Mount Shasta Trail Association
Inspire • Create • Conserve
A group of 13 hardy and intrepid volunteers braved cold, blustery conditions to cover slash piles on the new Gateway Trails yesterday, assisted by a USFS employee. Thanks to all who showed up. The piles will be burned later this season. Others not pictured were sent to different trails on bikes.
In partnership with the Forest Service, a crew of 24 (13 volunteers, 7 Forest Service staff, and 4 MSTA board members) got up early to install signs on the newly upgraded trail from Castle Lake to Heart Lake. Prior to the recent acquisition by the Forest Service of a 637-acre parcel of land from the Wilderness Land Trust, the MSTA improved the trail to Heart Lake last summer and today installed signs on that trail.
This was no easy walk in the woods, as the crew had to haul water, dry-mix concrete, steel sign posts, signs and tools up the trail. And then to top it off, holes had to be dug in the rocky terrain for each sign post. Many thanks to all the hard workers for improving this popular trail.
REMINDER TO TRAIL CHALLENGERS
The Mount Shasta Trail Challenge 2021 ends October 31st. We look forward to seeing you on the trails!
This past year, MSTA partnered with the USFS, the Wilderness Land Trust, Trail Labs, the Deadwood crew, and a bunch of super-eager volunteers to create a better route to Heart Lake. Numerous hikers have emphatically stated that the new trail is a huge improvement over the preexisting, confusing maze of trails. The new switchbacks have also provided fantastic views of Castle Lake.
This Saturday, Oct. 16, at 9 am, we’re going to install some directional signs on the new trail. One will be at the parking lot and others will be placed higher on the trail. We do have three USFS employees scheduled to help carry water, cement, posts, and tools, but we need others to help with the schlepping, digging, and shouting of orders. You can also lean on a shovel, heckle people mercilessly as they work, and eat donuts.
If you don’t want to climb up the trail, we’ll put you on the team working next to the parking lot. We’ll have all tools and supplies. The weather should be fantastic, so don’t stay on the couch. Meet us there, get some exercise, and have some fun.
The Mount Shasta Trail Association is pleased to announce our seventh stewardship prize winner, Bowden Davis. Davis is a regular volunteer for MSTA’s trail work days. Davis won a $25 Mount Shasta Chamber of Commerce gift certificate that can be used at local businesses. This prize is sponsored by the MSTA. All prizes can be picked up at the Mount Shasta Visitors Center.
We had a lot of photos of Davis working on the trails, but now have one of Davis enjoying his hard work. Thank you Davis!
The Mount Shasta Trail Association is pleased to announce that Daniel Briceno is our sixth stewardship prize winner! This steward award is sponsored by Jane Cohn, Michael Zanger, Linda Freeman and Ken Goehring. They are donating a copy of their book, Mount Shasta Wild Flowers A Field Guide .Stewardship winners can pick up their prizes at the Mount Shasta Visitor Center. Congratulations Daniel and thank you for being a steward of our trails!
Many thanks to the 21 volunteers (!!!!!!!!) who showed up to prep the walkway from the library to Sisson Meadow for pavement resealing. It required digging, hacking, scraping, weed whacking, and blowing to expose all of the pavement. There were no casualties and we finished the job before 11:30. The turnout was amazing, including the entire Etkin clan and many of the usual suspects. Stay tuned for the next work day.
We’ll be clearing weeds and brush behind the Mt. Shasta Library tomorrow morning at 9 (Saturday, August 28) so that Rotary can reseal the pavement leading to Sisson Meadow. Bring water, gloves, weed whackers, rakes, wheelbarrows. If you don’t have tools, we’ll have quite a few. Come help for an hour!
The Mount Shasta Trail Association is pleased to announce our fifth stewardship prize winner, Dustin Bonivert. No only does Dustin help with trail work, he can often be seen riding his mountain bike or taking long runs on the Gateway Trail.
Below is a picture and a comment from Dustin: “Is this appropriate?! Lol, I was taking a break on a trail run….”
Dustin won a $25 Mount Shasta Chamber of Commerce gift certificate that can be used at local businesses. This prize is sponsored by the MSTA. All prizes can be picked up at the Mount Shasta Visitors Center.
The Mount Shasta Trail Association invites the public on a 4.6-mile roundtrip hike to South Gate Meadow on Saturday, August 21. The hike is moderate with a 400 ft elevation gain and a high point of 7,900 ft.
The South Gate Meadow Trail is one of the most scenic and interesting trails on Mount Shasta. The trail starts at the Old Ski Bowl and passes through spectacularly barren moonscape toward the South Gate, a gap between the south end of Sargent’s Ridge and Red Butte, a large volcanic dome unsurprisingly composed of reddish colored andesite. The first part of the route stays above tree line, giving constant views including Black Fox and Buck Mountains to the east. Beyond the boulders the trail enters into a canopy of red fir forest leading to the Squaw/South Gate Meadow.
The meadow is an idyllic scene with lush grass carpeting the ground as numerous spring-fed creeks course their way through the meadow. The creek birthed at the springs responsible for the meadow is Squaw Creek Valley, which flows off of Mount Shasta, through the town of McCloud and into Squaw Valley Creek, beyond which it courses its way into the McCloud River. Above the meadow is Sargent’s Ridge, topped by Shastarama Point, Thumb Rock and Konwakiton Glacier.
Please note that dogs are not allowed in the Mount Shasta Wilderness which is where this hike is entering. Meeting place is 111 Morgan Way, the street in front of the Best Western Tree House Motor Inn (near Ray’s) at 9:00 am. Participants will carpool. Bring lunch, sun protection and water. Hiking poles are recommended. Expect to return by 3:00 pm. For further questions, call Joan Roemer 530-925-9644.
