Active NorCal September/October 2015

Northern California’s Sport, Fitness and Outdoor Magazine

™

July/August 2015 - Issue 10

Active Un er the stars Inspiring Wonder at Turtle Bay Exploration Park The Secret Game of Geocaching Jubilation in the Desolation Wilderness

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Farmers’ Markets Near You There’s something special about attending a farmer’s market. Smiling vendors greet Ken Nejima

you with samples of their products, the smell of freshly made meals drift through the air and unique handmade crafts dangle over booths.

t

Pop Culture and Local Landmarks

markets in our digital-exclusive

With such a beautifully diverse landscape, NorCal’s prominent landmarks are bound to show up in

piece, and be on the look out

popular culture. For instance, did you know that the railway bridge over Lake Britton was featured

for more articles on how to eat

in classic coming-of-age film, Stand By Me? As advocates of the North State, we’ll continue filling

healthy in the North State.

you in on the history and cultural significance of your favorite local attractions each month.

t

Discover 14 local farmer’s

In Your Face! With Kaesen Suyderhoud

Seeing is believing as they say, but you can’t fully

last month’s issue, we caught up with profession-

convey the unbelievable talent of athletes we

al wakeboarder Kaesen Suyderhoud. You’ve read

feature solely through print. Luckily, we have a

about his rise to stardom, now visit our website

website where you can watch videos, and be sure

to see his skills in action.

the person you’ve read about is the real deal. In

September/October Digi Edition Follow Us On Instagram (@activenorcal)

Print is great, and it’s nice to have a hard copy in front of you, but did you know

Want to supplement your intake of awesome

that you can also view every edition of

NorCal photos and videos? Check out our In-

Active NorCal for free on your laptop,

stagram page. View unique content you won’t

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find on our twitter or Facebook pages, and see

Just visit activenorcal.net, and click on the

what active things we’re up to day-to-day.

Digital Editions tab.

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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contents

September/October 2015 Features 18 Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay Exploration Park is an art and history museum, a zoo, a garden, a play ground and an education center all rolled into one. Discover all that this wonder-full Redding landmark has to offer.

pg. 24

24 Under the Stars

When the sun goes down and stars glitter the night sky, the NorCal landscape trans forms into a whole new world. With so many pitch-black skies in the North State, stargazers can see to infinity and beyond. Kayakers and hikers who take to moonlit mountains and lakes marvel at the sense of calm and connectedness they feel. Come along as we describe our experiences getting active under the stars.

pg. 8

4

Publisher’s Note

6

Photographer Spotlight

8

Just for Fun

12 Sports

pg. 48

pg. 36

pg. 30

30 Destination Desolation

Departments

36 Outdoors

You won’t find much “desolation” in the Desolation Wilderness area.

However, if you’re looking for crystal clear lakes, great fishing, scenic hikes and an escape from the monotony of the modern world, it’s the perfect place.

44 Culture 48 Humor

activenorcal.net

September/October 2015 Active NorCal

3

Publisher’s Note

An Enthusiastic Farewell to Fire Season On Thursday, July 30th I was in San Francisco visiting friends when I read an online news story about a fire in Redding. It’s an all too common occurrence hearing about fires in our area, but I always read about them just to see where the fire is and if anyone I know could be affected.

On this occasion, it was my house in danger. A fire had started in Happy Valley right next to another fire near the Redding Ranchette subdivision. It just so happens that I live in the Redding Ranchettes, and one of my neighbor’s houses had already burned to the ground. This is the exact reason I read all the fire news because I know every once and a while the news is going to (literally) hit close to home.

Being out of town, I hated that helpless feeling stemming from my inability to save the house and personal belongings. I was reading the live feed, which reported that my neighbors had stockpiled hoses and shovels and were fending off the slow-moving fire until firefighters could arrive.

Luckily, the wind was on our side that day, and the flames claimed only one house in our neighborhood.

Growing up in NorCal, I had a few friends lose their homes to fire. The infamous Jones Valley Fire in 1999 is stitched in my memory. I had many friends whose homes were taken and their valuables destroyed. Over 100 homes were destroyed in that fire. Last year, the Boles fire claimed 157 homes in Weed forcing an entire community to rebuild.

We all know a firefighter, if not several, in this community. They spend their summers away from their families, sweating in the blistering heat and risking their lives to make sure most of our houses and possessions survive when a fire breaks out. Do me a favor and show them your thanks. Let them know that we, as a community, appreciate their sacrifices. We live in a pretty awesome place, but there is no place in the world without its pitfalls.

Fire happens to be ours.

So be prepared in case a fire breaks out in your area. Make sure to have a family protocol, and know exactly what you want to take with you in case you must evacuate quickly. Most importantly, count your blessings.

So, I would like to happily and enthusiastically say farewell to fire season. Let’s bring home our firefighters and quit seeing that awful orange, smoke-tinted sun. Let’s enjoy nice outdoor adventures without developing symptoms of emphysema. And for goodness sake, let’s see some rain this winter!

Stay Active!

Zach

4

Active NorCal September/October 2015

activenorcal.net

Publisher Zach O’Brien

Editor

Chip O’Brien

Content Manager Ross Lawrence

Business Development Brien O’Brien

Sales Manager Kevin Reinhart (530) 355-3018

Sales Associate David Horstman

Art Director Adrienne Rosone

Intern

Frances Griffey Active NorCal is published bimonthly by Active NorCal, 1350 Placer Street, Redding, CA, 96001, (530) 247-7330, Copyright 2013.

All rights reserved.

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photographer spotlight

6

Active NorCal September/October 2015

activenorcal.net

Behind the Photo With Chris Nelson of Redding California Photography

A dentist during the week and a photographer on weekends, Chris Nelson finds solace in the outdoors. Nelson’s captured this stunning image (left) of an adventurer resting on a hammock on the rarely seen beams of a lost bridge. It only shows itself during extreme drought on Shasta Lake. In his own words, Nelson tells the story behind the photo: If I go outdoors, I’m bringing my camera, whether it’s my GoPro or my big camera with the tripod and lenses. Typically I don’t plan it out. We’ll go outdoors and I’ll bring my camera and we might get a cool photo. But this one I planned out.

Eagles Nest Outfitters does a photo contest every month and my brother-in-law, Scot Groundwater, and I had won the photo contest before and received some free gear from them. I saw pictures of the bridge that had been sticking out of the water because of the low lake and I asked my friend where it was so I could go out and take pictures of it.

Scot and I both had a day off and we wanted to go explore this bridge. We had to wade through a bunch of mud just to get to the shoreline and we paddled out to it. Scot is really into rock climbing, so he loaded up his climbing gear and I brought all of my photography gear. We paddled around the bridge to get a good vantage point. It has a tunnel going through the rocks and it comes out and there is the bridge. So I decided that I would hike up the dirt and stand on top of the tunnel and set up my tripod and gear there while he set up the hammock.

I brought a ton of fancy equipment. I brought a bunch of neutral density filters, graduated filters, some fancy lenses and my Cannon 5D Mark III camera. I brought my Lee 10stop neutral density filter so on a really bright day you can shoot moving water because it basically looks like a piece of welding glass. If you look at the shadows of the image

completely black and still and also to get some motion in the clouds. And then I took a quick picture without filters in front of the camera to get the hammock still. So, he was there in both images, but I was able to combine to two photos on my computer. The tripod and camera didn’t move so it was pretty easy to composite on the computer. It turned out

If you look at the shadows of the image it was mid-afternoon, because that bridge is facing towards the east so the sun was over my right hand shoulder... it was mid-afternoon, because that bridge is facing towards the east so the sun was over my right hand shoulder, so it was probably around two or three in the afternoon.

