Angelika We've already explored quite a few places in California since we've been living here, but there are still some blank spots on our map. Although we've zoomed past the gigantic Mount Shasta on the northern border of California many times by car, or caught a glimpse of it from an airplane, we haven't really been there yet.
The holiday Memorial Day gave us a long weekend this month, so we sped north on the I-5, one of California's most boring yet fastest highways, towards the fifth-highest mountain in California. 455 km is no walk in the park when you're officially only allowed to drive 70 mph (112 km/h), and especially on holidays, there are plenty of speed traps, so you can only go up to 85 mph. There's absolutely nothing along the route, but in Red Bluff, you can stop and indulge in beer and hearty dishes like steak or pork ribs at the "Riverside Bar & Grill."
The mountain is actually an inactive volcano and has an impressive height of about 4,322 meters (14,179 feet). It exudes a sense of majesty, partly because it stands alone in the open field and does not disappear into a mountain range.
Mount Shasta is located very close to the border with Oregon. The wooded area up there is relatively sparsely populated and boomed around 1850 during the Gold Rush era, thriving for a long time on the timber industry. Various Native American tribes settled around the mountain early on and still consider it sacred today. Additionally, various people with an esoteric inclination feel magically drawn to the mountain.
We enjoyed the idyll and hiking in T-shirts in the snow. The mountain is very popular with wannabe mountaineers because it is not too technically challenging. We encountered quite a few hobby climbers and wondered if all of them would actually make it to the very top. We contented ourselves with the easier paths.
Around Mount Shasta, there are a few nice little places that still exude a historical charm. We stayed in the village of McCloud, which was firmly in the hands of the McCloud River Company, a timber processing company, until the 1960s. The company practically owned the town. Since the decline of the timber industry, the small town has been sustained by tourism.
We stayed overnight in the "McCloud Mercantile Hotel". The building was constructed by the McCloud River Company in 1897 and served for a long time as a grocery and household goods store, pharmacy, hotel, as well as a butcher and clothing store--all under one roof. The current owners, who acquired the building in 2000, lovingly renovated the old venerable house, and anyone who is a fan of Wild West romance should definitely consider staying here. Michael and I, in any case, sat happily on the veranda of the building, sipping a glass of wine and felt transported back to the time of the Waltons.