Gary-Summer: March 30, 2026 - Going to Redding

Monday, March 30, 2026

March 30, 2026 - Going to Redding

Title: March 30, 2026 - Going to Redding

Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Lower McCloud Parking area

Trail: McCloud River Trail

Destination: Middle McCloud Trail

Distance: 2.82 miles

Travel Time: 1:27 (1.9 mph)

Elevation Rise: 509'

Descent: 507‘

Maximum Elevation: 3,338'

Minimum Elevation: 3,271'

GPS Tracks

Description:

Today we leave Bonnie and Dennis. It has been enjoyable. I get up at 7:00. Once Sherri gets up, I pack the car. Bonnie had breakfast ready for us at 8:00, French toast was the main part of the meal with sausages and other goodies.

Yesterday, Dennis showed us a table he was working on. He wanted it brought up to the Barn where we slept. Since I am mostly an abled body, we bring it up. Not terribly heavy, just a good size table. The wood grain is beautiful. Dennis has topped it off with a coating which both protects and brings out the wood’s color.

We get it up to the Barn and talk some more. Sherri and I had talked about going all the way to Fresno today. But as we had a good time, we just talked with Dennis and Bonnie. It is 10:25 before we leave.

Shasta

I am driving. There is not much to write about, except that occasionally there would be some rain. But nothing which inhibits driving. When we get to Medford, we fill up with cheap Oregon Costco gas before leaving the state. Then we head over to the Harry&David Country Store. Even if there was no other fun on the trip, this would make the trip worth it for Sherri. Sherri buys her salsa and then tops it with jams and chocolates. Fortunately this store is a day away, else I think we would go broke fast.

Lower McCloud Falls

From Medford, it is a short drive to the California border, not that it's the end of the earth or anything. By the time we approach the town of Mt Shasta, it is close to 3:00. We have not had lunch yet. We debated if we wanted to go down to Dunsmuir at Yaks or try something in Mt Shasta. There is a Yak’s in Mt Shasta, the original one actually. But when we look for it, all we see only a place called Drizzle. Turns out the owner has recently renamed the place. The food is very similar, so we are content. As a note: the name is confusing, mostly because of the rain we had previously. We saw the word Drizzle on the map and thought it was alerting us to a weather condition.

After we ate, the perfect after meal activity would be to do a hike. Steven told Sherri about a hike outside of McCloud. We head east to it. The hike is to McCloud Falls. We understood that the trail was to the lower falls. But the lower falls are pretty much right off the overview at the parking lot.

Gary

We did not come here just to gawk at the falls, so we took the trail heading towards the Middle Falls. The first thing we do is to go down a set of stairs which gets us close to the level of the McCloud River. The trail itself is pretty level for a while. Nothing really outstanding, just a good walk. After a while the trail rises up to a campground. We walked around the edge of it-I do not think anybody is staying here. There is an interesting sign about some early settlers, the Fowlers.

Sherri

At the end of the campground, our path turns to dirt. We are about halfway to the Middle Falls. I am playing tag with Sherri. I take a picture and catch up. After one of these, I noticed Sherri hopping over something. When I get closer, I see a line of ants crossing the trail. I fall further behind as I try to take some pictures.

The Middle McCloud Falls are duly impressive. We stayed around for 15 minutes, admiring the falls from different perspectives. The trail goes on to the Upper McCloud Falls. But we returned back to the car along the same route we came. As we get close to the parking lot, we meet a boy and his mother. Sherri finds out that they are locals and asks for some further local points of interest. She suggested:

Bunny Flats
Siskiyou Falls-I could not find a reference to Siskiyou Falls. Maybe Lake Siskiyou and I mis-heard her?
Upper McCloud Falls

Middle McCloud Falls

We get back to the car and leave at 5:20. Now the issue is where to sleep tonight? We are pretty sure in Redding, but where? We both agreed that the Travelodge where we have stayed before is acceptable but a bit lower on our priority list. We have had good success at Quality Inn lately. Sherri finds a place for $83 a night plus taxes. Sherri tries to book it, but is not too successful as it is rejecting my membership ID.

McCloud River

She has me stop at an off ramp and I confirm she has what I think it is. As we are about to start up, a man appears by the window. He explains that his car needs a jump. We are willing to oblige. The car gets started and the man is appreciative and offers some mushrooms he has gathered. I am not a fan of mushrooms, so we politely turn down the offer.

We got to the Quality Inn. I will say I am not impressed. First, hardly anybody appears to be in the three buildings. Second, where is the office? We finally found the office a bit away. The clerk has someone who is trying to pay in cash, but the hotel also wants a $200 cash deposit since there is no credit card to charge. After a while he leaves. The clerk seems pretty apathetic to serving anybody. But we got a room. Sherri has reserved a king room which turns out to be one for handicap. The clerk does not seem to be too interested in changing this, so we get that room, room 102 on the ground floor.

I am pretty tired, so I just lounge around for the rest of the evening until we get ready for bed a little before 10:00.