The adventure itself was a few hours once we were in the boat. It took us about a half an hour to paddle out to the bridge and it always takes at least a half an hour for me to take an image that’s worthy of my personal gallery and website display. I’m pretty meticulous about that stuff.

That image is a composite.

So basically I took a two-minute exposure to get the water

activenorcal.net

to be, what I think, is a pretty stunning image.

We ended up winning the photo contest and I ended up getting some more free gear from the company. They (Eagles Nest Outfitters) still have the picture on their website.

Now on my next hiking trip I’m going to bring my camera and hammock because I want to win more free gear.

For more information on Chris Nelson and Redding California Photography, go to ReddingCalifornia.Photography or find them on Facebook at Redding California Photography.

September/October 2015 Active NorCal

7

just for Fun

Run! And Gun

Victoria Padevit Brown

A First-time Paintball Experience by ross lawrence

“Run!!” rang out a chorus of cracking middle school voices from the back of a school bus. As kids quickly shuffled off the bus in the quaint suburban subdivision, a boy who had been lurking behind a flower bush opened fire with his paintball gun.

Luckily, the five or six kids in the line of fire heeded our urgent warning to flee. After ten or so blasts from the offender, the bus’s exterior stood as the sole casualty.

Up on my knees peering out the back window, my eyes followed the shooter—a local troublemaker named Mike. As the scene cleared and our remarkably apathetic bus driver started up the street, I worried Mike’s nihilist attitude would someday place me in a precarious position. I’d never been shot by a paintball. I hoped that trend would continue.

While I never did get struck with a paintball, it’d be an understatement to say I hadn’t had the best introduction to paintball guns and paintball. Fortunately, my first experience paintballing at Redding Paintball Park allowed me to move past my decades long skepticism towards the sport.

Ready The Troops Following a short Internet search on what to wear when paintballing, I headed up to Redding Paintball Park in Anderson on 8

Active NorCal September/October 2015

an already scorching Sunday morning. Driving into the parking lot, I noticed two paintball fields on either side of me. One was composed of large, black plastic tubing made into about 100 or so makeshift bunkers. On my left, the other field had a variety of strategically aligned red and blue inflatable structures.

Opening my car door, I immediately heard what sounded like machine gun fire. “Is this what I’m getting myself into?” I thought. I had no qualms about getting hit a couple times, but I didn’t realize I’d be entering a warzone. Hesitantly, I walked up to the rental shed where the manager Ryan got me set up with a mask, gun and a bag of balls. He also assured me that any games I’d play would be bereft of machine (paintball)gun fire. “That’s only for the pros,” he promised me.

Gearing up to use one of the six unique paintball fields at the 15+ acre outdoor park, I recognized how paintball has great family appeal. It’s a relatively cheap, easy and impromptu activity that’s fun for both kids and adults. In fact, my 10-person group consisted almost entirely of fathers, their sons and their son’s friends. Having a strong family presence as well as many younger players made the experience less intimidating.

If you don’t know anything about paintball or don’t have any gear, don’t worry. Redding Paintball Park as well as the people activenorcal.net

who frequent the place will go out of their way to help you. I told people in my group that it was my first time playing, and they caught me up on the basic rules (shoot the other team and don’t get shot or you’re out) and how to safely operate and load the gun. I didn’t know if they were being nice because I was new blood or an easy target or what, but I appreciated the help.

The Battlefield When everyone suited and loaded up, we walked about a quarter-mile to a field in the woods called the Castle. Once Ryan thoroughly ran us through the rules and safety protocols, the group was divided into two teams. One headed down to a wooded valley (my team), and the others went into a two-story wooden structure (the Castle) overlooking it.

After each team got set, the starting whistle blew. Guided by no strategy other than “go through the middle” I slowly made my way up the hill towards the Castle scurrying behind trees and randomly scattered wooden objects to avoid

paintball fire. I imagined myself in war film fighting to take the enemy’s position.

Realizing the danger of running out in the open, I found cover behind a wood palette propped up on a tree about 30-feet from the Castle. Paintballs whizzed by me, and I could hear round after round splattering against the palette. Suddenly, there was a break in the barrage. I stealthily glanced over the palette, and spotted someone atop the Castle with his sights on one of my teammates.

I took aim, and pulled the trigger—way wide. “So much for precision,” I decided.

Before second-guessing myself, I sprayed eight or nine rounds in the motion of a rotating sprinkler. “Splat!” The final shot spattered orange paint on my target’s goggles. I instinctively rose up over the palette eager to confirm my first casualty. “Splat!” again—this time it was my helmet that had been hit. Paintball doesn’t leave much room for celebrating apparently. Despite my battlefield naivety, my first paintball game gave me a rush, and a desire for more.

The proceeding hours after the first game continued in a similar fashion. Some

rounds, I got shot before I even spotted an opponent. In others, I was one of the few remaining towards the end.

Layers and adrenaline seem to lessen the pain of getting shot. However, I have to concede that getting hit in the ribs and/or back is not a fun experience. In retrospect, taking off my long sleeve shirt was a huge mistake. I have the welts to prove it. Comparing battle scars at the end of a match makes for a fun, albeit somewhat disgusting time.

Everyone Wins In its most basic form, paintball is fun for nearly anyone. Win or lose, every single person on the field has their moments of glory over the course of the day. Just point and shoot, and even with little skill, you’re bound to get lucky once in a while.

You can take paintball as seriously as you want, but ultimately it’s more about having a great time than who shot whom, or which team won.

You’ll definitely see me paintballing again soon. When people are shooting at me though, I think habit will always urge me to “run!!”.

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NORCAL

Paintballing Games/Variations With a nice field, paintball guns, masks and a group of friends, you can play dozens of different

Vampire, Terminator and Zombies (Oh my!)

paintball games. Here are a few of the more common ones…

Elimination

Capture the Flag

King of the Hill

The basic principle behind

The concept here is sim-

Each team has a flag, both

Players in these games at-

numerically teams are uneven,

ple—don’t get hit, and try

teams try to steal the opposi-

tempt to capture and hold

but one of the teams has an

to shoot/eliminate as many

tion’s flag, and attempt to

certain bases on the paintball

advantage or disadvantage.

people as you can. Once a

bring it to their “flag station”

field. When one team has all

With Vampire games for ex-

person is shot, he or she must

in order to win. Flag stations

the bases they win the game.

ample, the Vampire team has

put a hand up, and indicate

are located near each team’s

Elimination rules apply. Bases

less players, but if members of

that they’ve been hit before

respective starting point. The

may be arranged in a path or

that group shoot someone on

leaving the field. You can play

same rules apply with elimina-

randomly.

the other team(s), that player

elimination games with teams

tion games in that you’re out

has to switch to the Vampire

meaning you and your team-

of the game if you get hit

squad. Those on a Terminator

mates try to shoot or knock

with a paintball. Centerflag

team must be hit in a specific

out the other team(s) before

is a variation of Capture the

spot such as the helmet in

they get your team.

Flag in which there is only a

order to be eliminated. With

single flag in the middle of

Zombie games, those on the

the paintball field that both

Zombie team may require

teams try to take back to their

multiple hits to be eliminated,

flag station.

but they must walk.

these types of games is that

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

11

sports

The Relentless Racer There’s No Stopping Todd Thompson

By Zach O’Brien

Todd Thompson sits on his dirt bike in the middle of Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles in front of 25,000 fans. His face is broadcast live on ESPN in primetime. He’s on the big screen with some of motocross racing’s legends announcing his name.

Thompson had made it, his dream of ascending to the top of his sport had come true, but not like he thought. He was about to race for an X Games medal, and he was going to do it with one leg.

Growing up in a family of racers, Thompson began riding dirt bikes when he was only two-years-old. Motor sports were a large part of his family’s heritage.

His dad’s side of the family rode twowheeled motor vehicles and even founded Shasta Riding Club. His mom’s family liked racecars as his grandfather had raced Sprint Cars and his uncle had competed on both cars and bikes.

Thompson was a constant presence around the track growing up, and even though he tried team sports like soccer, baseball and football, he always gravitated back to his racing heritage.

At the age of five-years-old, his career started with his first race, and his first win.

Throughout his childhood he rode his bike a lot. Though, he started to race more in the latter part of his teen years. The more he won, the bigger his goals became.

“I was getting really good, really fast,” said Thompson. “I was going to try to qualify for the Hangtown Nationals—my first pro race. But two weeks before that I got injured.”

On May 2, 1988, Thompson was set to race at Club Moto in Livermore, California. The day began strangely; he slept in

12

Active NorCal September/October 2015

late and reluctantly went to the race arriving late and missing the first practice. In the first event of the day, Todd crashed and ended up finishing third, a disappointing result for a racer of his stature. He did not think his odd feeling and underachievement was a premonition. Instead, they fueled his fire.

“I was pretty mad, so the next race I took off and got the lead quickly,” said Thompson.

On the second lap of the night race, Thompson took off on a shadowy tabletop jump and when he landed, his foot slipped off the pedal and landed on the ground.

“When I landed, I remember this instant numbness. It felt weird,” explained Thompson. “When I went to pick my foot back up and put it on the peg, I noticed I couldn’t really move my right side. I looked down and my foot was turned around backwards.

In ten seconds, I basically relived my entire racing career.”

Todd had broken his femur, tibia and fibula. He had torn all of his ligaments, had a displaced kneecap and a spiral fracture up through his femur. The next 36 days in the hospital included 12 surgeries. After seeing five orthopedic surgeons and specialists, they had to amputate his leg from the knee down. It took

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him eight months to heal from his injuries and receive a prosthetic leg.

“A lot of people take for granted the ability to walk. You jump out of bed, you run around and don’t even think about it,” said Thompson. “I had to learn how to walk again. With a prosthetic, you have to learn how to walk properly or else you’ll have a limp, or hip and back pain. I had visualized walking for eight months. So, when I got my prosthetic, I jumped into it and walked right out.”

Not only did he walk right out that day, he also threw his helmet and gear on, and got right back on his bike. It was the first day of the rest of his life.

After getting a job fixing bikes at a friend’s shop, Thompson got the bug.

A year after his injury, he borrowed his friend’s bike and went right back to Club Moto in Livermore for a race. He won.

“I was racing all of the same guys I was racing before, just with one less leg,” stated Thompson. “I came back with a trophy on a borrowed bike, so I went out and bought a brand new bike.”

It’s rare for an athlete to sustain such a devastating injury, and resume his career

14

Active NorCal September/October 2015

I want to show to people that just because you’re hurt that doesn’t mean your talents are over or your life is over. You can still compete. You can still do the things you used to do.

with the same goals intact. He had his eye set on qualifying for the Hangtown Nationals again, but his training and progress turned into a much bigger opportunity.

It was in 2009 when Thompson got a call from someone at the Challenged Athletes Foundation. They extended an invitation to participate in a race in Michigan that would qualify him for the Adaptive Racing category in the X Games. It was

activenorcal.net

an opportunity he couldn’t miss. So, he loaded up his van and went to Michigan winning the qualifier and seizing the title of fastest amputee on Earth.

“It was a cool title to have. There were racers there with gold medals, and I showed up and beat them all,” said Thompson.

Todd was now one of eight riders in the Adaptive Racing class to qualify for the X Games, and heading into the event

in 2010, he was the favorite to win gold.

He finished second behind Mike Shultz in 2010. When Adaptive Racing class was brought back to the X Games in 2013, Thompson finished second behind Schultz again—two X Games silver medals for a man who had a traumatic injury 15 years prior. Not bad.

“I’m not upset about getting silver.

I’m happy about my accomplishments. I feel like I’ve risen a lot higher than most people gave me a chance to. I know in my heart I’m the fastest guy in the world with one leg,” proclaimed Thompson.

Today, Thompson is the Owner of Powercurve in Anderson where they do performance and repair work on bikes, quads, utility vehicles and watercraft. He admits his racing career is in the past and he now spends his days concentrating on family and business.

If the X Games brings back the Adaptive Racing class, Thompson will be automatically qualified due to his last podium place, but he’s not sure if he would do it again.

“I still have a fire inside me that wants to prove that I’m the best,” said Thompson. “But now I have a family to

take care of, and getting hurt isn’t an option.

Whether he’s racing or not, Thompson wants to use his past accomplishments to prove there’s life beyond devastating injuries like the one he sustained.

“I want to show to people that just because you’re hurt that doesn’t mean

your talents are over or your life is over.

You can still compete. You can still do the things you used to do. If you get injured, your life’s not over. Your life’s over when you’re dead. But if you’re still living and breathing you can still do all the things you want to do.”

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

15

Turtle Bay Inspiring

local

Wonder

A Trip to Turtle Bay Exploration Park

By Frances Griffey

I

t’s a Redding landmark and a place where people go to see art, animals and nature as well as learn about the rich history of the North State. It’s a park, museum, zoo, garden and so much more.

It’s Turtle Bay Exploration Park.

Turtle Bay was formed in the late 90’s as a combination of four smaller museums in the area. The integration of those resources allowed Turtle Bay to foster learning in a unique way to become the interdisciplinary facility it is today.

“Turtle Bay has become so much more than what the four old museums were separately,” said Turtle Bay Marketing

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

and Public Relations Manager Cristy Kidd.

What has really allowed the park to thrive is the volunteers. “We would not survive without them,” swears Kidd and indeed hundreds of volunteers support Turtle Bay, making a massive impact on the park.

Turtle Bay offers dozens of year-long educational programs for both young and old. From summer camps and school tours for kids to professional development workshops for adults, there’s no lack of learning here. With so many different sections of the park, from the museum to the gardens, Turtle Bay seems to have it all.

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“There are just so many things all wrapped up in this really wonderful educational facility. So it’s its own little project because there’s so much that is included and it’s meant to help educate about so much locally and about our local history—arts to sciences to everything,” Kidd said.

The Museum Walking inside the museum, the first thing that catches the eye is the giant oak tree in the center of the room. The bark is white and the floor surrounding the tree is clear, allowing visitors to see the extensive root system underneath. If you look closely, you

Located adjacent to the Sundial Bridge and Sacramento River, Turtle Bay Exploration Park sits in a perfect spot for outdoor and wildlife lovers.

Turtle Bay Fall/Winter Schedule Museum: Wednesday-Saturday – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Closed Monday and Tuesday Gardens: Open daily 7 a.m. to dusk

Nursery: Friday & Saturday – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Park closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day

Museum Store & Coffee Bar: Monday-Saturday – 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday – 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. activenorcal.net

Specials Nickel & Dime Days: $10 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors on the 5th and 10th of each month May through September

FREE admission to current active duty, guard & reserve plus up to five family members Veterans receive free admission on Veteran’s Day

Free Admission Days October 3rd, 2015 for Walk This Way at Turtle Bay

September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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The exhibits at Turtle Bay delve into the cultural and natural history of our beloved North State from Native American hunting techniques to NorCal-unique flora.

may even see a giant tarantula model below the roots.

“I think it’s kind of is one of those neat metaphors for life; there’s really more here than meets the eye, you need to look down, you need to look up, you need to look around.

Not just at what you think you see on the surface,” Curator of Collections and Exhibits Julia Pennington Cronin said.

The permanent and semi-permanent exhibits in the museum focus on local history and resources. From Native American lifestyles to mining and logging to Shasta Dam and the Sundial Bridge, the museum is a great resource for kids and adults alike to learn about the Redding area. Go inside a Wintu hut, caress soft animal furs and see real bees buzzing in their hive. Visitors can touch the materials that make up the Sundial Bridge, see mining tools up close, walk through a model of Shasta Caverns and watch fish swim in the aquarium.

“Every time we get a new exhibition, if it doesn’t come with educational programming we build it and we create it for our guests.

So it’s not just, ‘oh, let me go look at this shiny thing,’ but you actually get to do things and learn things with it,” Kidd said.

The museum’s goal is to foster a greater understanding of what our region is all about. Cronin said transmitting knowledge to the public is one of the best ways to preserve history because it ends up in your memory.

“One of our core values is to preserve our history both physically, looking at objects and making sure that the objects we have get preserved but also selecting objects that are important to our region and putting them in the collection. And also,

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interpreting history and passing it on to other people,” said Cronin.

As for the temporary exhibitions, they change about every three months and Turtle Bay can do anything from hard-hitting art to fun interactive exhibitions for kids.

“Come for the porcupine, stay for the Picasso,” Cronin jokes.

Indeed, the museum has featured big-name artists like Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Jackson Pollock, and even Ansel Adams. This fall, a much-anticipated show is being unveiled in the Exhibitions Gallery.

In September, Turtle Bay is opening a “Get Animated!” exhibition, which will show the history of animation from flip-books to modern CGI. Big names like Disney, DreamWorks, Aardman and Sony will be represented and there will be plenty of interactive activities including the opportunity for people to make their own animation. Plus, there will be photo opportunities available with some of your favorite animated characters like Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon and Po from Kung Fu Panda.

Outside the museum near the entrance, you’ll find the museum store, where you can find jewelry, books, stuffed animals, clothing, Redding souvenirs and exhibition-related merchandise.

After you buy goodies from the store, be sure to stop at the coffee bar for a tasty drink or snack.

The Monolith Driving into Turtle Bay, you can’t miss the aging cement building standing near the entrance. This is the Monolith and it was the

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Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Sundial Bridge was opened in 2004 and has become a gathering place for teens and a trailhead for the river trail system.

site where gravel was processed before being transported down a nine and a half mile set of conveyor belts to Shasta Dam. Today, it’s now a work of art thanks to interpretation done by Lewis “Buster” Simpson but it also remains a historic monument for the city of Redding.

“It’s really honoring the people who worked there and the bridge and the history of Redding,” Cronin said.

The bottom of the structure has a rustcolored tint, representing the water line from the flood of 1940. Inside the structure, swallow nests clutter the ceiling corners and old photographs of the facility in its prime hang beside doors.

Deeper into the building a hardhat sculpture towers above the floor. The Monolith may be old and disintegrating, but it’s definitely worth a look.

The Bridge It’s become the symbol of Redding. The gleaming white point of the Sundial Bridge has become a beacon, attracting locals and visitors alike.

“It’s a piece of architecture and a piece of art you can walk on.

It’s functional but it’s beautiful at the same time,” Cronin said.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Sundial Bridge was opened in 2004 and has become a gathering place for teens and a trailhead for the river trail system. And it’s not called the “Sundial” Bridge for no reason; it’s actually a working sundial.

Fun fact: the bridge is an excellent place for bat watching. In the evening, the furry winged creatures are particularly fond of the open air around the bridge because the lights attract bugs which the bats like to eat.

This bridge has put Redding on the map in many ways. The Sundial Bridge is known worldwide and it’s a privilege for the North State to be its home.

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

“This bridge has really become an icon for Redding for people all over the world,” Cronin said. “You say, ‘Redding’ and people think, ‘Sundial Bridge.’”

Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp is the ultimate playground for kids. Children spend hours getting their tiny hands wet making dams in Stimple Creek, finding their way out of the tree ring maze, sliding down the log slide in the playground, feeding lorikeets at Parrot Playhouse and seeing local wildlife in the Interpretive Forest and Wildlife Woods.

The main theme throughout Forest Camp is… You guessed it: forestry and logging. Learning about these topics is a breeze in the Mill Building, the hub of indoor activity at Forest Camp.

Loggging and forestry equipment line one wall and kids can learn the history of pencils, read, play puppets and check out caged reptiles and insects.

Besides the obvious appeal for kids with the playground, maze and interactive water feature, there’s plenty for adults to do in the Forest Camp as well. Be amazed by the giant Elliott Redwood and meet playful animals ranging from skunks to bobcats in Wildlife Woods.

“Every animal has their own personality,” said Curator of Animal Programs Sharon Clay. “Even of the same species, they all have their own personalities.”

The Butterfly House, open only in summer, is a particularly popular area of Forest Camp. Year round, however, you can feed playful chirping lorikeets in the Parrot Playhouse.

“Kids love it. You walk in and you don’t even have to be feeding them but they’ll land all over you,” Lead Educator Laurinda Willard said.

Willard said learning about local wildlife and the forestry industry is a great opportunity for kids to expand their knowledge of the North State.

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“Just the fact that forestry is still something that happens here, I think it’s important for kids to learn about it because it could be something that they go into and want to learn more about,” she said.

The McConnell Arboretum, Botanical Gardens and Nursery On the other side of the Sundial Bridge, you’ll find an arboretum.

This 200-acre area is the perfect place to let your inner photographer run free. And just a short drive away from the main park is the Botanical Gardens of Turtle Bay. These aren’t just any gardens, however. They are an exquisite collection of plants from across the globe with occasional art-like features and sculptures covering an extensive 20 acre section.

Despite being the newest parts of the park, wildlife have made themselves comfortable and claimed the Arboretum and Gardens as their home. Butterflies hop from flower to flower, birds chirp happily in the trees and deer munch on the local flora. Even a beaver, turtles, otters, muskrats, squirrels, deer, coyotes and quail can be spotted here.

“They all gather here (the local wildlife) and this area is safe for them in downtown Redding so they don’t have to worry about being run over or anything,” Horticulture Manager Lisa Endicott said.

Be sure to block out a good chunk of time when coming to the Gardens because with over a dozen sections, there’s so much to see. And with different plants blooming at different times, there’s always something new to see at the Gardens. Smell blooming flowers in the Celebration Garden, let your kids play in the Children’s Garden, see exotic plants from our area in the

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

California Gardens and in other parts of the world in the Chilean Garden, Mediterranean Basin Garden, Australian Garden, South African Garden and the Pacific Rim Garden. Plus, explore the unique Perennial Companions Display Garden, Medicinal Garden, Urban Forest, Butterfly Garden, Willow Pond and Carl and Leah’s Meadow.

“I think people come to gardens for different reasons. A lot of people who come here, come because they really like being in nature and being in nature in a safe way and that’s what gardens are—you’re in a piece of nature, but it’s safe and it’s a controlled environment. A lot of people are here to watch birds and there are people here who just want to have a peaceful place to have their walk,” said Endicott.

