Saturday, September 21, 2019

Saturday round trip drive up to Shasta, east to McCloud and on to the dry lava lands, then south to Lassen, and finally back to Redding.

Up I-5 to the little town of Mount Shasta.  There, a coffee shop stop - sandwich, black brew - and then onward.

I fortified with a double espresso as I left.  Mrs. CW wouldn't even smell the stuff.  Way strong.



Great place for coffee and a snack.


The lumber town of McCloud to the east has a whole different character.  Much more working class, less touristy and man bun free.



Case in point, a nice steam engine on display in McCloud. 


Shasta dominates the town.  If it ever blew, it would require an immediate evacuation east and south.


The McCloud High School - home of the Loggers!  This place is hardly California at all.


Wet, green meadow in the dry lava country.


Looking back northwest toward Shasta in the distance, where we just were.


This is ranching country


A zoom in on the volcano from miles away.


The other threat - Lassen!  The highway goes right by the base.


Hat Creek and some Autumn colors.  Beautiful!


Is that....a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac?  Why yes it is.


The glaciers on Shasta.


All in all, an easy drive through some unfamiliar to me countryside.  Glad we did it before the snow flies.




12 comments:

  1. Beautiful. Would love to see that old steam engine in action!

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  2. Brings back memories. Went to Tulelake high school. Played away football games at Weed and Mt. Shasta, and skied the old Ski Bowl before the lodge fire in '71.

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  3. The steam engine operates on the same principal as a double acting air or
    gas compressor. The opening to the right of the flywheel is a crosshead
    guide. It converts the connecting rod motion to straight line linear motion.
    To the right of the crosshead, there is groung piston rod. It it connected
    to the piston. Using packing on the inboard head, it allows steam to
    push on both sides of the piston. The biggest gas compressor I ever
    worked on had a 36" cylinder bore. Most double acting compressors of this
    type run at 300 RPM or less.

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  4. Nice pics. That's a pretty decent September snow coverage on Shasta.

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  5. Blue skies, a full tank of gas, a new truck, and a lovely drive with the little lady. We are blessed in this country.

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  6. Rumor has it Governor Newsom is going to issue an executive order to relocate 15,000 LA, Frisco and San Diego "Urban Outdoorsmen" to the area and re-designate them "Sierra Campers".

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  7. I know somebody that lives in Anderson. He's posted photos from around the area.

    It's a terrible shame that part of CA is under the foot of the lunatics in the south of CA. What a beautiful place.

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  8. Just some simple math but the Steam Engine is twisting north of 50,000 ft-lb of torque.

    Spin

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  9. Good knowing there are still five glaciers after all these decades...(scoffing), nice ice and probably the same altitude as Iceland. God bless true California!

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  10. Back in the early 80's I was assigned to the CDF Helitack base in Beiber. Spent a lot of time fishing the Pit River and all manner of unarmed tributaries. You used to be able to just get lost out there. Doesn't look like it's changed much in 40 years. In CA, that's good to know.

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