{"id":535,"date":"2008-09-28T13:56:10","date_gmt":"2008-09-28T20:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/?p=535"},"modified":"2008-09-28T15:29:11","modified_gmt":"2008-09-28T22:29:11","slug":"mt-shasta-areapanther-meadows-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/2008\/09\/28\/mt-shasta-areapanther-meadows-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Mt Shasta Area\/Panther Meadows (California)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our first day of travel from Petaluma, CA to Vancouver, BC was our worst.\u00a0 We took I-5 and, despite keeping the A\/C on recirculate and me being on oxygen, I got pretty sick from the pesticide exposures driving past all the agriculture.\u00a0 Miriam was in even worse shape.\u00a0 Screaming, tantrums, and two episodes of extreme potty messiness.<\/p>\n

So we were really looking forward to our planned lunch time stop.\u00a0 Mt Shasta, just east of Mt Shasta City, which is past all the bad I-5 air.\u00a0 A couple people recommended stopping at the health food store there, Berryvale, but we never saw it.\u00a0 The town has several blocks of stores (and looked pretty interesting).<\/p>\n

Once on the road, I realized I’d forgotten to put directions to the mountain on my palm.\u00a0 Fortunately, it was on my map.\u00a0 We took the first exit into town (should have taken the second, more northern, exit) and followed the signs to the visitor center.\u00a0 The folks there were nice and the building was tolerable and reasonably scent-free.\u00a0 The restrooms had a slight scent but I did not need my mask for the short time inside.\u00a0 We got a street map of the town with directions to Panther Meadows.<\/p>\n

A friend told us “Panther Meadows in August is something not to be missed.\u00a0 The flowers, the fresh air, the streams, etc. are pretty spectacular…it is only a few hundred feet from the parking lot, so even kids can do the walk.”<\/p>\n

I definitely feel like we missed something.\u00a0 The drive to Panther Meadows was easy enough, and we had no problem finding it, but we saw nothing special.<\/p>\n

\"Panther

Panther Meadows<\/p><\/div>\n

This was it.\u00a0 A small dirt parking lot, with some campsites a few feet away up the hill, lots of rocks, and a few trees.<\/p>\n

We were all tired and cranky and starving and I had a splitting headache.\u00a0 But there was no place to sit down, let alone eat.\u00a0 The picnic tables were for the campsites, and they were all full.\u00a0 We were told there was a one mile loop trail through the meadow; we saw what might have been a trail head, but nothing was marked.\u00a0 We asked, but no one seemed to know where the trail or the meadow was.\u00a0 I asked about the wildflowers and people just shrugged.<\/p>\n

One arriving camper came over and said we were in the wrong parking lot.\u00a0 That if we went a bit further, we’d get to the Panther Meadows day use lot and that it had picnic tables.\u00a0 And that there were other areas with tables too.<\/p>\n

There was no other Panther Meadows area.\u00a0 We passed what must have been the meadow (with no way to drive in) but no there were no wildflowers.\u00a0 It was hot and dry and most of the non-tree plants were dormant. It was a lot cooler on the mountain than in the valley.\u00a0 Along I-5 our outdoor temp gauge read 103.\u00a0 But it quickly dropped to 80 as we climbed.<\/p>\n

We passed a lone picnic table or two.\u00a0 In the sun with nothing around.\u00a0 We went to the end of the road and found several tables.\u00a0 Still in full sun with rocks and the occasional tiny shrub hanging on for dear life.\u00a0 But there was a nice breeze.<\/p>\n

\"Picnic

Picnic table on the top of Mt. Shasta<\/p><\/div>\n

We were nowhere near the top of the 14,162 mountain, but we were well above the 7450 feet of Panther Meadows.<\/p>\n

\"Looking

Looking at the top of Mt. Shasta from uppermost parking area<\/p><\/div>\n

The road up was a very easy drive, despite the elevation change.<\/p>\n

\"Road

Road leading up Mt. Shasta<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a lovely picnic, though my headache deepened, along with weak muscles that came out of nowhere, and I realized I was suffering from altitude sickness.\u00a0 It stayed with me until we’d been off the mountain for a few minutes (the base headache was freeway exposures and lasted all day).\u00a0 Mt. Shasta City is at 3500 feet, which is low enough to avoid discomfort.<\/p>\n

\"Picnic

Picnic lunch: raw vegetable salad, banana nut bars, hummus, fish salad, and roasted vegetables<\/p><\/div>\n

As we left to continue our trip, we passed Panther Meadows and stopped at the Bunny Flat (6900′) trail head to use the bathrooms (adequate, no water).<\/p>\n

\"Bunny

Bunny Flat Restrooms<\/p><\/div>\n

We made our way back to the freeway and headed north to Oregon for the night.<\/p>\n

\"Bunny

Bunny Flat Trail Head<\/p><\/div>\n

After this visit, I just assumed my friend was mistaken about August being wet enough for flowers.\u00a0 Reading the various web accounts about Panther Meadows though, it seems it’s a special spot.\u00a0 I’m not sure if the flowers persist through the summer, but many people mention the streams.<\/p>\n

Had I known more about it, I would have found an easy access picnic spot (perhaps in town) then gone to Panther Meadows for an after-lunch hike.\u00a0 Though there wasn’t much I could have done about the altitude sickness, being fed and rested would have given us the wherewithal to explore the area and find its treasures.<\/p>\n

Links:<\/h2>\n