In the Shadow of the Mountain: Water, Water Everywhere...Drought Be Damned!

McCloud is famous for it's very clean and pure drinking water. The town relies on three springs and pumps the water from it's reservoir to residents' taps with no treatment, only occasionally treating when tests reveal something that needs it.

This water comes from the mountain, Mt. Shasta, that looms over everything here. It gets a ton of snow each winter and the volcanic soil filters the meltwater that eventually comes out very pure in the area's springs.

Today, we're going to visit some of the features of this water in the area.

Just a few minutes out of town is the McCloud River. Our first stop is Lower McCloud Falls.

This is also a popular place as a well-known swimming hole for the town although no one was swimming the day we were there. It doesn't help that the Forest Service removed the steel ladder that the locals would use to climb back on top of the rock after jumping off the 20 foot or so cliffs surrounding the pool.

There were a few fishermen trying their luck.

It's an easy sight to see, only about 100 feet from the parking lot where wheelchairs can easily access the viewing areas above the falls.

If there's a lower falls, there must be an upper falls but, first, is the middle falls. About a mile away, it's a slightly longer but still flat and accessible hike to the viewing platform for the Middle Falls of the McCloud River.

These are a bit prettier, with a bit of a bridalviel effect, and a couple of swimmers. The viewing platform is a little farther away from the water than the first one but still offers great scenery of the cararact.

Finally, on this loop, we get to the Upper Falls of the McCloud river. 

These are the tallest of the three and the hardest to get to. The viewing platforms are about the same getting to from the parking lot as the middle falls are but the angle makes it a bit harder to see the falls.

Still, we find a spot where Tim can get a look. This is also the deepest canyon of the three so, if you wanted to hike down, it quite a ways, steep, and not wheelchair accessible.

Our final water spot for the day would take us over to Mt. Shasta. No, not the giant mountain looming over us at every moment of this trip but the town of the same name on the western slope of the mountain.

The Sacramento River is the largest river in California (the Colorado is bigger but is shared with other states and Mexico). One of the sources of that river is here in Mt. Shasta.

We drive through town to the City Park at the northern outskirts. As a reviewer on Tripadvisor said, it's "hippies as far as the eye can see." Many homemade campers house free spirits in this park.

We find handicapped parking at the visitor's center and follow a sign that says "Headwaters - 150ft."

At the end of the short trail is a jumble of rocks where thousands of gallons of water come rushing out of the ground. These are the headwaters (well one of them, anyway) of the Sacramento River.

Glacier melt on Mt. Shasta percolates through the porous volcanic rock. After an estimated journey of 50 years, the water emerges at this spring. It is exceptionally clear and pure water.

People come from all over the world to fill containers with this water the moment it emerges out of the rocks. We fill a few bottles ourselves and it is really good water.

Back in McCloud, we have some wings with one last dinner at the Axe and Rose Pub. We'll call it a night, relax in our nice suite at the McCloud Mercantile Hotel, and then head home in the morning.

Darryl Musick

Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

In the Shadow of the Mountain: Burney Falls

Breakfast is a heap of pancakes with eggs and housemade sausage. We get a $30 credit ($10 for each person) at the White Mountain Cafe, which takes up the northeast corner of the building we're staying in.

It will help fortify us for the day ahead.

Hopefully, our spare tire will carry us through as we drive 40 miles east to today's destination, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. It should be fine as it's basically a new tire that's never been driven on before and it does seem to drive just fine.

After paying our $10 entry fee, we find a wide accessible parking spot right in front of the visitor's center front door. We go inside to get a map and talk to a ranger about the most accessible ways to see the falls.

It's a hard packed dirt path that leads to the viewing platform for the falls.

Unfortunately, this is as far as wheelchairs can go but the view is very good.

Letty and I take turns walking down the stairs...it's a third of a mile to the bottom and a steep hike back up...to get a closer look and take pictures.

