Mount Shasta Trail Association
Inspire • Create • Conserve
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.
Exciting news! There are now 5 new maps installed on the two existing and 3 new kiosks at Lake Siskiyou. The maps have great information for all lake visitors to use for planning their outdoor adventures. Check them out the next time you are at Lake Siskiyou. Or, use this post as an excuse to get down to the Lake for a little outdoor fun!! Enjoy.
The Siskiyou Outdoor Recreation Alliance is one of MSTA’s “sister organizations” because they promote many of the same activities and events that we do and are focused, obviously, on outdoor recreation. They have a massive event coming up from Sept. 15-19 when more than a thousand people will arrive for a nationally recognized gravel road race called Grinduro. They need volunteer help to pull this off, so if you are interested, check it out at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44abab22aafcce9-volunteer
A dozen volunteers showed up on a cool, cloudy (and sometimes sprinkly) morning to remove the 5-foot high weeds covering the St. Barnabas Trail. Armed with power tools and rakes, the big, eager group made short work of the overgrowth. We even had 4 new appearances on this crew. Thanks so much for all the effort.
We could still use a few helpers at St. Barnabas (701 Lassen Lane, MS 96067) tomorrow morning, Tuesday, July 27 at 9 am to remove weeds that have totally obscured the trail. We have power tools and rakes. Hope to see you.
The St. Barnabas Trail has become totally overgrown and completely obliterated by weeds, so we’re having a work morning next Tuesday, July 27, starting at 9 am. We need 4 volunteers to run weed whackers (2 walk-behind and 2 portable) and 2 or 3 people to rake away the weeds so the weed whackers can proceed. This is not terribly hard work, and the reward is a nice, clear trail and some comraderie. If you can show up for even 30-60 minutes, it would be appreciated. With a dozen volunteers, we’ll be done in 60-90 minutes.
Please meet in the St. Barnabas Church parking lot on Lassen Lane just west of the freeway overpass and Doctors’ Park. I’ll be there between 8:30 and 9:00 preparing the power tools and rakes. Bring water, gloves, ear and eye protection (if you don’t have the gear, I’ll have some).
Below is the poster for another Forest Service sponsored field trip to the South Fork Sacramento River area. One aspect of this project is the proposal for additional non-motorized trails. If interested, note that you must sign up by the end of Thursday July 22nd.
