Beer, Hiking and Disc Golf in Chico, CA

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has long been a go-to favorite for Hans so it was only logical for us to route through Chico, CA on our way to the east side of the Sierra Nevada range. We arrived to Almond Tree RV Park in Chico at noon with plenty of time to set up camp and relax at bit before our 3pm tour of the brewery. The tours are popular so reservations are a good idea.

Sierra Nevada Brewing is the third largest craft brewer and seventh largest brewing company in the US. Solely owned by one person, Ken Grossman, the plant is a model of sustainability and was named Green Business of the Year by the EPA in 2010. They have the largest privately owned solar array in the country, and they are installing several Tesla batteries to harness the energy produced during down times (the weekends) for use during the week.

We've been on numerous brewery tours and the brewing process is similar at every company, so the interesting part of the tour for us is to learn the history of the company and enjoy the free tastings. The brewery was founded in 1979, long before the craft beer phenomenon took off, and had a lot of growing pains along the way, including the bargain purchase of a 100 barrel brewhouse from Germany that cost 10 times more to ship to the US putting the fledgling company into serious debt.

This was a great tour, with a healthy amount of free tastings included. We started off with a sample of the flagship Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and ended the tour with tastes of seven additional brews. Afterwards we had a tasty pizza and salad at the onsite restaurant which had an extensive tap list with many that are available nowhere else including the one we shared, Ezo IPA, brewed with Asian hops with flavors of coconut, lime and lemongrass.

Goofing around in the hop room.

These small brew kettles are filled with experimental beers, most never make it to the public.

The brews we tasted are listed on the left, that 10.4% ABV Narwhal was tasty but potent!

Bidwell Park is the crown jewel of Chico. Established in 1905, it is currently more than 3,600 acres, over 11 miles long, and is the 25th largest city park in the US. Lower Bidwell Park is in the heart of the city and includes miles of paved trail and green parks and playgrounds. Big Chico Creek connects Lower to Upper Bidwell Park which has a golf course and disc golf course, swimming holes and many miles of gravel and natural trails on multiple levels up a canyon NE of town.

Chico is situated in the fertile Sacramento River Valley, nestled against the foothills of the Cascade range to the north and the Sierra Nevada range to the south. Upper Bidwell Park follows a canyon formed by millions of years of volcanic activity and Big Chico Creek cuts through the Lovejoy Basalt flow which originated from a volcano near what is now Susanville, about 100 miles NW of Chico.

We hiked an awesome 9 mile loop in Upper Bidwell that featured fantastic views into Big Chico Canyon from the north rim plus incredible close up views of the Lovejoy Basalt flow and Big Chico Creek. The sparsely treed gray pine and oak savannahs we walked through were an interesting change from our deep green summer in Oregon and we read that the wildflower displays in the spring are not to be missed.

We parked in the valley below and immediately climbed to the top of the ridge,
then continued along the basalt rim overlooking the canyon.
Big Chico Creek flows through the narrow, dark line at the bottom of the valley.

We saw dozens of vultures flying across the valley, more than we've ever seen anywhere in our travels.
This fine specimen was thoroughly enjoying the very warm morning sun (approaching 80 degrees).

After about four miles on the ridge top we dropped down to the valley and took the Yahi trail overlooking Big Chico Creek.
Dramatic basalt formations lined the sides of the creek bed.

We loved the oak studded golden grass covered savannah, so different from the deep green forests of our summer.

Though relatively flat and easy, the Yahi trail was quite rough due to the chunky basalt underfoot.
Rounded humps of basalt became more prominent as we continued down canyon. 

A turn in the creek bed provided a stunning view into the channel cut by Big Chico Creek.

Looking up at the ridge we had traveled earlier.

Big Chico Creek looks inviting for swimming in this hot summer climate,
but access is severely limited in the upper reaches of the canyon.

The last mile or so of trail brought us down to the water level and we saw a lot of beautiful swimming holes
that are probably packed with locals on summer weekends.
This area seems to have been developed a long time ago for water distribution.

Midday sun bounces off giant basalt boulders as Big Chico Creek makes its way through this unique landscape.

Once through the rough basalt canyon, Big Chico Creek has some family friendly swimming holes too.

