September 1999

Location

Mount Shasta - stands 14,162 feet and is the second highest mountain in California. This giant is joined at the hip by Mt. Shastina - 12,330 ft. Four glaciers surround the peaks, plus Shasta National Forest on the west side. This whole area is a great hiking in the summer, and skiing in the winter months, with lots of accommodation nearby.

Activity

We left Diamond Lake with frost on the ground and clear blue skies for our move to the Mount Shasta area. The road to Medford, where we would pick up Interstate 5, descends 5,000 feet and follows the wild and scenic Rogue River for most of the way. The first half of this road passes through old growth forest and alongside the many canyons of the Rogue. Interstate 5 takes us into California ascending and descending, reaching 4,000 feet on a few occasions. It was at the top of Mount Ashland we got our first clear view of Mount Shasta, the peak covered in snow against the blue sky - another wonderful sight. It is nearly as tall as Mount Rainier, but somehow did not look quite as impressive. Maybe because Shasta does not have as many smaller mountains around to keep it company, or as many trees. Due to the forest fires surrounding the area, we did not realize that we would not clearly see the summit of this giant until the day we left the area. A photographic opportunity gone missing. We continued our journey through McCloud, which is a few miles north of Dunsmuir,(good Scottish names!!), and onto Friday's RV Retreat. A very aptly named site for this lovely quiet location situated amongst tall pine trees, which made the RV nice and cool during the day's heat. We were made very welcome by all the other RVers throughout our week's enjoyable stay.

As always, we visited the local Forestry Office for information on the nearby walks. The handouts we were given were not as informative as some we had used in the past, but with good navigation we did not get lost too many times on our hikes.

Squaw Creek Trail - The newly completed trail stays close to the creek for most of the way. Magnificent old trees competing with the creeks stately progress for our attention. The creek exhibited all the different characteristics from wide gently flowing to narrow and angry white capped rushing water making interesting falls, and deep clear pools interrupting the normal flow. It was by one of these waterfalls that we relaxed in the sunshine to eat our lunch. A very pleasant 9 mile hike with colourful butterflies in abundance.
Medicine Lake Highlands Volcanic Area - This area is well worth reading about but to undertake the round trip that we did, you require a good TRUCK, as the road from Glass Mountain to Medicine Lake leaves a lot to be desired. It is certainly the worst road we have travelled on so far. The lake was the reward at the end of the nine mile drive as it is very pretty, but we suggest you come in from the other way. We visited on the Monday of a holiday weekend and there was hardly anybody there, which shows not all of California is crowded. On the way back we stopped to look at a giant crater lava tube which is partly collapsed but nearly 18 miles long - the longest in the world.
Mount Eddy Trail - Drove north of Weed, then took a very scenic drive up Forest Road 17 to the trailhead. We highly recommend the drive up this forest road even if you don't want to walk. This road has a good surface, mainly wide but narrow in parts, hairpin bends, and you may even encounter the occasional logging truck, but the views all the way up are second to none. Every bend you go round has a panoramic view of so many mountain ranges. The 9.5 mile hike started on the Pacific Crest Trail visiting Dead Fall Lakes and the summit of Mount Eddy - 9,025 ft. Good views all along the trail and of course magnificent panoramic views from the summit, which unfortunately were not clear today due to all the forest fires south of us. The last part of this hike to the summit was very strenuous, and with the thin air was also very tiring. We relaxed at the top, had our lunch while looking over to Mount Shasta. Another very enjoyable hike. The day was finished off with a nice Mexican meal in Mount Shasta City.

Location

Sacramento - Between 1849 and 1853 by two floods and two fires leveled two-thirds of the town, but it still became State Capital of California in 1854, due to its prominence during the Gold Rush which occurred in the Sacramento Valley. It is an important highway (puzzling system), rail and river hub, and the marketing centre for a rich agricultural region. In 1963 a deep water channel was completed to San Francisco Bay making the city a major inland port.

