California Roadtrip - Skirting South Oregon to Shasta and Lake Tahoe

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After setting off at the crack of dawn the next morning and falling upon Trinidad Bay just 24 miles north, we realised that pre-booking every hotel wasn’t necessarily the smartest thing to do on a road trip. Yes, it helps manage the costs (and Si's discomfort with ‘winging it’) but falling upon the Trinidad Bay B&B made us realise that we could have had a much different night. Some planning issues were discussed - heatedly - but the bay area was quiet and peaceful enough to soothe tired tempers and after a spot of walking on the beach we were back on our way with humour back intact.

From Trinidad Bay we headed up past Patrick’s Point and the Big Lagoon to Orick. The original plan was to start heading east towards Mount Shasta from there but Bald Hills Road was not to be found – interestingly the location for a future horror movie was. (And...scene: zero reception, a small village with no-one seen alive and a forest covered in dripping moss and trails of mist, the intrepid travellers…)

Heading back on to the northboundRedwood Highway we anticipated that another right turn would appear but 50 miles later and way past Crescent City we realised this was a somewhat naive thought. So into South Oregon we went. Albeit briefly. (Brightside: cheaper gas. Just aswell given the 100-odd-mile detour we took!) Back in California we made another navigational error and ignored the sign off the 199, heading towards Happy Camp, informing us; ‘Road closed 12 miles ahead for the winter season. Open on 30th April’. In my defence, we were 7 days away from the 30th April and it was bright sunshine, so surely there was no chance that there would be snow? 12 miles up and, bam, 5-foot of snow blocking the way. (Luckily there was a convenient placed toilet – for the ski crowd I believe, not the idiots). We literally flew down the montain as fast as our wheels would take us. Dodging farmyard dogs and kamikaze wild turkeys as we went.

We finally arrived in Mount Shasta at sundown and in low cloud so we didn't get to see the beauty of the place initially. We settled into our little log cabin at the Mount Shasta resort, on the banks of Lake Siskiyou and then went into town to dinner at the original Black Bear Diner. I have to confess I had been looking forward to going to the Diner as it has a great reputation for good quality all-American grub. And it's the kind of place that the local sheriff had his dinner at the bar before docking his hat as he leaves. Seriously! I had the meatloaf and biscuits and shared Si's mother of a bread pudding and ice cream. At the end of it I finally felt like a real-American girl. Bring on the rodeo bull!

The next morning was bright and clear and the beauty of the place hit us hard. It even inspired us to go for a 3-mile run. (Tip: Don’t eat bread pudding the night before). Our quick run took us through the town to get a feel for the place. I think I would be forgiven in saying that this is a pretty chilled-out place; all ski-wear and crystal shops, organic food stores and innumerable doctors promoting medical marijuana. Possibly the best place in America to have a skiing accident?!

Unfortunately, we had to pack up again (very reluctantly) and head on to Lake Tahoe. Our route took us through the mountains so we took the opportunity to get a closer look at the ski area and summit of Mount Shasta. Even at the half-way point the snow was over 8-foot deep and the skiing looked absolutely amazing! We were quite gutted to turn away and head out on another long drive.

We arrived at the Marriott Grand Residences in Heavenly Village on Lake Tahoe late afternoon only to find the cable car for the summit to have closed due to high winds. With a little down time on our hands we focused on identifying good places to eat and drink instead. The first night we settled on the Après Wine Company a few miles down the boulevard. This bistro/bar/shop was a great find. The food menu was deliberately limited but the ingredients are fresh, local and seasonal. We enjoyed a trio of mini burgers and an impressive salad. The wine menu, in direct contrast, is almost unlimited - in fact you can obtain a pre-pay top up card (like an Oyster card) and use it to get tasters (approx 50ml) of any of the 50+ wines from around the world which are located around the shop. An ingenious idea and it encouraged a very relaxed and communal atmosphere. (Perhaps too relaxed as my headache the following morning can attest).

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