Photo from Ted Fay Fly Shop
I just learned that the Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association provides a North State fishing report every week. When I checked it out I found that the Ted Fay Fly Shop is providing updates for the Upper Sacramento River, the McCloud Reservoir and the McCloud River. The photos from the Upper Sacramento River are spectacular, it sounds like the fall fishing is pretty good, and you can book a guided trip with Ted Fay Fly shop if you’re new to fishing or want to refine your fly fishing skills – so a blog post was born.
While I have never been fly fishing, I can tell you this – the Upper Sacramento River is a place of wild beauty, and you should take advantage of any reason (excuse) you can find to spend time on her shores or in her waters. The Upper Sacramento starts below the Box Canyon Dam at Lake Siskiyou just outside of Mt. Shasta and continues down to Lake Shasta. You can read about the seasonal fishing characteristics on the Ted Fay Fly Shop website, and the Caddis hatch that happens in October.
You can learn more about fishing opportunities in Siskiyou County and find a list of guide services on the Visit Siskiyou website. You can also use the website as a resource to find lodging and dining options and read about other recreational activities in the area.
Get up, get up and go see the balloons! Montague Balloon Fair dawn ascension Saturday and Sunday morning – at dawn! Check out photos from Friday’s dawn take off. For more pics and info, follow the link to the event’s Facebook page.
Fall is here, and with it, comes hunting season. Folks are heading for the hills now as deer season opens and the progression of hunting seasons will continue through the winter.
Siskiyou County’s large hunting territory and varied terrain, including lush forests, grassy flatland valleys, high plateau deserts, and high mountain wilderness, is home to a wide variety of huntable game.
Big game species include Columbian blacktail and mule deer, Roosevelt elk, antelope, and black bear. Small and upland game species include Miriam and Rio Grande wild turkey, California mountain and valley quail, grouse, pheasant, dove and pigeon, with a wide variety of waterfowl and small animals.
Columbian blacktail deer reside mainly on the west side of Siskiyou County in the deer zones of B6, B2, C1 and C2, while mule deer inhabit the X1 deer zone in the eastern areas of the county. Both species of deer are huntable by tag drawing for those zones.
Black bear range throughout the entire county and require a tag drawing. Elk hunting is confined to two special drawing hunts. One held in Butte and Shasta Valleys is called the Siskiyou Elk Hunt. The Marble Mountains Elk Hunt is located in the Marble Mountain area. Antelope also have a special tag drawing and are hunted out of the Mount Dome area.
Wildlife areas in Butte Valley and eastern Siskiyou County offer unparalleled duck hunting, with 3/4 of the migrating bird population on the Pacific Flyway stopping twice yearly in this area. Each wildlife area and refuge has specific hunting regulations, so contact the area you are interested in for details or visit the California Fish & Game Web site. You can also find recent updates on California on this Hot Spots page.
The Montague Balloon Fair on Sept 24, 25, and 26, provides a chance to check out one of the Shasta Valley’s little towns while appreciating some amazing sites. You’ll want to get up early and bundle up for the dawn ascension, held Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings starting around, well, dawn. At the launch site at Rohrer Field on the outskirts of Montague, the Shasta Valley Rotary will be providing a breakfast of hot coffee and donuts to help warm you up beginning at 5:30am, followed by a full breakfast sponsored by the Elks from 7-11am (also at the launch site).
Once you get your day started with images of balloons rising into the pale sky with Mt. Shasta framing the sunrise, it’s on to events in town. There isn’t much happening on Friday after the dawn ascension, so you can take time to explore the area and the store offering Balloon Fair specials before coming back at 6:30pm for cowboy poetry and a BBQ chicken dinner at the Montague Community Hall. You’ll want to call ahead for dinner tickets to make sure you get in (call 530.467.5346).
Come Saturday things pick up. After the dawn ascension and the breakfast at the launch site, the town of Montague will host a farmers and crafters market, chili cook-off and kids activities at Railroad Park across from the quaint downtown area. The market is open from 9am to 2pm, punctuated by the Main Street parade that starts at 12:30. Bring your lawn chair and pick a spot in the shade to watch this authentic, local parade. The launch site hosts a BBQ sirloin dinner from 5-7pm, put on by the Shasta Valley Rotary, followed by the night burn at dusk, where balloonists fire their burners in the falling light.