Activity

Had a good easy journey to Sacramento KOA site. On checking in we were pleased we had only decided to stay four nights. The site is situated by the very noisy highway system - something that we have not been accustomed to for a few weeks, and found hard to adapt too. We had chosen this area as we were going to be using Sacramento Airport in the next couple of weeks, and wanted to know if this would be a good location to leave the RV unattended for five nights. Needless to say we did not return.

Had a bit of excitement while paying a visit to the local RiteAid. When we entered the shop a man on a bike rode out - obviously without paying for the goods he was taking with him. All bells and whistles sounded when he made his exit, but he was too quick for the security people that tried to catch him.
The Old Town - on the banks of the Sacramento River is a place well worth visiting. We watched the middle section of the old draw bridge over the river being lifted vertically, which is quite unusual. A most interesting place is the Californian State Railroad Museum. This tells the history of the Central Pacific Railroad - from Sacramento and the Union Pacific Railroad from the Missouri River joining east to west. Many lives were lost during the construction over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The final link was made at Promontory Summit, north of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, on May 10th 1869. A great day for California and America, some people reckon this kept California in the USA as Mexico & Canada had designs on it. This museum is well worth a visit as many different types of engines and coaches have been restored and are on display. One coach has even been constructed to make it seem as though you are traveling while you wander through the carriage. Before we left the old town we wandered through a few shops, had lunch in a small local pub so that Wullie could get his fix of Microbrew, while Linda had a soft drink as usual.

Location

Mariposa KOA on highway 140 - near to Yosemite National Park. The location was chosen not only because of our intention to visit the park that everyone had told us about, but because friends from Scotland were arriving at San Francisco and this was not too far to travel to meet them. We suggested that we all see San Francisco first. This way they would have the comfort of a Motel for three nights to get over the jet lag, and we could all share the excitement of San Francisco together. We have seen it many times on our TV at home, which included the many films made with car chases through the streets, so were excited about our first visit. The journey back to Mariposa would take us over the Oakland bridge,(we liked this one better than the Golden Gate Bridge), past the windmill farms, and many fruit farms before arriving at our RV site.

Activity

We had a couple of quiet days before heading to San Francisco to meet our long awaited friends. On Thursday 16th we booked into San Francisco Bay Motel, chosen for its location - just a few minutes walk from Fisherman's Wharf. Another good idea was getting a taxi to the airport. With so much traffic all going to the same place, don't know if we would have got there under our own steam.

The very welcome sight of our good friend's bought a lump into our throat as we had not seen them for five months. After 24 hours traveling they were understandably tired, but the excitement of their holiday gave them a new lease of life. We booked them into the Motel, had a couple of welcome drinks in our room. Dinner nearby was suggested for the first night. Tiredness hit them as they relaxed. We were all in bed (not together), by 9.30 p.m. (5.30 a.m. U.K. time - so they did very well).

