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| A view of the West side of Mt Shasta. The oaks covering the hillsides in Northern CA are currently a lovely canvas of yellow and orange. |
The Squaw/South Gate Trail was a perfect choice to see Shasta up close and personal. Located at about 7,500 feet, it's a 5.2 mile lollipop loop through meadows on the Southern flank of Mt Shasta, with views of that great mountain as well as Gray Butte and Red Butte.
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| Hans is taking on the characteristics of the mossy forests we've been hiking lately...as well as the Nor Cal vibe! |
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| Mt Shasta viewed from Panther Meadow at about 7500 feet on the mountains South flank. |
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| Hiking up a barren pass on Mt Shasta's South side. This small meadow would be covered in flowers in the summer. |
We did a short two-mile hike at Castle Lake for our second hike in the area. The water was perfectly still creating some incredible reflections:
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| Castle Lake |
We also took a brief walk along Lake Siskiyou and were treated to more amazing reflections...this time of Mt Shasta:
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| Lake Siskiyou and Mt Shasta. |
Weed is a quirky little town that has fun playing off the marijuana reference. We enjoyed a very good IPA at the Mt Shasta Brewery in town. We stayed at the Hi Lo Motel, Cafe & RV Park. The RV park was nothing special, just a row of spaces behind the hotel backing up to a small creek, but the cafe was wonderful. Very good American comfort food, reasonably priced with huge portions.
Just down the freeway, Mt Shasta city was our access point for our hikes and was a really cute little town. If we are in the area again we'd probably look for an RV park in this town.
Tomorrow we continue South into Redding where daytime temps are currently in the upper 80's - yikes!!!
Bring me a bottle of that IPA! Haven't tried that one :))
ReplyDeleteBox Canyon Mark
Oh, what amazing reflection photos. Mount Shasta is just beautiful! What fun hiking!
ReplyDeleteNot sure where you are staying in Redding. We stayed at the Premier RV Resort and Campground. They have a beautiful new section in the back with large pull thro sites that are staggered with nice grassy space between. The regular campground is a typical campground and not great.
Right now 80's sounds wonderful! We are in the 50's during the day and 30's at night. Can't wait to move to warmer temps. Redding was 100 when we were there!!!
Thanks for the tip...but we are already booked at Green Acres. Looks like it'll be nice and shady...I don't like temps in the 80's!!!!
DeleteWow, perfect reflection photos!
ReplyDeleteWe stayed at Green Acres, too and you are just a bike/hike away from the Sacramento River Trail. No need to haul your bike as you can begin from there, the trail takes you around the river and over the Sundial Bridge. Also there are bike trails in and around Redding which you can also begin from the campground.
Its really fall here now at 50's during the day and brr at night.
Cool, we were planning on hauling the bikes over by the Sundial, guess we'll just ride from here!
DeleteThose lake photos are stunning. This past summer was my introduction to a 'monolith'.... quite interesting.
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmm. Heat, sounds good! We have condensation on the inside of our windshield and two space heaters running. The 80's just sound delightful! We've been through Weed 4 years in a row, but we've never stopped. Maybe next time we'll stay for a couple of nights.
ReplyDeleteWe live in Sacramento and have been on summer camping trips to the Shasta area. We've stayed near Dunsmuir and hiked the Castle Crags trail. We'll have to visit Mt Shasta the next time we're in the area. It looks stunning with the fall colors.
ReplyDeleteLove the reflection pics. It always seems to be windy when we are near a lake.
ReplyDeleteFrom the looks of Hans beard, you'd better hurry back to a drier climate!