Open 7 a.m. until dusk, the Gardens are free to Turtle Bay members and only $4.00 for visitors. Plan an afternoon to leisurely walk around the Gardens and Arboretum at Turtle Bay and be sure to check out the Nursery Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. to pick up drought-tolerant plants for your own garden.

Not sure what plants you want in your garden? Attend a monthly interactive tour of the Gardens on the last Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. for some inspiration.

The Hotel “The future for Turtle Bay is bright and it’s busy,” said Kidd, and much of that hustle and bustle down the road revolves around the upcoming hotel.

The three-story and four-star Sheraton Redding Hotel will bring much-needed revenue to Turtle Bay. The previous visitor

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Turtle Bay is constantly changing and evolving, continually re-transforming itself into a fun and educational center that is dear to the hearts of those in the North State. center of Turtle Bay is being converted into a restaurant that will serve both hotel and park guests and the 130-room hotel itself will be complete with a pool, workout room and ballroom.

President and CEO Michael Warren said bikes will be available for hotel guests to explore the area and a lively promenade will be created from the hotel to Turtle Bay. Hotel-goers may even get discounted rates for the park.

“The hotel will benefit Turtle Bay, and Turtle Bay will benefit the hotel,” Warren said.

As the first four-star hotel in Redding, the Sheraton Redding will undoubtedly increase tourism to not only the town, but to Turtle Bay. “That’s a whole different group of people that we’re going to get to show what we have to offer and what Redding has and what we can teach and so that’s really great. Besides also giving our front entrance a little bit of a facelift,” Kidd said.

Construction will last between 13-16 months and Warren is hopeful that the building of the hotel will be completed by late 2016.

Leaving Wonder In Its Wake Turtle Bay is constantly changing and evolving, continually retransforming itself into a fun and educational center that is dear

to the hearts of those in the North State. One of its most recent developments is in the form of an app, “Tour Turtle Bay Exploration Park,” which people can download on their phones and use in learning more about the park.

This type of constant innovation is what makes Turtle Bay so spectacular. Every time you visit the park, you’ll discover something new whether it be a parcel of knowledge, an art piece in the Gallery, a furry friend in Wildlife Woods or an untapped passion you want to explore.

The ultimate mission of Turtle Bay: to inspire wonder, exploration and appreciation of our world.

“We want to inspire people to learn and act on what they learned about, to be an informed populace. I want people to enjoy themselves when they’re here, which is key to learning and retaining that information, but I want people to walk away from here with some new chunk of something that makes them look at the world maybe a little differently,” Julia Cronin said.

Turtle Bay continues to be a place where people can explore history, culture, art, science and even themselves and Northern California is lucky to have such a one-of-a-kind resource right in its backyard.

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

23

cover story

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

activenorcal.net

Under the Stars For children, the dark of night evokes images of horrifying creatures lurking outside and under the bed. In adulthood, many view nighttime as a period to stay indoors and sleep. Parents of teenagers repeat over and over the old adage, “nothing good happens after midnight.” In popular culture, night represents uncertainty, terror and the worst aspects of human nature. Just watch any horror film (A Nightmare On Elm Street comes to mind).

Can a period that makes up half the day really be that bad though? If people leave their preconceived notions at the door, they may discover that there’s nothing all that threatening about the darkness. If you look a little deeper, you may find that the world at night is a place of unique and profound beauty.

Those with a nocturnal nature have long professed the calm, new perspectives and dazzling sights with which night has rewarded them.

To get the most out of life, you must foray into the darkness once in a while. As much as some would like to think so, the world doesn’t stop when dusk arrives, and neither do the active among us. People who enjoy the stunning NorCal landscape exclusively during the day are missing out on (at least) half of the fun.

From stargazing, to hiking and kayaking, so many different activities compliment a dim yet sparkling backdrop.

People who recognize night’s potential as an active playground have learned it’s nothing to be afraid of.

Astronomers look at the uncertainty of the starry sky with child-like curiosity. For them, the ambiguity of the heavens only serves to enhance its sense of wonder. Space and darkness are not seen as infinite voids, but instead, endless streams of possibility. Picking out Saturn, a far-off nebula or a constellation with a telescope prompts you to consider your place in

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the cosmic script. Not to mention, millions of silver, glittering stars on a pitch-black canvas makes for a “painting” of unbridled splendor.

Who wouldn’t enjoy gazing at the reflection of the moon on a peaceful lake? When hundreds of beachgoers, fishermen and boaters retreat after a long day in the sun and the pearly moon slowly climbs the sky, our local lakes and streams become places of wonder – tranquil getaways for nocturnal paddlers.

Those who decide to hike or walk at night get double the fun. They find traversing a familiar trail in the darkness allows them to understand it in a novel way. Hiking at night forces you to rely on your instincts, and use more of your senses. Many claim that night hiking makes them feel more connected to their environment. Indeed, standing atop a dark Lassen Peak peering down at glimmers of artificial light proves an emotional experience.

Some of our best, most ethereal moments have taken place under the stars. By the same token, some of our greatest times have been had getting active, and enjoying the outdoors. It’s obvious then, why we like combining the two. Though nighttime is not always viewed in a positive light, it presents exciting new frontiers and opportunities some of which you’ll read about. So, with that, we challenge YOU to get active under the stars this fall.

September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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cover story

Hiking Lassen During the Full Moon

By Frances Griffey

I

n Northern California, we’re surrounded by nature. Trees, mountains and wildlife flourish under the NorCal sun. But come nighttime, there’s a whole other world waiting to be explored. Under the light of the moon, the world becomes quieter and you notice and appreciate the little things like the cool breeze against your skin, leaves rustling in trees and birds flying overhead.

Undeniably one of the best places to appreciate nature by night is Lassen Volcanic National Park. But don’t just drive up there and watch the stars, hike beneath them. With the park open 24/7, full moon hikes at Lassen are becoming more and more popular, and for good reason. It’s hard to beat watching the full moon rise while standing on top of Lassen Peak. There’s something powerful in standing atop a 10,000-foot high mountain under the light of the full moon.

“Hiking during the full moon is one of the best ways just to have a beautiful experience in Lassen,” said Lassen Park Guide Greg Purifoy.

Preparation It’s important to be amply prepared for any hike, but especially one at night. You don’t want to get halfway up the mountain and realize you forgot a water bottle or reach the chilly peak and search your backpack in vain for a jacket that you didn’t pack.

On top of necessities like a water bottle (or two or three), you’ll need a protein-packed snack like trail mix or beef jerky, a warm but light jacket and a camera for documenting your progress and snapping pictures of the jaw-dropping scenery. You’ll also want some sort of light source like a flashlight (with spare batteries, of course). Purifoy recommends a headlamp to get you through the dark spots on the way down.

Long before stuffing your backpack with essentials, you’ll

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

need to decide which trail to do. Pick one with few tall trees so you will have an excellent, unobstructed view of the night sky. I chose (and personally recommend) the Lassen Peak Trail, which is five miles round trip and, as it sounds, is the trail that takes you up to the highest point in Lassen Park – 10,457-feet-high to be precise. Other viable trails include Cinder Cone (four miles) and Bumpass Hell (three miles).

The Ascent The start of Lassen Peak Trail is about a 40-minute drive into Lassen Park from the North Entrance and driving the windy road up to the trail is its own small feat. The sky was unusually cloudy for a summer day when I entered the park, raindrops splattered on my windshield and I almost thought I’d have to take a literal rain check on my hike. Luckily, the showers subsided by the time we got to the trailhead.

“It’s a great way to experience Lassen Peak,” Purifoy said of the full moon hike. “You can head up there around sunset and then watch sunset from the top of the peak. Usually it takes people between three and five hours to hike the peak so you want to give yourself enough time and plan it out that way. And then watch the moon rise.”

