The Savage Traveler: Out West Adventure: Part 2--Mount Shasta

Sat. May 1: Saturday morning my left ankle, which was hurt in mid-February and hasn't bothered me a bit, was swollen and extremely tender. I could barely walk on it; despite the fact that the last two days were the least active we had been all month. Marv and I demonstrated for our two interested hosts how the camper folds up and then we took them out for a nice breakfast at “Mom’s”, near campus. The meals were big and we knew we wouldn't need much more to eat the rest of the day. At the house Chuck went over travel plans with Marv while Sandi worked on my ankle, massaging out some of the swelling and saying that she could feel a lot of scar tissue in it and assumed that was the problem. We hitched up the camper and thanked Chuck and Sandi for their hospitality and the wonderful accommodations which had come at the perfect time, nearly halfway through the 8 week trip. Based on Chuck’s recommendation we had decided to drive up to Mount Shasta for a night’s visit before we went to the Pacific Coast. We went north on 99 through more orchards and passed many fruit and nut stands and then got on I5 to go into the foothills south of Mount Shasta. Along the way I put both ice and heat on the ankle and it was doing a bit better. From far away we could see the lovely white peak of Mount Shasta looming over everything else near it. At Mount Shasta City we stopped at the Visitors Center to get directions to the Lake Siskiyou campground, which Chuck had recommended. The campground was like no other private RV park we have seen. It is huge with about 200 sites, a restaurant, a beach on the reservoir, a laundry, and more. But it seems more like a State Park with how spread out and private everything is. We took a site with water and electricity but not full hook-ups and it was only $27 for the night. After setting up the camper we drove to the campground beach where the travel information said there are the best views of Mount Shasta. After getting pictures we drove the 12 mile Scenic Drive up the side of Mount Shasta. We went from about 3000ft elevation and temperatures in the low 90s to 6950ft and mid-60s at Bunny Flat. The final two miles of the Scenic Drive were gated closed because of snow beyond there. We climbed up a few steps to take pictures of the stunning mountain. Mount Shasta is 14,000ft+, has 5 glaciers, and is still considered to be a volcano that could erupt again at any time. Its last eruption was 200 years ago but near the summit there are hot sulfur springs that attest to its potential. When we got a little too cool we got back in the truck and descended to Mount Shasta City where we found the city park that has the headwaters of the Sacramento River. The water gushes out between big rocks and tumbles down the hillside towards the valley. An information sign said that the water comes from high up on Mount Shasta, is filtered through the rocks for 50 years, and is safe to drink from the spring, so we filled our water bottles with the cold, clear water. On our way back to the campground we stopped at the dam which forms Lake Siskiyou. Chuck had told us it is the only one in California that was put in purely as a recreational body of water, not for power or drinking water or to control flooding. The lake must be very, very deep because the river comes out on the other side far below in a deep rocky canyon. We went back to the campground beach and sat on the beach for a while to watch the shadows grow on Mount Shasta. I sipped wine and Marv had a beer as osprey wheeled and hunted over the lake and three mule deer came down to munch the low trees by the beach. It was so peaceful! I made chicken salad wraps for our second meal of the day and Marv straightened out the truck before we worked on computer and tablets and then went to bed. We were both so grateful Chuck had sent us to this lovely area.