Adventures in the Far North...of California: Redding, Part 2

Catch up on Part 1 on this trip here.

"It's 700 feet down to the water. It goes down a lot deeper than that but I can't tell you that."

"There's a lot more security than you can see. Believe me, it's very secure but you can't know how."

"I can't shake your hand because that would leave me vulnerable to be taken down."

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So goes the conversation, not that I asked any of those questions, to the body-armored clad and well armed guard on top of Shasta Dam. 

"Don't worry, I won't try to shake your hand...I'll just give you a wave."

"I can't shake hands."

So I've heard...

"I do like showing off the dam to people like you, though. It was built during World War II. These things over hear pump cold water up the dam to the spillways to help the fish downstream.  You should take a look at the exhibits in the visitor's center."

It's a bit of a strange conversation with the guard manning the top rim of the dam but he's nice and means well. We continue along to reach the other side.

Above us, we hear the shrieks of a few osprey. Several nesting pairs live around the dam and they like to fish near the structure.  Eagles command the rest of the lake, so they stay out of the bigger birds way.

The weather's warm but nice. A stiff breeze blows off our hats now and again and the views of the source of the massive Sacramento River are stunning.

Back in Redding, after a swim in the hotel pool, we head over to the local minor league field behind the library to take in a game.

The Redding Colt 45s are hosting the Redding Tigers at the field they both call home. The teams are part of the Far West League, a summer league formed to give serious college players a place to ply their trade during the summer.

Still waiting to hone their skills to the point where a major league team might draft them, the FWL serves as an independent minor league slotted between college play and the regular minor leagues.

For five dollars, we get great front row seats about 10 feet from home plate.

We soon discover that this little stadium behind the library serves one of the top three hot dogs we've every had at a ball game, along with a decent little selection of craft beer to wash it down.

It's a very fun time and a good game.  It's close for the first six or seven innings but the 45's pull away in the end to crush the Tigers 15 to 4.

With that, we retire back to our hotel to relax and get ready to head down highway 99 to our next destination.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

Adventures in the Far North...of California: Redding, Part 1

We haven't even left the state but, with a stop in San Jose to evaluate a new travel wheelchair, it's taken us 2 days and 560 miles to get to our latest destination, Redding, California just an hour south of the Oregon border.

Our hotel for this trip is Oxford Suites. We've had wonderful stays at this small, west coast chain of hotels at their Pismo Beach and Chico locations.  This one is not quite on par with those two.

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After a breakfast at the crowded hotel dining room, we head down the road a bit to Turtle Bay Exploration Park. We find that Turtle Bay is just a small part of a bigger park that is anchored by a pretty stunning pedestrian bridge across the Sacramento River.

That would be the Sundial Bridge (note, you do not have to pay admission to Turtle Bay to access the bridge), a functional piece of art spanning the river with a glass deck, suspended by cables attached to a tall spire that is an actual sundial.

We take a slow stroll across the bridge, stopping to admire the view and to watch a few rafters drift underneath. There was a race here earlier for kayakers that started at the bridge and ended up in Chico, a hundred miles away. Our path is much shorter, maybe another hundred yards.

There's music at the other end of the bridge, sounds very live, but no band in sight. I guess they just have a great stereo system and speakers.

I show Tim the large arc of time points and tell him how the sundial works. It's configured to be correct on the day of the summer solstice.

We wander a little bit on some of the trails. We've been here before, years ago, when we came to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park but much of this area was undeveloped. There's a small bridge over a nearby creek, shaded by stands of oak and sycamore.

The main trail continues on to the banks of the river and doubles back under the bridge. An accessible platform there allows wheelchairs to go right to the edge of the water.

A band is playing under the bridge, taking advantage of the acoustics it offers. So that's where the music was coming from.

I ask a lady playing with them if it's okay if I take some video of them playing. She tells me it's okay and that they're having a 45 year reunion of a group that used to just get together here and play once a week.

She asks where we're from and I say Los Angeles. She used to live there and knows that's a very generic term so she asks specifically where. I tell her the San Gabriel Valley.

"Oh, really? I used to teach school in South El Monte," she tells me.

"I grew up in South El Monte," I respond.

"I taught at Dean Shively School."

"I went to Dean Shively School."

"Do you remember a Mrs. Salazar?"

"Yes, she was one of my teachers."

"I used to be Mrs. Salazar."

Fate had brought us back together 45 years later. Just a fluke turn and an interest in their music led to a reunion with my elementary school teacher.

We spent the next few minutes catching up with each other's lives. She divorced, moved to Redding, met and married her current husband, then moved up to the Seattle area.

Just by chance, she was here this weekend to have that reunion with her bandmates. It really is a small world sometimes.

After that impromptu reunion, we head back across the bridge to visit Turtle Bay. Part zoo, part museum, part educational center, part aquarium, part garden, this is Redding's biggest attraction right now.

Inside, we go through a faux cave meant to evoke Shasta Caverns to the north. This is the only wheelchair accessible way to 'visit' Shasta Caverns, by the way. At the other end of the cave is an aquarium meant to represent the Sacramento River with examples of the different species of fish and animals that call it home.

Trout, salmon, ducks, and even a less than eager beaver are in this display.

Outside, an elevated and accessible boardwalk takes us over to the zoo where we see an animal show.

We are warned strictly to take a seat and do not move during the entirety of the presentation because these are still wild animals and we do not want to spook or distract them.

The show goes on with a couple of trainers and a menagerie of critters such as foxes, porcupines, and skunks along with some hawks, a vulture, and a raven.

