Into the Shasta country

---

When: Memorial Weekend, 23rd - 25th May 2009
Where: experience a tinge of the drive, the waterfalls & the hiker's paradise in Shasta country


The Shasta area is abundant in everything; Rivers, waterfalls, thousand miles of trails, snow, mountains, scenic drives, boating, caverns...you can go on & on. But the highlight is the one and only Mt.Shasta. Everytime I look at it, it is like I have never seen it before. It is so fresh, massive, beautiful & inspiring, all at the same time. This trip got us closer, a better place to view this mighty mountain.
More about this mountain


The trip was so pathetically planned. I do not know how many more times I am going to say this.😞
Me & the significant other were debating on places to go. In fact, I was not sure if little S was up to this long drive & so many hikes. And so, I was hoping for a much closer place. Ganesh just wanted to strike off some waterfalls & hikes from his travel bibles. As always, he got his way. It is not that I am against waterfalls/drives or hikes. I just do not want to feel guilty about putting little S through whatever she had gone through.
And like every other trip, he assured that we were going to take it easy. And I believed him, this time too😞


Friday night was a battle between me & little S's sleep. I won the fight...fighting long, hard & late.
Waking up early on Saturday morning was a dream. So, we left home by 7.45am. I remember us stopping at a rest area so that little S could get out, relax and play with some bubbles. We all had fun. The weather transitioned from warmer to hotter as we neared Redding. We had some quick change of plans & decided to check in to Cedar Lodge in Dunsmuir. We chose to visit Mossbrae falls hiking on train tracks. Ganesh wanted to see a train, & lo! there was a train, a long one. So long that I wanted it to end. Mossbrae falls is a 1.5 mile hike(er, walk) on a train track. Once you get tp that point, it is just there. Contrary to what people told us, we could see the falls from the tracks. A short hike took us down, very close to the falls. The Sun was yet to go down. So we waited. A little later, we met another Indian couple who bought Ganesh's offer to go visit another waterfalls, Shasta Springs, 0.3 miles farther. So, 0.3 miles right? No big deal! But it was crazier than I had imagined. It involved crossing a short bridge over Upper Sacramento river.
The catch: The walkway was made of iron mesh(that wobbles at places) & I could see the river 100 ft below me(bah! I should have taken photos to prove it). Crossing the bridge without seeing down was a challenge(for me at least). I am a chicken, ain't I? I could not say NO, as we had company. So, I crossed it, somehow.


There were many waterfalls along the track(fed by springs) & all had good flow. We went a little longer along the track & decided to turn back so that we do not get caught up at night. Little S slept on our way back.
A little read on Sacramento River. Cool information on a pretty amazing river journey.


Sunday, 24th May
Hedge creek falls was very close to where we stayed. It is a lovely waterfall with very easy access. In spite of that, we had the waterfalls to ourselves for a good 30 minutes.
Secret: go early, before everyone gets ready.😊 The falls is all yours, plus the lighting would be perfect.

We came back home & realized that little S was running a little short on sleep. So, we let her catch up some while we did some chores and some serious R&D. So, Ganesh brought this book, "101 hikes in CA"(that book has landed me in some serious trouble--but the end is all well😊) & picked one-Heart Lake in the Shasta Trinity Forest. The hike starts from Castle lake, which was gorgeous by itself. The setting was simply magical. While asking for this unmarked trail head, we were told that the trail was covered in snow in most of the areas & finding the trail was a big feat in itself. You can get lost & Heart Lake is all frozen & covered in snow. So, we decided to try our luck, assuring to turn back if it got too rough(as Ganesh was carrying little S in her backpack). The trail climbed up almost immediately and gave us fantastic views of castle lake below. People down below warned us to stay right as turning left would take us to Little Castle lake & we did not want to go there.
So, I guess, we turned R too early & soon enough realized we were lost. We encountered more snow & it was becoming difficult to walk on it as this part was not frequented by many people. We started hunting for some footprints.
We climbed up & up(this 'up' was a long way, say about 30-45 min). A slip & fall could have been very close to fatal. So, we decided on a time within which we would turn back if we could not find the trail. We bushwhacked, walked along creek, rocks(all of this when we were not on at least 2 good ft of snow). We climbed up a hill to assess where we were. Thankfully, Ganesh spotted some people on top of a sharp peak above & they waved us to the right direction(God bless them to have seen us). We found other people who guided us on the right track. We climbed up. At least now, we knew where we were going.
We followed the tracks on the snow & finally climbed up to thank those people. Without them, we could have probably turned back.
And there we saw Heart Lake. The lake was frozen, alright. But it was in the shape of a heart. I turned back to see Mt.Shasta. The view was so much better from this high up the mountain.
We earned a good 45 minutes up there. The view was mind boggling. The breeze was much cooler. The Sun was much harsher.