San Francisco - Up early, wandered down to Fisherman's Wharf and had breakfast. Then did the tourist route on a motorized tram. This took in Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Union Street - where all the very expensive shops are, Golden Gate bridge - not unlike our Forth road Bridge, Presidio - the famous old military area. The driver took us past many restored historical building/dwellings, and a lot more that are in the process of being restored. This is giving a lot of character to a lot of streets.
Chinatown started their Easter season celebrations with a big parade on the Saturday. We were lucky enough to arrive just as they started and got some very good video films of the whole parade for the folks back home. We then wandered through the many markets, but the one we will all remember, but hope to forget is the fish market. Fish in hardly enough water to keep them alive, live frogs and turtles waiting to be sold - not a pretty sight. We wandered back to Fisherman's Wharf were we found a brew pub with a large choice of microbrews (for our friends of course & Linda), had a very late lunch. Our friends started looking at their eyelids, so we headed back to the motel for another early night. Us Brits certainly burn the candle at both ends!!
Yosemite - Highway 140 is not a good way to enter the park. The road is closed for construction from 10p.m. - 6.30a.m. every night. We travelled this very rough and busy road which winds by the side of the Merced river, on occasions coming too close for comfort with the subsidence of the road surface. Our first sight of Arch Rock none of us will forget, due to its enormity and colour. We continued through the valley, looking up at El Capitan from the meadows and Half Dome from the Visitors Centre, then onto Bridalveil Falls (620') with not a lot of water falling at this time of year, but still well worth seeing. Passed Badger Pass ski area where we had a very enjoyable picnic before reaching Glacier Point summit. From here you look right down into the Yosemite valley and through the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range. What we will always remember is the pastel colour of the granite, never seen before on our travels. A very tiring satisfying day. We only managed to see a small part of this wonderful park - We will return to this area later this year with our hiking shoes, so we can hike down from Glacier Point.
Sequoia National Park - Situated in central California at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada's. In our travels nobody told us to visit this park, but as it is the home of the Sequoia's and a National Park, we thought we might just enjoy it. We were certainly not disappointed. We entered the park through the Ash Mountain entrance, past Foothills Visitor Center, onto Hospital Rock, looked at the Potwisha Indian tribe pictographs on the boulders, then had our late picnic. From there we were on a steep, narrow winding road, with fantastic views across the park dominated by Moro Rock (6,725 ft.) our destination. On arrival and with a 'yes' from Margaret who does not have a very good head for heights, we ascended the 1/4 mile staircase to the summit. Spectacular clear views of the Great Western Divide and the western half of the park make this a must for anyone who likes a stroll. From there we continued to the Giant Forest - and what we saw then left us speechless (even Linda). These giant Sequoia trees are described as the biggest living tree and they certainly are. We wondered amongst them looking up in awe. The General Sherman tree was named in honour of General Sherman in 1879 by a Civil War Veteran. It stands approx. 275 feet high and 103 feet in circumference, with a maximum diameter of 36.5 feet at the base. What a tree. We looked like ants when we had our photo's taken against it. On making our way towards the log tunnel came the highlight of the day - a black bear, eating right by the side of the road, oblivious of us. Needless to say, the windows were lowered slowly, camera's out and we all took good close-up photo's and videos. What a way to finish another day to remember. Our exit from the park was completed in the dark. Lightning storms surrounded us on the way home, luckily all at a distance so we could watch with fascination the many different patterns they made. A very late night, but we all went to sleep well satisfied.

Location

Plymouth - Far Horizons 49ER, Highway 49. This location and site was chosen because of the tours we had planned for the next week. We intended to visit Lake Tahoe and also wanted to leave our RV on site, with hookups while we flew to Vegas for five nights. This sight only charged us $10 a night while we were away and promised to keep an eye on everything.