After a day of wandering around the river, we head over to downtown and have a nice lunch at Mary's Pizza Shack before ending up back at the hotel where while waiting an hour for the pool lift to be fixed, the quiet swimming area became a small pool populated by a large swarm of noisy kids.

Oh well, we'll just call it a day at that point and pick up where we left off tomorrow.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved
Photos Copyright 2016 - Letty Musick
All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC TRIP - Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park, California 2000

Beware of falling into the earth!

The heat steams up from the bowels of the earth and the creeks boil. Mud pots erupt and you’re warned to stay on the trail or risk being swallowed by the earth. So lies the adventure in visiting this out of the way and pristine national park.

Mt. Lassen lies about an hour’s drive east of Redding, California. Any further north and we’d risk having to start another page on Oregon. A Redding Chamber of Commerce brochure optimistically says that the city is a 90 minute drive north of Sacramento. That would be if you drive like Jeff Gordon at Daytona. Realistically, it’s a good 2 ½ hour drive from the state capitol.

We stayed at the Amerihost Inn (now Baymont Inn) just south of Redding in the town of Anderson. They have a beautiful wheelchair accessible room with one problem...it only has one bed. After complaining to the front desk manager (we’d confirmed two beds when we reserved), they finally comped us to the adjoining room giving us two more beds and another bathroom (good thing it was vacant). The accessible room had a roll in shower and room to turn around in. The shower was on a hose but the spray was all over the place and it had no way to adjust it.

Amerihost likes to brag on its brochure that every Amerihost is “exactly the same”, so I guess if you need more than one bed, you may want to look elsewhere. The hotel also had a pool, spa, spacious handicapped parking, and continental breakfast. Price was around $75 per night.

After a good night’s rest, we head over to the north entrance to Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park. There is a 35 mile drive, north to south, through the heart of the park allowing you to make an all-day loop of it. The day we went there was a lot of construction taking place on highway 44 over from Redding. After about an hour’s worth of delays, we were glad we would not be taking this road back.

Before Mt. St. Helens blew its top in the 80's, this park was the closest you could actually come to seeing a volcano in action in the lower 48. Back in 1915, Mt. Lassen blew (with much less devastation than St. Helens). It was made a national park soon after due to the unique opportunity to study an actual living volcano.

Immediately after entering the park, we come to the visitor’s center. Inside, we see many photos of the eruption and watch a video about it. We learn that Mt. Lassen is actually a remnant of a much larger ancient volcano called Mt. Tehama and that most of the park is the crater of this old volcano.

What we’ve come to see are the ongoing volcanic features of the park which reside mainly in two areas. Bumpass Hell, a Yellowstone-like area of fumaroles, mud pots, and steam vents, and the Sulphur Works, a much smaller version of Bumpass Hell. Talking to the ranger at the visitor’s center puts the kabosh on that plan...the trail into Bumpass Hell (3 miles round trip) is not wheelchair accessible.

Disappointed at this, we nevertheless are determined to push on. The ranger gladly marks up a map of the park where all the accessible features are. It’s not a whole lot, but on the bright side, it can all easily be done in a day.

One of the beautiful alpine lakes in the park

The first stop on our accessible tour is the Devastated Area. Here is where lava, ash, and rocks rained down from the mountain and landslides scoured the earth bare of any trees. 80 years have shown that the forest can make a remarkable comeback but the area can still be seen in contrast to the undamaged areas adjacent to it.

An accessible, paved hiking trail about ½ mile long winding through various types of lava rocks and scenes of volcanic destruction. You also have a marvelous view of the old crater itself from here.

A field of Lassen wildflowers

On up to the next stop is a parking area at the highest point of the road. Along the way we are treated to colorful fields of wildflowers being watered from the icy cold melt water of the glaciers above. At this altitude, August is springtime.

We continue up to the summit parking area. From here the 10,457 foot peak is ribbed with year round glaciers and tantalizingly close. Alas, the ranger told us this trail is not accessible...although at least the first half mile in view of the parking lot doesn’t look like it would pose a major problem for chairs. We’ll leave it up to someone who is more adventurous to determine just how accessible it is.

Just down the road we come upon the Sulphur Works, a small geologic showplace. A large steam vent directly adjacent to the road is easy for wheelchairs to get a good look at. A bumpy boardwalk allows wheelers to go about 100 yards to see more steam vents, mudpots and a boiling creek. The view is great and ominous signs warn visitors to stay on the path or risk falling through the thin crust to a hot death!

The boardwalk allows you an up close look at the volcano's features

The boardwalk continues about another 200 yards but stairs block access to the rest of it. Most of the volcanic activity is concentrated in that first 100 yards, so you’re not missing much on the rest of the trail.

Not far beyond here the road leads out the south side of the park. All wheelchair accessible activities can be accomplished in half a day. In all, the park is very minimal in its accessibility and the largest, most scenic and spectacular parts of the park are off limits to wheelchairs at this time. On the plus side, you and your party don’t have to pay the entry fee by using the Golden Access pass.

The accessible trail crosses a beaver pond in Redding

Back in Redding, we visit Caldwell Park to the south where we find a amazingly accessible trail that winds for miles through cottonwoods, beaver ponds, and alongside the Sacramento River. This is a beautiful wheelchair hiking trail. (Park next to the picnic pavilion and look for the trail head to the east.

We had a lovely dinner on a deck overlooking the mighty Sacramento River at Amigos Mexican Restaurant which has great access to the best views of the river. Back at the Amerihost, we find an old cemetery out back behind the hotel where we have a game of who can find the oldest headstone. Tim wins with 1853.

-Darryl
Copyright 2000 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved