Today we decided to do our sightseeing by car for two reasons; the first being that we knew we would be driving up into the cooler mountains and the second being we needed a rest after our motorcycle ride yesterday. About ten years ago, Rick and I were avid snowmobilers and in the winter, it was an activity we never seemed to get enough of. Often we would ride for eight to ten hour stretches with a few aches and pains but nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t cure. Well, the extra years have made our bodies take a little longer to recover so we’ll need a couple of more days before we ride again.

We drove up to Mount Shasta which grew more impressive the closer we got and our 29C (84.2F) temperature that we were enjoying slowly dropped (it was 15C (59F) at the coldest) as our elevation climbed. First we arrived in the town of Mt. Shasta where we discovered two natural foods grocery stores, one of which we shopped at for supplies. (It seems the closer to Oregon we get, the easier it is to find healthy food sources.) We enjoyed lunch at the Mount Shasta Resort (the guy we talked to on Wednesday at the Shasta Lake Dam recommended it) where we had an incredible view while we ate.(That is where this picture was taken.) From there we drove up Mount Shasta to “Bunny Flat” at 6950 ft., not even half way to the 14,162 ft. peak but as far as the road was cleared. The snow banks were at least 10 feet high and there were dozens of parked cars belonging to hikers, skiers and snowboarders. (Evidently, they hike from this lot up into the mountain and then ski back because there are no chairlifts here.)

We drove back to Redding by looping up via a scenic byway taking us through Weed, a small town northwest of Mount Shasta. We went through the Whiskeytown Shasta Trinity National Forest where we came across a total of 21 deer at various fields and roadsides while driving along a gorgeous but very twisting, winding route. We stopped just as the sun was setting at Whiskytown Lake to take some pictures before continuing home and if there were any doubts before, after today we know for sure that northern California is certainly beautiful country.