While you’re in Montague, check out some of the local businesses that have sponsored the Balloon Fair – they’ll be offering Balloon Fair specials. Ms. Lynn’s Teas (fun for adults and kids), Shepherd Dream (the natural wool bedding store), Tailgate Deli, Railroad Museum, Cortright’s Market and Deli, and Kathy’s Deli and Bakery are all offering specials.
Sunday wraps up early: after the dawn ascension get your breakfast at the launch site, and then call it a day. From here a nice option is to take a Sunday drive out into the Little Shasta Valley or north towards Hornbrook. Just grab yourself a local map and go exploring on the backroads – it’s beautiful out there!
Shoppe Serendipity
Get your tickets for the Taste of Siskiyou, set for the afternoon of Oct 2nd in Yreka. Shoppe Serendipity and a number of local businesses are sponsoring this event that celebrates food and beverages crafted by local businesses. Saturday, October 2nd from 1-6 pm, stroll Yreka’s historic downtown along Miner and Broadway to sample from businesses and crafters from around the county. Right now you can get a two for one deal: $45 gets you two tickets, 2 wine glasses and 2 bracelets that enable you to sample from all the vendors.
Shoppe Serendipity, located on Broadway Street in Yreka, is a shop that boasts locally made fine arts and high end crafts and owner Kris Taylor is working to organize the Taste of Siskiyou as “a celebration for your senses”. Vendors will be sharing their foods, beer and wine, and local musicians will play and artists will paint plein aire. Vendors include the Weed Bakery, Mt. Shasta Pastry, Dunsmuir Brewery, Shasta View Vineyards, the Wayside Grill, Bianca’s Gourmet, Alpen Cellars, Mountain Star Cafe, and more. Live music will be performed by Allison & Victor, Tom Scott and Leslie Tift, Gordon Rowland, the Marl Bell Trio, Paul Lewis Janke and Rob Gebhardt.
Get your tickets at Shoppe Serendipity at 213 S. Broadway or by calling the Yreka Chamber of Commerce at 530.842.1993 or by email at tasteofsiskiyou@gmail.com There will also be a ticket booth at the event for purchases that day.
Today we tested our sense of adventure, when my husband and I went looking for a lake that doesn’t have a trail to it. The drive out on the east side of Mt. Shasta was beautiful and the views of the mountain from the east side were something that we just don’t normally see (living in Mt. Shasta City). After a previous experience when he took me out on an off-trail hike that he underestimated, I went prepared. We had plenty of food, warm clothing, and even a map! The compass on his smart phone helped us navigate through a mix of forest and clear cuts. Up on a ridge line we oriented ourselves and checked the land marks on the topo map against what we could see, and found the lake! It was a great experience: to go into an uncertain situation and make it to our goal (an to find the truck again on the way out!). We did a lot of hiking straight up hill and we weren’t sure we were on the right track until we were almost to the lake, but it was a great feeling to see it its green waters.
Now, you may not want to go off trail, or hike through ground torn up by log skidders, but you can stretch your sense of adventure in so many ways. For some people, hiking a trail to a mountain lake is a whole new experience. Some folks are new to swimming in lakes or rivers. Whatever may feel like adventure to you, you should go for it! This time of year is Siskiyou County is the time for flexing your sense of adventure: the weather is great, there isn’t any snow in the mountains yet, and the sense of getting your fill before winter comes is very motivating. So think about what might stretch your limits just a bit and pick something new.
Here you can find lists of recreation and adventures to choose from:
Mt. Shasta Chamber’s recreation list
McCloud Chamber of Commerce
Dunsmuir’s Outdoor Adventures
Weed Chamber of Commerce
Yreka Chamber of Commerce
Butte Valley Chamber of Commerce (eastern Siskiyou County)
Scott Valley Chamber of Commerce (western Siskiyou County)
Happy Camp Chamber of Commerce (Klamath River region)
Tags: adventure, Butte Valley, Dunsmuir, Happy Camp, McCloud, Mt. Shasta, Scott Valley, Siskiyou County recreation, Weed, Yreka
Recreation | Visit Siskiyou September 17, 2010 | 
Comments (0)
Pluto's Cave in Klamath National Forest
Pluto’s Cave was one of the spots I went as a kid: school trips, church groups, friends – we all loved to go. I remember getting to a part of this cave once where we were crawling on our bellies in fine volcanic dust. That may not be your preference, but the larger chambers at the openings are fun to explore. Now this is recognized by the Klamath National Forest, and there are some picnic tables near the parking area and signs to help you find the cave. Despite the signs, you’ll still have to hunt around to find the right opening (there are a few collapses near the parking lot) that will provide access to the long reaches of the lava tube. If you’re there in the summer or fall, keep an eye out for rattlesnakes while you’re above ground.