The next day we drove up the south side of Bidwell Park to Peregrine Point Disc Golf Course. The course plays across a mesa overlooking Big Chico Canyon, with some tees and holes very close to the canyon rim...I skipped a few holes because with my erratic throws it's quite easy for me to lose a disc in this kind of terrain!

The course plays across the same kind of terrain that we hiked the previous day.

We got an early start because the day would get to 90 degrees so photos were challenging.
Here Hans is throwing right on the canyon edge; the opposite canyon rim is where we hiked the day before.

See tiny Hans on the right? He is throwing towards the point I am shooting from.
This is one of the shots I decided to pass on.

Big Chico Creek is hidden in the shadows at the bottom of the canyon.

I played the holes that looked like this!
We really enjoyed this course, it would be difficult to lose a disc in this setting.

Chico turned out to be a fun stop. Along with the adventures described above, we enjoyed walking CSU Chico campus and the adjacent vibrant downtown area. Lower Bidwell Park was also a pretty place to walk, the paved trail is shady and inviting with a variety of massive old trees.

From here we moved east into the mountains and California's gold country...and a fire zone!

A Brief Stay in Yreka, CA

Though most of the area was still green, the trees at Millsite RV Park in Myrtle Creek, OR were putting on a show!

After a few nights in Eugene and a few more in Myrtle Creek for one last visit with Chantal and James for the year, we made our way south on I-5 into northern California. Yreka, CA, our home for two nights, sits a few miles north of Mt Shasta at the edge of a large high desert valley.

We stayed at Yreka RV Park, an easy access, no frills, full hookup park with mostly pull through gravel sites separated by strips of grass. Though close to I-5, the park was relatively quiet and was a short drive in to town. Both Verizon and AT&T signals were strong, this park was fine for our short stay.

Though I did not take any photos, we enjoyed the Siskyou County Museum. Its well laid out and informative displays cover the Native American, trapping and gold mining history of the area as well as the pioneer settlers and timber industry.

Our morning museum visit allowed the air temperature to get out of the 40's so we headed to Greenhorn Park for a hike. This beautiful park was built on an historic mining district and wraps around a reservoir. It has lovely green picnic areas plus 11 miles of natural trails across the adjacent hills.

We were excited to explore a new environment after four months of lush and damp forests in western Oregon! The hillsides of Greenhorn park alternated between stands of oak and groves of Ponderosa, all skirted with golden grasses...it's much drier here than our summer in Oregon and we were ready for the change.

Greenhorn Reservoir.

High above us in a skinny oak was the largest wasp nest we'd ever seen.

We saw numerous black tail deer...
There's no hunting within one mile of city limits, so they've probably all moved into town for safety.

Displays of old and reconstructed mining equipment.

Just a hint of fall color in the pretty picnic area.

Downtown Yreka has several well preserved historic buildings from the late 1800's. We enjoyed happy hour at Etna Brewing and noticed a couple of decent looking restaurants downtown as well.

Short but sweet, we enjoyed our stop in Yreka. It's always fun to visit someplace new to us!

Next stop: Chico, CA

Revisiting a Favorite: Ashland, OR

We've stayed in Ashland, OR twice before and loved every minute of our time in this beautiful area just a few miles north of the California border (2013, 2014). This past week was no exception. Once again we stayed at Emigrant Lake County Park and enjoyed seeing the lake almost full; we've always stayed here in the fall when the lake is very low due to summer irrigation needs. (My campground review.)

We started our week off right with happy hour at Caldera Brewing, just a couple miles down the road from the county park.

Tasty brews at Caldera!

Lithia Park is always on our "must see" list when we visit Ashland. We just missed a riot of rhododendron blooms, but the creek and the gorgeous plantings in this 100 acre park are always a delight.  The park is especially stunning in the fall.

Not even a cold, wet morning could keep us away from Lithia Park.

So many lovely scenes in the Japanese Garden.

Thanks to former Ashlanders' Laurel and Eric for the tip on the Jacksonville Woodlands Trails. We got in a nice five mile hike through forested, rolling terrain, then a walk through the sweet town of Jacksonville.

Many of the forests in SW Oregon are full of madrone trees and lots of poison oak.
This particular Madrone was the largest we've ever seen!

