The other day Bruce and I played hooky and drove to Gumboot Lake.http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/CA-SIS-Gumboot.html Gas prices dropped to $4.05. Our internet connection was down and while we re-booted the wireless modem we relaxed at the lake.
There is still over 150 feet/46m of snow at the top of Mt. Shasta. http://www.shastaavalanche.org/ The drive to Gumboot Lake is only 40 minutes from my house in Dunsmuir but takes you above 6,000 feet/1830m. We took the road through the resort http://www.mountshastaresort.com/ behind Lake Siskiyou, past the Castle Lake turn off, all the way to the top near where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses. http://shastacascade.com/showrecord.asp?id=458
On the hike to the upper spring we chanced across a circle of pinecones and sticks arranged like a sun in the grassy meadow. Anemones and dodecatheon ‘Shooting Star’ bloomed in the moist stream margins. Mats of Phlox diffusa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlox_diffusa and some type of eriogonum grow together in a natural rock garden. Pedicularis densiflora ‘Indian Warrior’ are blooming just now. See it here at the feet of host plant manzanita, also flowering now at this altitude.
To celebrate the solstice Mary Jo and I visited Stewart Springs Spa.http://www.stewartmineralsprings.com/nodes/aboutus/ Their motto is ‘Soothe your Body Indulge your Soul.’ Their brochure offers, “Soothing private mineral baths, a wood burning sauna, cool river plunges, reflection and transformation gained from a traditional sweat lodge.” Mary Jo and I roasted in the sauna, wrapped in sheets while others sat in lotus position. The cool showers of natural spring water, full of silica, invigorated our skin. Gas is down to $3.93.
See you later
