Northern California
The Forest
From the bottom of California comes populous San Diego, and almost immediately the conglomeration of cities that make up the Los Angeles megaplex, then the almost equally densely inhabited San Francisco Bay region…and then California’s big cities taper off to the likes of Sacramento, Chico and Redding, and suddenly you’re in northern wilderness where your nearest neighbor is BLM, The Bureau of Land Management.
The City of Redding is the heart of it all. Redding is the County Seat of Shasta County, and boasts a population of something over 100,000. Redding is the state’s largest city north of Sacramento, the fourth largest city in the Sacramento Valley. Even with its northern latitudes, because it is in valley, weather is temperate. Winter (October–April) provides the most precipitation of any season in Redding. Summers are hot and dry. The average daily maximum temperature in July stays near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Redding has an average possible sunshine of 88 percent, the second-highest percentage after the desert city of Yuma, Arizona, which also is featured in this volume. Redding can have occasional chilly to cold winters and in spring rain is common.
High, and cold, country surrounds Redding—the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to the west; the Klamath National Forest northwest; the Cascade Range directly north; and off east and southeast, Lassen National Forest—all georgous timbered winter playgrounds.
Water abounds in the region—a number of named rivers and streams that don’t get a mention in geography books, and are identifiable only by the local population and visitors who seek them out. Lakes include Clair Engle in the Trinity Mountains; Shasta, north of Redding; Almanor in the southeast between Lassen National Forest and Pumas National Forest; and in the extreme east near Susanville, Eagle Lake. Fishing is superb.
Eagle Lake, like the others noted here, see some harsh winter; lots of snow. This author’s forty acres near the lake is a beauty of high country majestic pines, and not a neighbor in sight, although much of the surounding land is privately owned. The biggest neighbor is BLM, and brackets the parcel on two sides, ensuring isolation and privacy, but it doesn’t hold back the wandering pronghorn antelope that play across the snow. The other name national forests and lakes share much of the trees and wildlife as noted for Eagle Lake.
The wilderness region of northern Californa is easily accessible via Interstate 5, if your interest is restricted to enjoying the views from your car. However , if you wish to get off the Interstate and explore the byways, a hardier vehicle is recommended. Four wheel drive is not necessarily required but could come in handy, depending on the season. Another interesting way of accessing the region is flying to Reno, Nevada, and renting a vehicle there for driving over Intersate 80 to the California border, thence along scenic state highway 395 to Susanville. Agnostics and others, beware and take note; it could be said that you’re in God’s country.
Read Jim Woods — South Africa Sampler (Kindle book)
*
