Ski Season is Almost Here!

It might be hard to believe that December is already here and 2011 has less than 30 days left in it. While the year is coming to a close, the ski season is just getting ready to get started!  The Mount Shasta Ski Park plans to open for day time and night time skiing in mid-December. Whether you’ve never been skiing on Mt. Shasta or you’re a winter regular, it’s a beautiful and fun place to enjoy the thrill of both downhill and cross country skiing.

To stay up-to-date on the current snow conditions and park hours of operation be sure to visit SkiPark.com. If you’re not a local Siskiyou County resident and you’re looking for a place to stay while visiting the slopes there are great options throughout the county including local hotels and B&B’s within close proximity to the ski park in both Mt. Shasta and McCloud.

Downtown Mt. Shasta offers a variety of dining options and great shops to visit if you’ve got extra time to do some exploring while in town. For more information about the City of Mt. Shasta visit the Mt. Shasta Visitor’s Chamber of Commerce online or call them directly toll-free at 1-800 926-4865. Their friendly and helpful staff will be glad to assist you in making your visit to Mt. Shasta and Siskiyou County an enjoyable experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Annual Mount Shasta Elks Charity Golf Tournament is Tomorrow!

The 2011 Mount Shasta Elks Annual Charity Golf Tournament takes place tomorrow at the McCloud Golf Club. The tournament starts at 9 a.m. and benefits hospice, Meals on Wheels, the Siskiyou Humane Society and Elks Christmas baskets program.

Cost: $75 per player (four-man scramble)

For more information please call 530.926.2138

24th Annual Siskiyou Century Bike Ride is Saturday, September 10, 2011

The 24th Annual Siskiyou Century Bike Ride is Saturday, September 10, 2011. It’s a great ride for biking enthusiasts of all ages. The ride begins and ends at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds and offers three different ride lengths (37 miles, 64 miles and 100 miles).  Riders wishing to register can go online to www.siskiyoucentury.com or call the Yreka Chamber of Commerce at 530.842.1649 for more information.

Ride start times are staggered with 100 milers beginning at 7:30 a.m., 64 milers begining at 8:30 a.m. and finally 37 milers beginning at 9:30 a.m.. Each rider will pay an entry fee based upon their class. $30 for the 37 mile Metric 1/2 Century, $35 for the 64 mile Metric Century and $40 for the 100 mile Century Ride.

After registering riders may opt to pick up their registration packets early on Friday, September 9th at the fairgrounds between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m..  Late registrations are also available during those hours on Friday, September 9th.  Anyone registering after September 3rd will be charged a $7 late registration fee.

Anyone wishing to reserve a short-sleeved cotton T-Shirt commemorating this year’s ride must register no later than September 3rd.  The cost for a t-shirt is $15.

All registered riders will receive a ticket for the End of Ride Feast. Dinner will be served from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.. Family and friends are invited to purchase meal tickets for $10 per person.

The Siskiyou Century Rides

The Century (103 Miles) Climb from Yreka (2,595 ft.) over Forest Mountain (4,097 ft.) and descend into Scott Valley. Roll along the valley through Ft. Jones, Quartz Valley, Etna , and Callahan. Next climb Gazelle Mountain (4,921 ft.) and enjoy an exhilarating downhill with tight hairpin turns. The final leg follows the western edge of Shasta Valley as it leads back to Yreka. Approximately 4,600 feet of climbing.

The Metric Century (64 Miles) From Yreka (2,595 ft.), travel out to the historic railroad town of Montague, then through the Little Shasta Valley to the first rest stop, a scenic, pastoral setting with a view of the magnificent Mt. Shasta. Then on to the second rest stop at Lake Shastina. A third rest stop is in Gazelle, and then the final road home to Yreka. Approximately 1,500 feet of climbing.

The Metric 1/2 Century (37 Miles) This is the perfect ride for novices and young families. Riders will head from Yreka to Montague, then out through Little Shasta Valley to the rest stop, a scenic, pastoral setting with a magnificent view of Mt. Shasta. From there, return to Yreka retracing some of the same route. Approximately 600 feet of climbing.

Klamath National Forest Campgrounds Are Now ALL Open!

Well, it’s finally happened. The snowline is at 7,500 feet and all of the camp grounds within the Klamath National Forest are finally open and accessible. Due to heavy snow in the late Spring and cold temperatures many of Siskiyou County’s best camping and hidden camping treasures were either under snow or not accessible late into the summer camping season.

The Klamath National Forest has issued their final recreation snow report of the season and declared all campgrounds now open. Backpackers and campers using stock animals on trails at higher elevations will want to check the report for further information on which trails have been cleared and which stock is not recommended on. Some trailheads while accessible do not have fully cleared trails allowing the passage of stock animals. Other trailheads will require skilled driving in order to reach.

For more Siskiyou

To read the report click here.

McCloud Falls hike on June 4th

The Mount Shasta Trail Association will host a hike to see Fowler Falls in McCloud on June 4th. The hike is four miles round trip and extends through the lower, middle and upper falls along the McCloud River.

The hike will begin at the trail head at the Lower Falls; from there the hikers will walk upstream to the Middle Falls which are 35’ high and 70’ across.  The slight uphill hike will continue on to the Upper Falls and will end at the waters behind Lakin Dam.

This hike is a free event, but please bring your own water and picnic lunch.  All hikers are meeting at the Mount Shasta Fish Hatchery, Saturday, June 4^th, at 9:00 am.  For more information, please call Joan Roemer at 530.926.0647.