The sun was low in the sky when I embarked on my journey to the top. By the first switchback my heartbeat picked up its pace and my breathing was heavy. Throughout the hike up, small periwinkle-colored flowers hugged the ground and the grayish-brown gravely dirt crunched under my shoes. At one point, I stepped over a message left in rocks on the path by a past adventurer, reading, “Hi.” I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, gulp some water or take pictures of the truly breathtaking and vast landscape stretching beneath me. In the dwindling sunlight, I could see

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Full Moon Calendar With so many dark sky sites and clear nights in NorCal, almost every evening provides a wonderful setting to get active under the stars. If you want a reason to schedule a nighttime foray though, full moon nights are some of the best to go hike, swim, kayak, camp and/ or pull out those telescopes.

Here’s the full moon schedule through October 2016:

nothing but roads, lakes and hills for miles. I almost felt like I was in a scene of Lord of the Rings. The picturesque and peaceful green Middle-earth was below and I was hiking Mount Doom (though I imagine Mount Doom to be a hotter, more treacherous hike).

It’s almost hard to believe that a serene sanctuary so full of nature exists just a short drive away from the bustling towns in the North State. The sprawling hills and valleys really do leave you speechless and give you a renewed respect for Mother Nature and desire to explore it more often.

The Peak Two-and-a-half-miles later and I’m standing on the peak, 2,000-feet taller than I was at the start. My body is grateful to finally rest a few minutes as I bask in the moonlight of my hiking achievement.

This is what I came for.

It was windy—and I mean really windy.

The nice gentle breeze that accompanied me throughout the hike intensified tenfold at the top of the mountain. The sun had already set but orange-pink hues still tainted the clouds on the West side of the mountain. To the East, the moon began its slow climb in the sky. Rising behind a cluster of clouds, the moon shone big and bright and I could see the shadowy craters scattered across its silvery surface.

There were only five others on the peak with me, who like me, were all taking photos and admiring the full moon.

Redding local Jim Gibson took his grandson up the trail for the first time. At the peak, Gibson said, “It’s gorgeous. You can see everything around you.”

Indeed, even under the blanket of night, the shadowy outlines of smaller mountains could be seen below and a sprinkle of lights here and there marked the existence of towns. Occasionally, the tiny headlights of cars moved on the streets below.

“It’s the highest point in the park so you’re getting fantastic views from the top, the best views in the area,” Purifoy said.

The Descent After the cold became nearly unbearable at the peak, it was time for the descent.

As one would expect, going down a mountain is somewhat easier than going up it, although my legs ached slightly from the exertion of the upwards hike.

I used a flashlight for a few minutes before realizing the light of the moon was actually bright enough to light the trail.

Turning off my flashlight and hiking down in the natural light of the moon and stars, I felt more connected to my surroundings.

“The stars are particularly striking in the park and that includes the moon. So the night sky here is really beautiful and hiking Lassen during that time is a great way to experience the night sky,” Purifoy said.

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September 27th, 2015 (Lunar Eclipse) | 7:52 p.m.

October 27th, 2015 | 5:05 a.m.

November 25th, 2015 | 3:44 p.m.

December 25th, 2015 | 4:11 a.m.

January 23th, 2016 | 4:46 p.m.

February 22nd, 2016 | 1:20 p.m.

March 23rd, 2016 | 5:01 a.m.

April 21st, 2016 | 10:24 p.m.

May 21st, 2016 | 2:15 p.m.

June 20th, 2016 | 4:02 a.m.

July 19th, 2016 | 3:57 p.m.

August 18th, 2016 | 2:27 a.m.

September 16th, 2016 | 12:05 p.m.

October 15th, 2016 | 9:23 p.m.

Moonlight Reflections Hiking Lassen Peak during a full moon is something special. It’s something unique that residents and visitors of NorCal have the privilege of getting to do.

“It’s a nice outing if you live in Redding or Shasta County,” Gibson said.

“It’s a close hike to do [and] it’s not too strenuous.”

With less people on the trails in the evening, it’s a more intimate experience with nature.

If you haven’t done it, try it out the next full moon. It will bring this great mountain into a new light.

NORCAL

September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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cover story

What Lies Beyond?

Exploring The Cosmos with Shasta Astronomy Club

By Ross Lawrence

Y

ou won’t find Captain James T. Kirk or First Officer Spock on the list of famous astronomers. Still, their adventures through the cosmos on the Starship Enterprise, though fictional, have had a far-reaching effect on stargazers both amateur and professional. Groundbreaking 60s television series Star Trek and its title characters Kirk and Spock influenced kids to think of the universe differently. On a weekly basis, the show’s fans encountered strange alien races, temporal shifts and uncharted astrological objects.

For viewers (trekkies), space no longer represented an endless void, but rather, a dazzling wonderland filled with all manner of life and out-of-this-world phenomena. Star Trek played an important role in the life of local astronomer Greg Williams. The program fueled an obsession with the night sky, which ultimately propelled him into his current role as President of Shasta Astronomy Club. Through the organization, Williams hopes to inspire the same fervor for astronomy that Star Trek provided him.

“I know that it’s cliché, but the spark for me was really the original Star Trek series, and almost every astronomer I’ve met has been inspired by it,” stated Williams. “I’ve been doing astronomy for 42 years. I grew up at the foot of Mt. Hamilton in

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the Bay Area, and my playground was the Lick Observatory. So, I was really lucky in terms of my introduction to the field.”

Williams and the rest of Shasta Astronomy Club put a strong focus on exposing young people to astronomy. Along with lecturing at local schools, members of the club set up their telescopes at different sites around town, and invite the public to take a look. Those that show up or happen to walk by have the option to look through a 50-pound, 13-inch telescope nicknamed the “Red Cannon” or a smaller, six-inch computerized one. Astronomy Club members want to instill the same passion for the discipline that they acquired as youngsters.

“Most people have never ever had the opportunity to look through an amateur telescope,” stated Vice President of Shasta Astronomy Club Al Souder. “A lot of people buy the box store telescopes, get frustrated and throw them in the closet never to be seen again. We try to connect not only the physical sky that people see, but connect that to what they can see through a telescope.”

Along with setting up their telescopes in high traffic areas like Turtle Bay, you can explore the cosmos with Shasta Astronomy Club every Friday night during the summer at Oak Bottom in

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Dominic Alves

August’s Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the most stunning shows the cosmos puts on each year. The comet Swift-Tuttle, which has ejected particles that form a cloud, creates the shower.

Whiskeytown NRA. Amateur astronomers consider Oak Bottom a dark sky site meaning it’s generally bereft of white lights, and therefore, a good place for stargazing.

Williams and Souder have teamed up with the Rangers of Whiskeytown. Rangers give a brief presentation on how ancient cultures interacted with the night sky, and then set people off to look through the high-powered scopes.

Though many of the cosmic phenomena that first-timers view through the telescope are difficult to see with the naked eye, Astronomy Club members try to point out celestial bodies that hide in plain site. Oftentimes, they simply pull out lazer pointers, and ask people to identify common constellations or stars like the Big Dipper. With so many amazing dark sky sites in NorCal, you’ll have no trouble finding star formations with the naked-eye that are impossible to pick out in more populated areas.

“We have some great dark skies around here,” noted Souder.

“Sometimes, I’ll observe with my telescope for a few hours and lose gas, but I’ll just sit back, and enjoy the night sky. It’s aweinspiring. The Milky Way is like a painting – just thousands and thousands of stars. It really puts things into perspective.”