We started our hike down & realized how easy it was to find the trail & get back in less than 45 minutes perhaps. We tried in vain to locate where we got lost on our way up.
In all, the hike & scene reminded Ganesh of Colorado. But it reminded me of the hike to Angora lakes in the Sierras.

As always, I thanked Ganesh for this hike. He was extremely assertive all along. Little S was a champ. A true hero. And yeah, once she knew we knew our way back, she dozed off.
Long story short, we lost a leg of our only tripod on our way down. Moral: Never use your tripod as a hiking pole. Take a real pole, for God's sake!
Blatant Truth: Choose June instead of May to hike. You will encounter less snow(or even better, no snow at all). The hike would be a lot easier if you see the trail, right?
psss...But I really loved the hike as it was.😊

We thought we would just drive to middle McCloud falls(instead of hiking to all the three) just in time to watch the Sun do down. It is a short hike down to the falls. This is one of the best waterfalls I have seen in a long time. They are such a beauty! The photos do not do justice to the falls. You just have to be there!
We saw the sun do down behind Mt. Shasta. The watch read 9.15pm & I had a tough time to keep S from sleeping in the car.
We were tired & worn out by the end of the day. Hit the bed without any further delay😊


Monday, May 25th
We decided to drop our hike to Faery falls. We just did not have the time.
So, we found us driving towards Whiskeytown National Recreation Area to the Whiskeytown falls trailhead. It was a scotching 90F at the nearly full parking lot. The trail goes downhill for a little bit & then climbs way up steadily(steep at places). We went at the wrong time of day(mid day) & managed to soak in much of the scotching Sun. Little S attracted people's attention & was the star of the day. The trail had some much needed shade for the later part. The falls is not that far & we reached there soon. The falls were simply amazing. And we felt this at the base of the lower falls. When we climbed up the slippery path we saw almost 4 tiers of falls. A good 220 ft in all.
The hike back is mostly downhill. Little S stood by her reputation & slept on her way back. The car was burning hot & we got ready to head home.
If you want to go, please do not choose mid day. Else, the Sun kills you & your photography.


A few incidents made us stop at more than one rest area. We reached home at 9.30pm & were welcomed by cool weather. Shasta area was much warmer at night too.


The end of another trip. We know & realize there is much more to see than we have seen, but then, we cannot see it all, can we?
And thanks to Leon for the waterfalls, direction & inspiration to take better photos.

~travelbuffs
----------------
"I consider the evening twilight on Mt. Shasta one of the grandest sights I have ever witnessed."
~Theodore Roosevelt

---

Photos

Sitting short
Daddy & daughter

Here comes the train
Toot, Toot, Toot!

Shasta Springs
I liked this shot better, even if it includes the fence

Shasta Springs
some 50 ft drop...you don't see it all here

All to ourselves
None to share

Comments

[Thilak]

You sure are getting better by the account in writing. Well narrated. You guys got a handheld gps, right? :) Seems like a great place. Yes, I would have loved a shot of the train too! (the whole train)

[Shiva]

Great set of falls, very well narrated
Love ur shots of all the falls, especially Hedge Creek. That would make an excellent large poster framed and hung in a living room! Also McCloud is very beautiful, I would sharpen and saturate this a touch bit! Also your narration is very nice, kept me interested in the entire thing. Sad to note though that you havent posted any shot of Whiskeytown falls. If you stop sufficiently down, you can still get this fall with a reasonably slow shutter! All in All, excellently written and great trip!