Biking socials in Scott Valley - join in May 28th

The folks out in Scott Valley care about fitness - they’ve got organized bike rides as well as organized running events. Coming up on May 28th you can join in the 2nd Annual Bike to the Iris Patch (a road ride) to view over 350 varieties of iris and get familiar with a bit of the Scott Valley

July 9-Quartz Valley Loop- Free Social Bike Ride- 20.5 road miles. Meet at 8:15 a.m. at Scott Valley Bikes & Sporting Goods 11223 Hwy. 3 in Fort Jones, CA. Helmets required. Call (530)468-5672 for info.

July 23 - Shackleford Falls Free Social Bike Ride- Knobby  Tires Required. 24 miles. Meet at 8:15 a.m. at Scott Valley Bikes & Sporting Goods 11223 Hwy. 3 in Fort Jones, CA. Helmets required. Call (530)468-5672 for info. Scott Valley- Free Social Bike Rides August 13 and 20. Knobby tires required. Meet at 8:15 a.m. at Scott Valley Bikes & Sporting Goods 11223 Hwy. 3 in Fort Jones, CA. Helmets required. Call (530)468-5672 for info.

All rides are led by Russel Willis of Scott Valley Bikes.  The Scott Valley is a wonderful place for cycling with quiet roads and beautiful scenery. To learn more about the Valley, visit the Scott Valley Chamber of Commerce website.

Castle Crags SP - visit now

Root Creek Falls

Enjoy the trails of Castle Crags State Park while you can - it is one of the California State Parks slated to close. Castle Crags has a number of spring waterfall hikes that boast wildflowers and great views of the granite of the Crags.

The Castle Crags were formed in much the same manner as nearby Mt. Shasta and the other peaks of the Cascade Range-by volcanic activity some 200 million years ago. For the last million years, the Crags have been subjected to the forces of wind, rain, ice and even some small glaciers, which have shaped the granite into its distinctive shapes. Rising beside the spikey peaks is a round one, Castle Dome, which many mountaineers liken to Yosemite’s Half Dome.

Hikes you shouldn’t miss:

Castle Dome and Indian Springs

Indian Springs and Flume Trail

The River Trail

Burstarse Falls

Spring hiking: Burstarse Falls in Castle Crags SP

The Burstarse Falls hike is a spring classic here in Siskiyou County. There are many reasons: first, it’s one of the earliest trails to melt out, secondly the trail is quite pleasant, and the Falls are beautiful. Burstarse Falls is located in Castle Crags State Park, south of Dunsmuir, and the trail gets plenty of sun on the 6.4 mile roundtrip hike. May is the time to see the falls flowing like this - much later than May and the stream slows down a lot.

You can access the trail from the State Park, or drive a bit farther back on Castle Creek Road to the Dog Trail trailhead. From there you make a short, steep uphill climb to join the Pacific Crest Trail (turn left onto the PCT) then enjoy the mostly flat hike to the lower falls. You’ll have to scramble to get above the trail to the upper falls seen here. Come prepared with good hiking shoes, food and water, something in case it cools off and a camera.

The folks at Mt. Shasta Trail Association have a good description of this hike, and you can talk with the staff at Castle Crags State Park. Keep in mind that if you enter from the SP you can’t bring your dog, but if you enter from the Dog Trail, which is outside of the park, then you can.

This is a great half day outing - or longer if you hang out and hike around the falls. It’s a spring favorite of locals and not to be missed if you’re visiting the area in May.

BC skiers exhilirated by spring corn in May

Spring skiing and mountaineering is in full tilt on Mount Shasta this year. On May 6th, the Mt. Shasta Fun Guide reported that Mt. Shasta “exceeds its corn expectations” - something backcountry skiers are blissful over. Folks are coming from all over the ski the ridiculous amounts of spring snow on Mt. Shasta and finding sweet conditions. If you’re coming to town, you can find backcountry info and direct experience by visiting The Fifth Season or Shasta Basecamp in Mt. Shasta. Both shops also rent and sell gear for backcountry adventures, from skiing to climbing. Currently the Shasta Basecamp website has a film from a ski mountaineering trip that features footage from a full summit and ski trip on Mt. Shasta (not from this year, there is a lot more snow this year than what you see in the film).

Shasta Mountain Guides and Sierra Wilderness Seminars are getting into full swing with spring mountaineering trips. It’s going to be a long climbing season with all of the snow, but its still good to book your trip early to make sure you get into a trip on snow rather than rock. These companies, as well as Robin Kohn (author of the Fun Guide) provide ski touring packages.

For folks who are considering climbing Mount Shasta or a ski mountaineering trip, you can learn a lot about the endeavor by reading the Shasta Avalanche Advisory site put up by the Forest Service climbing rangers.

Trout fishing opener April 30th

Upper Sacramento River

Trout season opened on Northern California rivers today. Check out the early season picks, courtesy of Shasta Trout, if you’re planning on heading up to fish in Siskiyou County. The folks at Shasta Trout said this is the time to come pick your best Rainbow trout of the season. Read on to here what they said:

“Preseason Guide Picks, Previewing the trout fly fishing season in Northern California
The general trout season opens this Saturday, April 30th.  The McCloud, Fall River and Hat Creek will open after closing for the winter while we’ve been fishing the remainder of our rivers year round. Here are our picks for the opener and  a brief description of what is fishing best…”

Ted Fay Fly Shop has also been blogging on conditions on the Upper Sac and Rick Cox at McCloud Fly Fishing Adventures is ready for fishing on the McCloud River.

To learn more about fishing the Upper Sacramento River, check out the Dunsmuir Chamber of Commerce fishing page. You’ll be able to learn about your lodging and dining options as well. If you’re thinking of fishing the McCloud River, the McCloud Chamber can help you explore lodging and dining.