Activity

Lake Tahoe - We set off early as we knew we had a lot to do and see. Another sunny day (boring?) with clear skies made our first sight of the lake quite memorable. The south shore where we entered is the most commercial part of the lake. Many people use this route to get to the Nevada side which offers many casinos that are only allowed on Indian land in California. We parked the truck at the recreational area then made our way to the pier where we booked the 2.00 PM. Hornblower Tahoe Queen paddle steamer trip across the lake. While waiting for the ferry we watched the many brides that had made the trip to this popular area to get married, as most of the ferry companies offer wedding packages. We took the ferry that had no strings attached. It took us to Emerald Bay, where believe it or not - the water is emerald, then back to port which gave us a different view of the surrounding lakeside mountains. Wullie suggested that we take scenic highway 88/89 back to our RV. It was a few extra miles but as it went over two passes it would be worth it. The 115 miles back took us more than four hours. Carson Pass - 8,560 ft., Luther Pass - 7,740 ft., Kit Carson ski area, then Red Lake, Caples Lake and Silver Lake all had to be photographed, which meant that the daylight came to an end before we had finished the trip - we should have set off earlier was the response from all. If you are ever in this area take a drive along highway 88 but give yourself more time than we did, because you'll need it. Plenty of eating places to stop at on route.
Las Vegas - What can we say about Vegas that hasn't been said before - it's wonderful, far better than we ever imagined. We booked our flight and accommodation through SouthWest Holidays - a subsidiary of SouthWest Airlines. Flew from Sacramento to Vegas. On arrival we all decided to start our three night stay in Vegas in style with a luxurious s-t-r-e-t-c-h limo to take us to Circus Circus. The remaining two nights were to be spent near the Grand Canyon before returning to Vegas for our return flight. These plans changed once we started walking down the strip with the bright lights and great atmosphere, then seeing what the wonderful Casinos had to offer for entertainment. We all decided that we needed as much time here as possible see everything. We booked the luxurious Luxor for the remaining two nights, then started to re-schedule our plans for the five days. The first two complete days were spent wandering through the Casinos during the heat of the day, taking in the wonder of Treasure Island, Paris, MGM Grand, Caesar's Palace, Bellagio, or our favorite Venetian. They all portray their names so well from outside and inside. At night we took video's of the shows along the strip, Treasure Island's is one of the best. A pirate theme with pirates and the British navy fighting, unbelievably the Royal Navy schooner was sank by the rouges. A lot of the casino's repeat special effect shows, either during the day, or in the evening. This all adds to the wonder of Vegas. We tried our hand at making our fortune. Linda took the plunge and played the tables on the first night. With $20 (last of the big spenders), she played roulette for an hour without losing a cent. On the other hand, Wullie played the machines, and on the third night came away with $500. Now some of our very good friend back home may say, "money goes to money", well that's not true now as we are living on a pension, and what's more, if he had been playing double stakes it would have been $2,500. C'est la vie. It was our friends 40th wedding anniversary the following week. To celebrate we decided a meal in New York would be a surprise for them! New York, New York in Vegas, not the other side of the USA. Thats the wonder of Vegas we could have chosen Paris, Venice, Egypt, Rome, the Circus almost anywhere.
Grand Canyon - The day we were to move to the Luxor we had planned a flight to the Grand Canyon. Out of bed at 5.30 AM, packed the bags and stored them with the porter ready for our move on our return at 2.30PM. We got the hired bus to the airport, booked in, paid and waited for our flight. We were allocated the back two rows of the 25 seated aircraft, which gave us all window seats and plenty of leg room, great for video and photos. The flight was a bit bumpy going which made Margaret cling onto the seat and Jim at times. The views made possible by the altitude, were the best we have ever encountered on a flight. When we arrived it was much cooler than we had anticipated which caused us some concern as we did not have warm clothes with us. We were escorted to the warmth of the bus then taken on the two hour tour of the canyon, with lunch before our return flight. The views from the two chosen viewpoints were something else. Another National Park we have either read about, or been told about by someone who has already visited, but does not prepare you for what you are about to see. They say the colours change throughout the day, which we saw in the short time we were there. We are going to return as we both want to see the canyon at Sunrise and Sunset for ourselves.
Our flight back to Sacramento was delayed because President Clinton chose to take off the same time as us, and for some unknown reason he got preferential treatment. When the announcement was made, many funny remarks were passed between the passengers.

End of Month Conclusion

We had a fantastic month. Our friends from Lochgelly gave us the warmth of home with messages and news from the friends we have left behind. They were wonderful company, with not a cross word between us, which meant they did not feel too hampered by the lack of space while we all shared the RV, and did not mind the list of chores placed on the wall to be completed before they were allowed out to enjoy themselves. Thank you Margaret & Jim.
National Parks once again come out TOPS. Another three visited this month, all very different but equally as good as each other.

Miles travelled this month: 2,632

Accumulative miles: 10,400

Hyper Links that may be of interest:

Yosemite National Park

Sequoia National Park

California State Railroad Museum

Lake Tahoe

Grand Canyon National Park

Las Vegas

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