California-Oregon Day 2

We stayed at a really nice hotel in Redding; they had a breakfast that started at 7:00 am.  We were up a little earlier than that as we were still on central time.  We walked over to the donut shop, but decided we would wait until after Whiskeytown.  Luckily, we went back to the hotel and the breakfast room was open.  Whiskeytown National Recreation Area was maybe 15/20 minutes away from Redding.  A fairly big lake.  Marinas.  Swimming Beaches.  Hiking Trails.

It was early tough - and nobody seemed to be around.  Stopping in at the visitor center, it wasn't going to open until 10 am (and we were not going to wait around).  So, we drove the lake road and stopped at the marina beach.  It was a bit hazy...   And the air smelled a bit like baking.

We went back to the hotel for a quick shower, and then off again.  Knowing we were staying the night at Crater Lake Lodge, we figured we had time to stop at Mt. Shasta more or less right off the highway.  Unfortunately, you could barely see it from the highway due to the haze (we saw it driving into Crater Lake from afar...much like Mt. Rainer - a volcanic mountain high above everything else).  We didn't really know much, but I had read a good review on the meadow hike around mile 13 of the road.  Up we went.  Before the meadow, there was a stop with a ranger in a trailer.  He was friendly - but something was a little off.  He offered us some organic grapes, asked us for a small donation to keep the ranger station open, and we went on our way.  While there, he grumbled about two large buses going by.  I suppose when you are in the National Parks, the site of large buses don't surprise you much for that is generally how a lot of foreigners travel.  He did tell us the smell we had been smelling was from the wildfires - and the haze was smoke from the fires.

So in the brochure, there was some mention of nudity.  Then when we got to the trailhead, and there was another posting with a mention of nudity.  Someone had written over it - "there is no federal statute against nudity".  So what were we going to experience on this hike?  Well - nobody nude.  But we did come across one man asking if I was Linda - as he had her drivers license.  We decided it was the motorcycle women we had talked to earlier and he put it on her seat.

So, after the hike (which was very beautiful), we went another mile or so up the road to the end of line where hikes would start that went further up on the mountain.  It was here that we noticed about 100-150 people out in the meadow all wearing white.  Huh?  Apparently these were the people that came off the buses.  After walking a bit on the trail, Rob started noticing backpacks against some of the larger rocks.  He said he was getting weirded out and it was time to go; I thought - no, it is just backpacks that people have left - they must be out exploring...no, he was right, people were against the rocks all covered.  Strange.

At this point, we saw the young man that had found the drivers license.  He pointed to the ridge where he was planning to hike to.  We asked him what was going on with the 100+ people in white off in the distance and the people against the rocks.  He asked us if we knew about the lemurians.  Huh?  He went on to grumble about how a few weeks ago during the full moon, he couldn't get a spot at the campground and went on about the weird people that come to the mountain for spiritual reasons.

Well apparently, Mount Shasta is the home of the present-day Lemurians, survivors of the sinking of the continent of Lemuria over 12,000 years ago.  They are well and physically alive, living in the subterranean city of Telos underneath Mount Shasta.  In 1894, Frederick Spencer Oliver claimed that the survivors from the sunken continent of Lemuria live in a complex set of tunnels beneath the mountain and occasional are seen on the surface dressed in white robes.  So - were those Lemurians off in the distance?  Did we really see them?  Oh wait, they got off the large buses in the parking lot.  Okay (Rob was right) - time to go.  Weired out by the whole situation made Mt. Shasta somewhere maybe we don't need to visit again.

In the drive up to Mt. Shasta, there were piles and piles of branches that you could see from the road.  All with one piece of small plastic on top.  Upon asking a ranger - this would be for controlled burns that would happen in a few months in late fall.  Onward - to Crater Lake!

The south entrance was open (thank goodness!), but the north entrance was not.  It had been closed for a few weeks due to a large forest fire.  The pay-station to the national park had a sign that views could be hampered by smoke.

Upon arriving at the lodge, the view was pretty darn good.

We checked in - took our bags up to the room - got back into the car with our cooler and got to the first trailhead - Watchman Peak.

1.6 miles round trip, 420 feet - fairly easy for us.  

The tower itself was closed, but you could walk on the platform under it.

You can see the title of this informational sign "fire from above" - and yes - out in the distance starting about half way - you can see where the smoke is.  We understood that some of this was controlled burn to stop the major fire - but some of it was the fire itself.

In the picture below, you can see the smoke start to march into the lake basin.  We got in the car and decided we would drive into the smoke and over to Cleetwood Cove - the one point you can hike down and get to the water.  2.2 miles, 700 feet.  When we got there and opened the car, it smelled like a campfire and the smoke was everywhere - visibility poor.

The hike down should have been beautiful - but it was not.  Haze.  They do have boat rides around the lake and to Wizard Island (in photo above), but we decided we didn't want to spend the money to do it.

Rob did change into his swim suit and went into the water.   I did not.  I had no interest as the water was about 50 degrees- and the sun was on its way down.  Had it been clear and the middle of the day, I probably would have given it a try...but instead I just touched the water with my hand and I can cross it off the list - got to the water at Crater Lake.

I have seen pictures of Cleetwood Cove when the sky is blue - and am disappointed that I didn't get to see it that way.  Probably the low point of the trip.

We drove back to the other side of the lake to have dinner at the picnic area - but by this point, the smoke was everywhere.  You couldn't even see Wizard Island.  The sunset (opposite the lake)...well, it was hazy.

We went back to the lodge thankful we hadn't paid for a lakeside room, and were a bit down as we believed the smoke was going to stick around.  We hung out in the lodge open area on the first floor and had our brownie that we had gotten earlier in the day from the grocery store in Kalamath Falls. They did not start a fire in the fireplace - which I thought was strange, but I guess it just wasn't cool enough.