Wednesday 18 April 2018

Woolly Wanderings: Mount Shasta, California

Have you ever wanted to get the full Northern California camping and hiking experience? Then we would highly recommend heading to Mt. Shasta.  This outdoor mecca has camping options to suit any need without the crowds that you will typically find in other national parks like Yosemite.  
merino blanket
Mt. Shasta has incredible backcountry trails and camping sites if you want to rough it, or for a more relaxing stay, there are plenty of developed campgrounds with RV hookups and bathroom facilities.   Per visitmtshasta.com, “Mt. Shasta is a dormant volcano rising 14,179 feet high and is the dominant geographic feature of Northern California and Southern Oregon Cascade Range. Water from five glaciers provides moisture for wildflowers, great pine, and red fir forests before finally flowing down the Sacramento Valley to San Francisco Bay. To the west, rises Mt. Eddy (9000 feet) with many alpine lakes and tumbling streams to explore. Castle Crags State Park to the southwest provides a complete system of maintained trails plus challenging cliff climbing too. The trails in the Shasta Trinity Forest near McCloud off Highway 89 features dramatic waterfalls, clear mountain rivers, and streams”. 
Our favorite summertime stay in Mt. Shasta was very simple and consisted of camping hammocks, a few Rugged Gray wool blankets, and a Rugged Hunter Green wool blanket from our Explorer Collection.  We pulled up to McBride Springs and had the campground to ourselves.  We found an excellent campsite and strung our hammocks between the nearest trees.  After reading about many beautiful hikes, we decided to try out the Old Ski Bowl hike which would provide us with fantastic views of Mt. Shasta’s summit.  We were not disappointed as we hiked through the volcanic rock gulch between Green Butte and Sargents Ridge.  Old Ski Bowl is the location of a former ski park that existed until 1978 when an avalanche destroyed the ski lift towers.   You’ll frolic through hidden valleys as you hike above the tree line you’ll see some excellent views of the Castle Crags area, McCloud, and Sacramento River Canyon.  We highly recommend checking out this hike! 

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