The falls are spectacular, among the best in the state with maybe the falls of Yosemite giving them a run for the money.

In addition to the main two cataracts streaming over the cliff face, hundreds of cliffside springs also release their waters creating a very nice bridalveil effect. It's also noticably cooler here at the bottom.

It's National Banana Split Day and ice cream sounds good. We head back to McCloud to the Frosty stand we saw there.

They had soft serve ice cream, they made sundaes, but they did not make banana splits. Thinking on our feet, we quickly jumped over the the grocery store next door, bought a couple of bananas, some cherries, and nuts. Back over at the Frosty, we improvised and turned that sundae into a delicious split.

With that yummy dessert, we'll call it a day and do some more exploring tomorrow.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved

In the Shadow of the Mountain: McCloud, California

Courtesy of Google Maps

You know when your driving through the mountains and you see the sign, "Watch out for Falling Rocks," and wonder how many people actually get hit by one? Well, I did, and it finally happened to us.

We were driving through Bigfoot country, along highway 299 near Willow Creek, California when we heard a loud knock on the side of our van. I looked in the side mirror and saw a rock, about 8 inches in diameter, spinning on the road like a top.

When I got a chance to pull over and take a look, only a small chip off of the fiberglass running board was what looked like the total damage. We're lucky it didn't hit a window.

It's about four in the afternoon when we pull into McCloud, sitting on the southern slopes of California's second tallest mountain, 14,162 foot Mt. Shasta and try to check into our hotel room. 

I say try because I can't find a checkin counter. We explore the bottom floor of the McCloud Mercantile Building...the home of our hotel...but don't see anything. We find an elevator at the far end and take it up to the second floor.

Exiting into a ballroom, we cross to the other side and enter a kitchen and living area. The doors on either side have room names and numbers, so we've found where the hotel rooms start but still no checkin area.

Back downstairs, I'm about to enter a gift shop to ask when I see a small sign "hotel guest register inside store." OK, this must be it.

Once I go to the cash register, it goes smoothly. We're given our keys and told we'll get a $30 credit for breakfast at the diner nextdoor.

Now, it's back to the other end of the building, back up the elevator, and across the second floor to our room, the Charles Miller Suite at the McCloud Mercantile Hotel. It's always the moment of truth when we walk through the door not knowing if the room we'd booked will actually be appropriate for us.

No worries here, the suite is stunning. A wall of windows perfectly frames Mt. Shasta in the distance, veined with late season glaciers. 

A massive king size bed sits next to a small table between two antique chairs. 

Tim will call the twin bed sitting under a roof nook in the next room home for the next three nights. An antique armoir at the foot of his bed will hold our clothes.

The washroom has room to roam, a jetted tub, and two roll under sinks. The next room is a wet room with a large roll-in shower, folding bench, and toilet.

No, there will not be any problems with this room at all.

After settling in, we find our only options for dinner are taco night at the American Legion, the local gas station mini mart, or a pub up the block from the hotel. We chose the pub.

The Axe and Rose is next to the town's other big hotel. Back in the day, McCloud was an honest-to-god lumber company town. Where we're staying was the company store (and theater, restaurant, clothing store, etc), while this one...the McCloud Hotel...used to be the single men's dormitory.

I think the pub is missing some marketing options by not putting an "L" after the first part of the name and pulling in the Guns 'n Roses crowd by calling it the Axel and Rose.

Still, the food was very good and we'll probably come here again before we leave. But...the server comes over and says "are you staying at the hotel down the street?"

"Yes"

"They just called and said you have a flat tire. Would you like some help changing it?"

Oh, darn. Maybe that rock did more damage than just the running board. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. In any event, no, we didn't need help. I just put in a call to AAA and they dispatched someone to change the tire.

I'm hoping it won't cause a kink in the rest of this trip. Tonight, we'll rest up and start exploring the surrounding area, hoping the spare tire holds up until I can get the flat one repaired or replaced.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2022 - All Rights Reserved