Jacksonville is a historic tourist town, with some beautiful old buildings and a variety of nice shops to browse.

Historic Jacksonville, OR.

There's a large network of trails that can be hiked right from Ashland. The Oredson-Todd Woods Trails begin in a neighborhood on the south end of town and climb, often steeply, the lushly forested hillsides.

I think this is the largest mushroom we've ever seen!

This beauty posed just for us!

Living yard art.

Our most interesting hike of the week was a section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Starting at Little Hyatt Reservoir about 15 miles from our RV park, we hiked south on the PCT and added on the Green Springs Mountain Loop for a total of about 7 miles (map). The route took us through forests of pine and oak with scatterings of spring flowers and a couple of incredible view sites.

On the PCT bridge over Keene Creek as it leaves Little Hyatt Reservoir.

The forest was full of spring flowers including masses of these sweet little beauties.

Though most of the trail was through lush forest, a couple of times we broke out to long distance views of Mt Ashland, and Emigrant Lake.

There were some really exquisite flowers blooming at this time of year!

On the drive home we had an exceptional view of 9,495 ft tall Mt McLoughlin over Hyatt Prairie Reservoir.

We've moved on to Myrtle Creek for a month of family time on the banks of the South Umpqua River.

Our back yard view for the next month.

A Week in the shadow of Mt Shasta

We've spent the past week in Mt Shasta City, an area we love and have explored some in the past. This time we never even drove up to the mountain; the road was only cleared to Bunny Flat which still had four feet of snow...no thanks!

On the drive from Redding to Mt Shasta we were thrilled to see Shasta Lake full to the brim!

What an amazing sight, Shasta Lake is practically full!!!!!
It's been a very long time.

Spring Hill was our first hike in the area. Close to town, it's a 1.5 mile hike to the top of a small butte with lovely views of Mt Shasta.

Mt Shasta from the Spring Hill trail.

Near the Spring Hill trail head and adjacent to Interstate 5 at Mt Shasta City Park are the headwaters of the Upper Sacramento River. We saw several people filling jugs with water percolating out of the hillside...water that fell as snow on Mt Shasta about 50 years earlier.

Headwaters of the Sacramento River.

We were thrilled to welcome a very special visitor over the weekend, my daughter Chantal!

Chantal and I at Weed Ale House.

The three of us had a nice walk along three miles of the north shore of Lake Siskiyou. Unfortunately the bridge crossing the Sacramento River inlet had not been installed for the summer due to heavy runoff so we were unable to circle the entire lake. This is a mostly flat trail suitable for walking or biking.

Wagon Creek Bridge on Lake Siskiyou plus Mt Shasta.

The Mt Shasta Sisson Museum, near Lake Siskiyou, is an excellent place to learn about the area's history. Everything from Native Americans to logging, trains, skiing, and the lenticular clouds that form over the mountain. There's even a fish hatchery on the grounds.

Feeding the fish at the hatchery at the Mt Shasta Sisson Museum.

One of the most popular hikes in the area is the McCloud River Falls trail. Much of the flow of the McCloud River is shaped by lava and three beautiful waterfalls occur where the water could not cut through tough bands of basalt. Though all three falls can be reached by car, we parked at the lower falls and hiked to the upper falls for a gorgeous 4 mile round trip walk.

Lower Falls on the McCloud River

Middle Falls on the McCloud River...note the guy on the left about to jump.

Looking down on the Middle Falls.

Upper Falls on the McCloud River.

Lava channel leading to the Upper Falls.

After a wonderful few days with Chantal, she returned to her regular life and we continued our typical daily exploring of the area. The Gateway trail system is a pretty new series of trails right on the edge of Mt Shasta City with, of course, fabulous views of the mountain. We did a nice seven mile lollipop loop and finally, after weeks of seeing signs, saw a bear!

Mt Shasta from the Gateway trail.

Strolling through swaths of flowering thimble berry plants on the Gateway trail.

Just barely managed to photograph the bear we saw strolling through a ravine about 75 feet below us on the Gateway trail.

We had one more amazing hike in the area but I have too many photos for this post, stay tuned!

Today we move on in to Oregon...more time with Chantal and James, and lots of beach time ahead of us this summer!