Page 152 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

»
MUST
SEE,
DO
» Crystal Persuasion Experience Mount
Shasta City’s metaphysical side by shopping for a
Lemurian Seed Crystal at The Crystal Room. But be
warned that they won’t let it go home with you
unless it’s a “good energy match.”
› crystalsmtshasta.com
» Castle Crags Do some exquisite hiking
among the soaring granite battlements of Castle
Crags State Park. It’s right off Interstate 5 a few
miles south of Mount Shasta.
› parks.ca.gov/?page_id=454
» Sundial Bridge Stroll across the Sundial
Bridge, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s
now-iconic cantilever pedestrian span across the
Sacramento River, the centerpiece of the worth-
while Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.
› turtlebay.org/sundialbridge
» Eagle Perch Witness the largest gathering of
bald eagles in the lower 48 states each winter at
the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake national wildlife
refuges, north of Mount Shasta.
› fws.gov/klamathbasinrefuges
» Volcano Climb Hike to the summit of the
southernmost of the Cascade volcanoes (summer
only) while peering into steaming, sulphurous
fumaroles at Lassen Volcanic National Park.
› nps.gov/lavo
INSIDER’S
»
TIP
Rail buffs can spend the night
inside a luxuriously restored
and retrofitted caboose at the
RAILROAD PARK RESORT in
Dunsmuir. There are 22
cabooses to choose from.
rrpark.com
150 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
trips. To the north, the Klamath Basin
National Wildlife Refuge, which extends
into southern Oregon, is part of the Pacific
Flyway: In the fall its skies are darkened
by more than a million migratory birds.
City & Town
For travelers, Redding was nothing more
than a pit stop along Interstate 5 until
the opening of the instantly iconic Sun-
dial Bridge across the Sacramento River
in 2004. On the lower flanks of its name-
sake peak, Mount Shasta City sports a
main street lined with New Age book-
stores and shops selling crystals said to
have mystical powers. No less an
authority than James Hilton, author of
Lost Horizon, once claimed that the
pretty alpine hamlet of Weaverville,
gateway to the Trinity Alps, was the
closest he’s ever come to a real-life
Shangri-La.
A MOUNTAIN CLIMBER looks out
at Shastina from high on Mount
Shasta, above; Brandy Creek Falls in
the Whiskeytown National Recre-
ation Area, right; mighty Mount
Shasta, previous page.
The Great Outdoors
Mount Shasta is irresistible to climbers;
in the spring, summit-seekers are strung
out along its most popular routes like
ants on an anthill. To get to the top you
need an ice axe, crampons and the skill to
use them safely. But on Mount Lassen, its
neighbor to the south, a well-graded trail
runs all the way to the 10,457-foot-high
summit. World-class fly fishing abounds
in the Trinity Alps, and those willing to
walk a short distance with their rods are
almost guaranteed a spot to themselves.
On the Salmon River, between the Trinity
Alps and Marble Mountains, Otter Bar
Lodge (otterbar.com) is one of the West’s
premier whitewater kayaking schools.
Heritage & Culture
The Shasta Tribe of Native Americans
once occupied much of what is now far-
northern California and southern
STEVE KUHN PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK; MARIUSZ S. JURGIELEWICZ/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: KOJIHIRANO/SHUTTERSTOCK; FELIX LIPOV/SHUTTERSTOCK