Page 155 - 2019 Travel Guide to California

SHANNON MORROW/VLSB PHOTOS; KENNETH INGHAM/VLSB PHOTOS. OPPOSITE: LARRY HABEGGER
SHASTA CAS-
City & Town
For travelers, Redding was nothing more
than a pit stop along Interstate 5 until the
CADE
opening of the instantly iconic Sundial
A mystical mountain towers
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.
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, a
band of hunters and fishermen who lived
in cedar-plank houses with basements,
once occupied much of what is now far-
northern California and southern
Oregon. Their population dropped rap-
idly as settlers seized land following the
discovery of gold in Yreka and Upper Soda
Springs in 1850. To the east, at what is
now Lava Beds National Monument, the
Modoc tribe and the U.S. Army fought the
KAYAKING ON LAKE ALMANOR, above;
Lava Beds National Monument, Valentine
Cave entrance, bottom; Mount Shasta,
opposite.
INSIDER’S
»
TIP
While hiking on MOUNT SHASTA,
keep an eye out for the
LEMURIANS, a race of psychically
advanced beings believed by
some to live in an enormous cave
inside the mountain. They are
said to speak excellent English,
with a “slight British accent.”
lemurianconnection.com
»
MUST
SEE,
DO
» Sundial Bridge Spanish architect Santiago
Calatrava’s now-iconic cantilever pedestrian span
across the Sacramento River is the centerpiece of the
worthwhile Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.
› turtlebay.org/sundialbridge
» Summit Fever With the help of a local
guide, fit beginners can reach the 14,179-foot-high
summit of Mount Shasta via its classic Avalanche
Gulch route.
› shastaguides.com
› swsmtns.com
» Crystal Persuasion Feel the metaphysical
vibes of Mount Shasta City 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
» Men in Tights Stretching 11 miles from the
southern Cascades to the Central Valley, Chico’s
sylvan Bidwell Park stood in for Sherwood Forest
in 1938’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood” staring
Errol Flynn.
› visitcalifornia.com/attraction/bidwell-park
» Romance of the Rails In Dunsmuir, a
classic old railroad town, rail buffs can inspect a
1927 Willamette steam locomotive, dine in a vin-
tage Pullman Club Car and bed down for the night
in a genuine caboose at the Railroad Park Resort.
› rrpark.com
2019 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 153