Looking through a telescope, and seeing all manner of stars, galaxies and clusters forces you to contemplate your place in the universe. Just as Star Trek prompted viewers to consider what marvels deep space might hold, observing the enormity of the Universe through a telescope triggers you to imagine the possibilities. Shasta Astronomy Club seeks to influence people to think about humanity’s place in the broader universal story.

“One of my passions is astronomy; the other is history,” said Williams. “I love telling stories about the sky, and I tell people that we’re doing something that has been done for the last 100 thousand years by humans. I tell kids to look up in the sky, and make their own stories from the stars. We’re a species of storytellers. Every generation has a right, a responsibility, the pleasure of adding their story to this big, long one we’re telling – science is one of those chapters.”

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Stargazing whether with a telescope, binoculars or the nakedeye recalls stories and peoples of the past. If you’re using a glass telescope, you’re essentially utilizing the same technology invented by 16th century scientist and the father of optics Sir Isaac Newton.

If you happen to discover the visually stunning Ring Nebula, you’ve found something first listed 250 years ago by French Astronomer Charles Messier. A telescope is really a time machine, and that’s the message Shasta Astronomy Club hopes to convey.

“Light years are a measure of distance, but also time,” asserted Williams. “One of the cool things you can see looking up is another galaxy – the Andromeda Galaxy. It looks like this faint luminous cloud. That light has been traveling for two-and-a-halfmillion years. People are blown away by that.”

Young people sometimes get overwhelmed with numbers and names when they first encounter science or astronomy in particular. Astronomy club participants seek to retain a sense of fun and wonder when it comes to educating kids about the cosmos.

They do this by taking a hands-on approach, and allowing firsttime stargazers to dictate the day or night’s curriculum.

“We emphasize fun,” expressed Souder. “We want people to come out, and have a good time. We want them to see something, to learn something. The bottom line is it needs to be enjoyable. If it’s not enjoyable, they won’t come back and they won’t remember. We give attendees the freedom to operate the telescopes, ask questions if they want and we help them find some really breathtaking things.”

With all the technical and complex aspects of learning about astronomy, it can seem droll to some. That’s why it’s so important for Shasta Astronomy Club to inspire a sense of wonder about the night sky in those they interact with. Passions and lifelong hobbies must grow organically from fun experiences. Williams and Souder like Kirk and Spock before them, hope to draw new recruits to astronomy through storytelling and thoughtprovoking questions. Ultimately, they want people wondering, “what lies beyond?”

NORCAL

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cover story

The Darker Side of Whiskeytown: Moonlight Kayaking

By Frances Griffey

T

here’s something about the dark that prompts deep conversations and intense contemplation. For children, the dark is where monsters lurk in hiding, but as we get older, we learn to respect and even look forward to the night. It’s the perfect time for going out with friends or being alone with your thoughts. In the black of night, often under a blanket of twinkling stars, you can’t help but feel more connected to your surroundings, whether it be family, friends, nature or yourself.

On a cloudy Wednesday evening in June, I drove up to Whiskeytown Lake to participate in my first moonlight kayak tour.

The sun was just starting to sink behind the mountains and 20 or so people stood with paddles in hand next to bright orange, blue and green kayaks lined up on the shore of Brandy Creek Beach.

These night kayak tours provided by Whiskeytown are offered during the five days before a full moon exclusively in summertime.

It’s the perfect way to see the lake in a different light (literally).

“This park belongs to everybody and it’s a good way that we can get people out to enjoy this park, teach them something at the same time and give them a little of the significance of why this park is here,” explained Park Ranger Matt Switzer.

The program was born after jet skis were banned in Whiskeytown over 10 years ago. After losing a portion of visitors to this ban, opening kayak tour programs were the perfect solution to keep people recreating at the lake.

“We were kind of looking for a way to lure some of that crowd back. Of course, a lot of people were unhappy when jet skis were

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banned, but this program came out of it so I think we kind of won out of that,” Switzer said.

NorCal residents and tourists alike come to Whiskeytown Lake during summer nights for these one-of-a-kind tours. But surprisingly, many locals don’t know about this program.

“I didn’t know that we had this in Shasta County, this is way cool,” Redding local, Stephanie Wassmouth, said.

Wassmouth recently heard about the night kayak tours and decided she just had to come out and experience it for herself.

She had such a great time that she said she planned to go at least once again over summer.

“I would totally recommend it because it’s very peaceful. It’s nice, cool and calm. You get to learn a lot of the history of Shasta County and see the beautiful sites. It’s awesome,” Wassmouth said.

One reason why Wassmouth likes kayaking at night so much is the lack of boats. She said the wakes made by speedboats can be scary, so not having to worry about that was a plus.

And there’s really nothing to be afraid of during these kayak tours. Even though it’s pitch black by the end of the tour, you feel completely safe in the group, with a ranger leading the way and volunteers trailing the crowd making sure nobody falls behind.

“I think for a lot of people this is something that they would never go out and do on their own,” Switzer said. “It’s a safe way for people to come out here and experience the lake without having to worry about having their own kayaks or knowing what

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they’re doing or getting lost. They get to come out and hear a little something about the area while at the same time just being able to enjoy this. Not many people come out here at night. It’s definitely a nice safe way to see the other side of Whiskeytown, the night side.”

I had kayaked only once or twice before, but picked it up fairly quickly. After setting out into the sunset, we paddled around the lake for a few minutes before stopping and listening to Switzer tell a story. It felt like a campfire tale, minus the fire and plus a large body of water.

The story was one of an infamous stagecoach robber: Black Bart (A.K.A. Charlie Bowles, sometimes spelled Boles). He was a “gentleman” bandit, who robbed 27 stagecoaches without firing a single shot. But (spoiler alert!) his 28th robbery went awry and he ended up getting caught and imprisoned.

“He’s like our own semi-local Robin Hood and he’s not in the history books, so I think he deserves his due just for being a unique piece of history. This whole area has some fantastic Gold Rush history and a lot of unique stories, and the Black Bart one isn’t one that’s told very often,” Switzer said.

Learning about this folktale throughout the tour was fun, but the best part was undoubtedly watching the sky change colors and the moon gradually rise over the mountains.

“That moon coming up—you can’t find anything better than that. That was awesome,” Wassmouth said.

Over halfway into the tour, we were taken to an inlet and given 20 minutes to explore—either paddle around or swim in the cool water. As I paddled, I swear I felt something brush against the bottom of my kayak and my mind immediately jumped to ‘Lochness Monster’ (okay, it was probably just a curious fish).

The West sky was a pale blue, the clouds tinged with a dull pink hue. The sky in the East was a dark blue with the moon peaking over a nearby mountain. The lake was unusually quiet and calm. It was dark, but in a serene way rather than an ominous one. The only sounds were words exchanged by other kayakers in the group, warm wind rushing through the trees, the occasional chirping of birds and the soft noise of our paddles grazing the dark water.

“I think it’s a little bit more of a closer experience with nature than we get in the daytime tours,” Switzer said, perfectly putting into words how intimate these moonlight tours really are.

Led by the light of the almost-full moon, we headed back to Brandy Creek as our two-hour tour came to an end. The water, a clear greenish color at the start of the evening was now a slick glassy black that reflected the moonlight. A few stars shined between gaps in the clouds in the overcast night sky as we hauled our kayaks back onto the beach.

“Everybody sees the lake by daytime; very few people come out and see it at night. So the people that come out, you’re kind of like the elite few that get to see it in this environment. Everybody comes out to the lake to get away from the heat in the daytime, but a lot of people don’t think about what the lake has to offer at night,” Switzer said.

