California - Day 27 - to Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta City KOA, Mt. Shasta

Sunday, 27 March 2022

I forgot to say in any of the last several posts that I've been occasionally seeing a small dark squirrel in the various campgrounds.  I looked it up and can't tell for sure what kind of squirrel it is.  They don't have any brown on them, which rules out the Eastern Gray Squirrel, the Fox Squirrel and the Red Squirrel.  That just leaves the Western Gray Squirrel, which is the largest of the squirrel species in the US, and the Black Squirrel, which are supposed to be fairly rare because they're a genetic mutation.  The squirrels I've been seeing aren't black - I saw those back East - they're definitely a dark gray and they've all been small.  So I've doubtless discovered a new squirrel species.

today's route

When I first planned this part of my itinerary, I thought the map showed me I could get from Crescent City to Mt. Shasta while still staying in CA.  But when I actually sat down to figure out a route, I found the only way I could do that was to go all the way back almost to Eureka before I could head east.  That route would take many hours extra, plus be a difficult winding road, as I know from driving it the other day.  So I decided to bite the bullet and break my self-imposed rule about not leaving a state once I've started my month there.  I still had to go all the way north to Grants Pass, OR, before I could go south - 80 miles north and 112 miles south.  Presumably the lack of roads is due to the many mountains between the 2 towns - the Cascade Mountain Range in the east and the Klamath Mountains in the west, to be exact.

I found heading north that I had not yet left behind those winding roads through the redwoods, mainly because I was still driving through redwoods.  The road paralleled the Smith River, so it wound around tight curves with huge trees growing right at the road's edge.  I passed a warning sign that read, "Narrow Winding Road Next 6 Miles."  It was soon followed by another sign saying, "Road Narrows."  And it did get even narrower than it had been.  And this was US-199 I was driving on, not some little state or local road.  It took me an hour to drive 28 miles.

That got me to Collier Tunnel, which I hadn't known was there and which was a half-mile long.  Just on the other side was a rest area, which I needed by then.  There I saw this sign:

Something about this inscription struck me as odd so I looked it up and learned that the tunnel was built at the strong urging of the state legislator it was named for.  Although the tunnel isn't particularly long and only made the drive shorter by 3 miles, it lopped off 128 turns and 5 switchbacks that were on the old route.  (I told you the road was winding.)  So I too am happy to celebrate Mr. Collier's activities.

Three miles further on, I learned that Oregon Welcomes Me.  Because I'll have my month in Oregon in May, I won't say anything much about what I saw there today except for 2 notes.  One is that gasoline here was $4.75, even in small towns (a dollar less than in CA); the other is that in the farming town of Kerby, I saw signs advertising "CRON" and "SWEET CRON."  (Good thing for that 2nd sign because I wasn't sure what "cron" was.)

Ashland, OR, isn't far from the border, and it sits at 5,013'.  Yreka, CA, is not much further from the border on the other side, and it sits at 2,589'.  That meant the road did some serious dropping.  Just past Ashland I saw a sign saying, "Warning - Long Steep Downgrade Ahead."  And another one saying, "6% Grade for the Next 7 Miles."  So I downshifted and did my best to stay out of everybody else's way on the way down.

Just past the Welcome To California sign, all traffic had to stop at one of the state's agricultural inspection stations.  They asked me if I was carrying any fresh fruits or vegetables, and I said yes, but I'd bought them in CA.  I'd've gone on to explain about having come from Cascade City but what I'd already said was enough, apparently.  If they'd really pushed it, I could have produced receipts for what I had, but I guess being an older white female puts me in the reliable category for them.

I started having serious trouble staying awake and was lucky that the road was no longer narrow and winding.  I just haven't been sleeping well lately, and that can make driving dangerous.  I drink coffee all morning and then switch to Diet Coke to get more caffeine.  And if NPR is either not available or not stimulating enough, I'll put on Buddy Holly or something else vigorous and sing along to wake up.  All of that usually works enough to get me over the hump.  The sleepiness period only lasts for a few hours.

I started being able to see Mt. Shasta while I was still many miles from Mt. Shasta City, which is built near the mountain's base.  Here's one I took from a rest area.

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta, 14,179' tall, is a still-active volcano that shares characteristics of Mt. St. Helens in WA, that erupted in 1980 and produced a cloud of ash that spread as far as the central US.  Yeah, that's Mt. Shasta's relative.  I assumed it wouldn't decide to erupt during the next 4 days and drove on, but I noted that the USGS rates it as a "very high-threat volcano."  If you're curious about the mountain (it actually has 4 cones, not just 1), here's the Wikipedia page.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Mount-Shasta

It's really beautiful, though, isn't it?

Past the town of Weed (named for an early white settler), the highway became part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, one of only 42 in the US designated as an All American Road.  From Mt. Shasta City, the byway runs east to Lassen Volcanic National Park.  And from Mt. Shasta City, the byway runs north into Oregon to Crater Lake National Park, which was created when Mt. Mazama (another relative of Mt. Shasta) erupted and collapsed.  That's a place I want to visit when I'm in OR.

I saw indications all the way to town that this road had recently been icy and chains had been required.  I was glad I'd left this part of the state until last; if I'd come here early in the month, I might not have been able to get here.

And then on into Mt. Shasta City and the campground.  Once again I was too tired to drive around the town, and anyway the dogs were ready for a walk.  Actually, they're always ready.