest possible rating -- and for good reason. One of the best parts of the climb is the view it provides. While climbing we had a fantastic view of snow-covered Shasta as well as Castle Dome and even Lassen and Brokeoff mountains.
In closing, if you have the skills and gear necessary to do this climbing it is highly recommended! For more complete beta and logistical details see the link in the first paragraph.
The Ogre is the far left peak with the Cosmic Wall route climbing just left of center and then up the center crease.