In reading about Pluto’s Cave, I learned that it is larger than many of the lava caves in the Hawaiian Islands. It certainly feels big as you are creeping through the dark and coolness of the underground world. If you go, be sure to bring extra batteries for your flashlight or headlamp. I can tell you from experience that it adds an unexpected layer of adventure to be in a cave in the dark and have to find your way out. There is a trail through much of this cave, so you can pick your way down an established route through the crumpled, rocky floor of the cave. It’s fun thing to do and an interesting way to experience the volcanic history of the area. You can see various layers of lava flows in the walls and get a sense for the massive forces that shaped this area.
The Klamath National Forest website does provide information about how to find the caves, but it’s an easy turn to miss, so you might want to call the KNF (530-842-6131) before heading out, just to get some idea of what to look for along the road and what to look for to find the right entrance to the cave.
My husband spent Saturday at the McCloud Golf Course for a charity golf tournament, and that reminded me of all of the golf courses tucked into various settings in Siskiyou County. They’ve all got great views, and depending on where you go, you’ll get to experience a different climate and setting.
Out at the McCloud Golf Course the views from the forest setting are spectacular, with Mt. Shasta rising up over the course, presenting the east side view that many people traveling down I-5 never see. The McCloud River runs through it, making this 9-hole course just charming.
On the I-5 side of the mountain, the Mt. Shasta Golf Resort offers beautiful greens on this 18-hole course designed to take in the view. The Resort has chalets, the Highland House Restaurant and an on-site day spa, as well as quick access to Lake Siskiyou. The Mt. Shasta Resort bills its self as the “hub for outdoor recreation and leisure in Far Northern California”, so you’ll want to check out their events calendar to see what’s happening when you visit.
The Weed Golf Course is perhaps the oldest in the county, with roots tracing back to the 1920s. Here you’ll have a very down home experience, with a 9-hole course tucked into a canyon and a staff focused on providing a great experience. There are hand full of tournaments coming up in September and October, so check it out.
To the north, the Magnificent Monster, as it has been called, offers a different view of the mountain and surrounding area at the Lake Shastina Golf Course. Lake Shastina boasts an 18-hole course that was the last course designed by Robert Trent Jones Junior and Senior as a father and son team. Shastina also has a Scottish links 9-hole course set in the high desert area off Highway 97.
There you have it – plenty of locations to plan a golf trip to Siskiyou County, whether it be now during our wonderful fall weather or next summer.
Terrace Lake above Cliff Lake
Fall is a wonderful time for hiking, and with the comfortable, warm days we’ve been experiencing, it’s definitely time to get out for a hike. In South Siskiyou County there are a number of mountain lakes to enjoy a day at. One of the classics is Castle Lake with the hike up to Heart Lake. Once a local secret, Heart Lake has become well known after the attention it received in Sunset Magazine. If you haven’t been, it’s one to put on your list. To find your way, read up first on the Mt. Shasta Trail Association website, and then watch for cairns as your making your way up around Castle Lake to Heart Lake.
You can learn more about the mountain lakes by stopping in at the Mt. Shasta Ranger Station on Alma Street in Mt. Shasta. You can talk with staff about various hikes in the area and take a look at the Forest map to get a sense for number of lakes in the area. Some lakes are on Forest Service land and well marked, while others may be on private land or simply hard to get to. You’ll want to get clear instructions on these lakes, like Cliff and Terrace Lakes or Grey Rocks Lakes, before heading out to find them.
Some lakes that are easily accessible from the Pacific Crest Trail are Deadfall Lakes and Seven Lakes Basin. Deadfall Lakes provide a great family hike that just about anyone can get to. The trail is mostly level and just around an hour walk in to the main lake. From there, smaller lakes above and below Deadfall Lake offer additional hiking, and if you like summits, you can take the trail up the the Mount Eddy summit where you can watch the clouds play on Mount Shasta and enjoy a spectacular view. The Deadfall Lakes trailhead is approached from north of Weed, while Seven Lakes Basin requires a drive up the South Fork Road outside of Mt. Shasta to the Gumboot Summit. At the parking lot at the summit you’ll head southbound on the PCT to reach Seven Lakes Basin. You can see them from the PCT and you’ll see the cairn marking the trail down to the lakes. Once you get down into the Basin, hike around to see if any of the pond lilies are still blooming and pick a nice spot for a picnic lunch.
