Mt Shasta – Up-close

This was our first view of Mt. Shasta today on the Everitt Memorial Highway, which is really no highway, but a nice two lane road.  John S. Everitt  was a forest supervisor for the Shasta National Forest who died while fighting the Bear Springs Fire in August 1934.  A fire on Mount Shasta was a significant concern to Everitt and one afternoon during the firefight, Everitt set out alone to scout the fire. The winds shifted quickly and he was ultimately trapped and killed by the flames. He was the first forest supervisor killed in defense of his charge.

      

It is a nice road, not very heavily used and two lane all the way, although the last few hundred yards are a bit bumpy and full of pot holes.  The road a can be caught in the town of Mt. Shasta, find West Lake, which is also exit 738 on I-5, take it east and follow it to the north and it will turn into the Everitt Memorial Highway.  If you are interested in hiking the area, see this website.

There are many side roads and turn outs…plenty of opportunities to take pictures while driving or by stopping along side the road.

There are many views of Mt. Shasta, and we were lucky enough to have unobstructed views, although clouds were lingering.

The valley views would have been out of this world had it rained the night before…but the smog and smoke and gunk just hide everything below.

   

But the views of Shasta were real, real nice.

Eventually (20-30 minutes depending upon stops and speed) you come to Bunny Flats, which has the only bathrooms along the roadway.  This is one of the major hiking spots, which, if you go out for very long or very high, you put your info and money in that green tube and carry your part of the permit on you.  Sorry, no dogs allowed.  The nearby campsite is tents only, but there was an earlier campsite which could handle smaller (under 32’) RVs at a few of the spots leading to the loop.

   

Again, the views of Mt. Shasta are just out of this world.

As you get closer to the “Ski Bowl Area” you see the results of the avalanches which closed the ski resort down in the late 1970’s. 

There is still an active ski resort, but it is lower down from the summit.  Its access is between the city of Mt. Shasta and McCloud.

The “Ski Bowl” area, which is the end of the line for the car (and start of the walk for summit goers) is not as spectacular of a view looking at the mountain…

But even on a muggy, smoggy day the valley below is a pretty sight.

  

Up here it is legal to camp for up to three nights, and these two van dwellers are doing that. We also saw a class C heading up, don’t know if they are camping or just traveling through.

To some Mt. Shasta is a very special place…a place of mysticism, a place of spiritualism, a place of peace.  If you want to more about that, I suggest you follow these Google Search links:   Mt Shasta Mysticism;  Mt Shasta Sacred Sites;  Mt Shasta Sacred Places.  To us, it is just another nice place here on earth that God has placed before us to enjoy, respect, and share with others.  Tomorrow we move, but I will try to write about the city of McCloud, where the above picture was taken from.