We are staying in Mount Shasta at the Dream Inn. It’s a pretty odd place; there is a main house which functions as a more traditional bed and breakfast, and then there is a stucco house next to it with two “suites”. We stayed at the one downstairs last year which has a living room done in knotty pine dominated by a large bar. The suite upstairs, where we stayed this year, looks like grandmother just moved out.
The breakfasts are not particularly memorable, but in warm weather – and we certainly had that during our stay in Shasta – you can have it outside in the gazebo.
John wanted Ellen to come to Shasta so she could have a chance to see Mossbrae Falls. It’s not easy to get to these falls; in fact, it’s really illegal right now. The only access is along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. We had to walk past lots of “No Trespassing” signs. And I’m supposed to teach children to follow the law….
What makes Mossbrae Falls so amazing is how the falls just emerge from the side of a cliff covered in vegetation. It doesn’t look like any other waterfall I have ever seen anywhere else.
And since you have to walk so far and so illegally to get there, you often have the place to yourself. That made Ellen happy!
Eli chased his ball into the river a few times.
We walked back along the tracks. Another hiker warned us about rattlesnakes, but fortunately we didn’t encounter any of them. We drove around Dunsmuir. A couple years ago it looked like this town was starting to stage a comeback, but it seemed pretty desolate now. We stopped at a Mexican takeout stand and had lunch in the gazebo
In the afternoon Ellen and I went down the main street of Mount Shasta to look at the shops. She was set to buy something, but did not really find much of interest. Mount Shasta has an odd assortment of shops, divided roughly evenly between hunting shops and healing crystal emporiums.
After this, we headed out of town to look at Lake Siskiyou. The lake is not natural; it is a flood control project. But it is remarkably pretty and it offers local people many opportunities for recreation. Jumping off the bridge below seemed to be a local past time. John contemplated doing so for a bit, but then thought better of the idea.
Instead, we went to the shore and gave Eli some more opportunities to chase him ball into the water.
Ellen and John completely confused him by playing keep away. Edie barked a lot.
We had a pretty decent dinner at a local pub. They made enormously large and tasty burgers.
Tomorrow, off to Ashland and the Shakespeare Festival.