We take the lake for granted during the day, often forgetting it has something special to offer at night. The area transforms from a buzzing hub of playing children and sunbathing teens to a tranquil dark paradise. Indeed, the other side of Whiskeytown, the darker side, is one that shouldn’t be missed.

NORCAL

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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hiking

The Desolation Wilderness

I

by Chip O’Brien

I once knew a guy who answered to the name “Tiny.”

The fact that his boots were size 16 is a great reminder that descriptive names should not necessarily be taken literally. So it goes for NorCal’s Desolation Wilderness just west of Lake Tahoe.

According the the Merriam-Webster dictionary, desolation is, “extreme sadness caused by loss or loneliness.” Loss or loneliness? The only thing you might lose in this extreme, otherworldly landscape may be a few unwanted pounds. Loneliness is out of the question as well since the Desolation consistently ranks among the most visited wilderness areas in the United States. After visiting this stunning wilderness for a week with my two sons this last July, the only desolation I experienced came when I realized I had to return to the real world.

The Desolation is a 64,000-acre playground crisscrossed by hiking trails, running water and a generous number of alpine lakes of all sizes bursting with wild brook trout. Some of the lakes also contain rainbows or brown trout, and even a few golden trout, our California state fish. All the fish in the Desolation are wild since the stocking of hatchery fish was halted a few years ago to benefit the endangered yellow-legged frog. Most of the lakes contain too many brook trout, so you’re actually doing the habitat a favor if a few of these end up in your frying pan. Your chances of catching fish on most days are slight until the last half-hour of daylight. Then it seems like every fish in the lake comes to the surface to feed.

Access is easy even if the hiking isn’t necessarily. There are trail heads on all four sides of the Desolation so picking the best access might take some research depending on where you’d like to go.

Once you’ve hiked up onto the plateau (which runs between 6,500 and almost 10,000 feet elevation),

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the landscape is vast as trails weave between dense ancient forests and huge expanses of granite sheets.

Numerous trails cross smooth, granite expanses, but if you’re worried about losing the trail, fear not. People have been kind enough to build trail borders out of loose rocks to mark the trail. The famous Pacific Crest Trail winds for a good 17-miles through the Desolation connecting to various other shorter paths.

Our plan was for a 100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, but in retrospect, that might have killed me. At the last minute we decided on less hiking and more fishing, so the Desolation was the perfect choice. Unlike a few other wilderness areas I’ve visited, the Desolation is well established with wonderful trails and signs pointing the way you want to go.

There is also a fairyland quality about the Desolation hard to capture in words. Despite the fact that you see other hikers and campers with some regularity, there is no litter, no graffiti, no unwanted noise, no cell phone service or wifi, yet life miraculously goes on and you manage to stay just as “connected.”

Instead of the Internet information pipeline, news travels fast through the wilderness via other campers and a quaint, old-fashioned activity called “talking.”

“Some kid caught a mess of brook trout last night on Aloha Lake,” offered a passing hiker who noticed the fly rods strapped to our packs. “There was a black bear sighting on the far side of Lower Velma Lake, so be careful,” smiled another. Every group we met seemed happy to stop for a moment and chat as everyone caught a breather from the almost constant hiking. It struck me how trail chatter between campers and hikers seemed a lot like Facebook, but without the crazy cat videos or any mention of politics.

Everyone knew what was going on in the Desolation without the benefit of wifi or cellphone reception.

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Once you get to a Desolation Wilderness trail, you’ll have no trouble finding your way as trails are well traveled and clearly marked. Even if you get lost, you can usually find others to help you navigate the popular wilderness area.

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hiking Of course, folks in the wilderness are hardly luddites. They are just as dependent on equipment as they are in the real world, but equipment of a much less technological nature.

Having the right gear in the wilderness can make the difference between a great, comfortable trip versus misery.

The most important thing needed in the wilderness is a good pair of waterproof hiking boots. Navigating mountain trails with a heavy backpack strapped to your torso puts grueling pressure on your feet, so you want to keep them happy. Our trip was in July, a month where the thought of rain seemed remote if not almost comical. Yet rain can happen at almost any time at high elevation with little warning. It did for us.

We began our hike on an average sunny, blue-sky day, yet rain found a way to pound on us numerous times over the next three days. It also hailed on us no fewer than five times. Lightweight rain gear is a must; but back to those waterproof hiking boots I mentioned earlier. When there is a good soaking of rain the trails quickly turn into a series of miniature muddy rivers.

Even if every other part of your body gets soaked (clothes dry quickly once the rain stops), you want to keep your feet dry to keep misery at bay. This brings me to the next piece of essential equipment, a good, lightweight tent.

The weather in the Desolation during summer can be delightful to the point that you might choose to sleep out under the stars a night or two. But when you need a tent as shelter from mosquitoes, torrential rains, thunder, lightning and all hell breaking loose, there is no substitute for a dry, cozy shelter. One day we were moving our camp to a different lake as the clouds were darkening steadily. Off in the distance we heard peals of rolling thunder that seemed to be heading our way. We arrived at our new camp in the nick of time and made a mad dash to get our tents up just as the storm hit. For the next several hours we were each mesmerized (in separate tents) by crashing lightning and booming thunder that seemed so close it was frightening.

Tents should be not too heavy, fairly quick to set up and offer a waterproof floor. Setting your tent up at least once in the backyard before venturing out assures that you remember how to do it and have all the necessary parts.

Picking a place to pitch your tent is almost an art. The Desolation offers tons of nearly flat sheets of granite upon which to place a tent, but who wants to sleep on a rock? The danger of pitching your tent in other areas is they tend to be lower, meaning places where water might gather in case of rain. I pitched my tent in a spot I was sure would not fill with water if it rained, and turned out to be wrong. Fortunately the waterproof bottom of my tent came up a few inches on either side, just enough to keep things dry inside. Removing it from the puddle to higher ground was a fairly easy undertaking.

Speaking of water, you’re going to need a lot to drink and for cooking. While I did notice some people drinking directly from streams, you do not want to risk picking up giardia, a condition

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caused by drinking tainted water where you will want to spend several days as near a bathroom as possible not having any fun at all. Water filters come in many forms these days from pumps to straws, but the best and newest are a lot like those Camelbak hydration systems. The newer filters look like thick plastic bags allowing you to scoop as much as a gallon or more from lakes or streams. The full bag is then elevated from a branch while the water quickly flows from the filter into other receptacles for drinking or cooking. In a few minutes you can have all the filtered water you need with very little effort.

Where would backpackers be without freeze-dried food? Picture genuine gourmet recipes (cajun chicken, pesto salmon pasta, beef stroganoff with wild mushrooms, etc.) packaged in tough cellophane bags, just add water. Look for brands like Backpacker’s Pantry and Mountain House. You can order enough food for almost any trip via the Internet.

We found these recipes to be delicious, and even the ritual of getting together to boil water for our individual meals became a time we looked forward to.

Speaking of boiling water, there are a number of stoves on the market that make this a quick and easy process. Since campfires are prohibited in the Desolation Wilderness, you must bring some sort of stove and enough fuel to get the job done. Simple pleasures are the best while in the wilderness, and a hot cup of coffee or tea at the right time seemed almost decadent. I ended up bringing over twice the fuel I needed thanks to the efficiency of modern stoves.

Prior to this trip I retired the ultralight backpacking stove I’d used for the last thirty years. It did the job, but it took too long and I supposed they must have come up with something more efficient in recent years. I was right. -Meet the Jetboil Java Kit. (Whoa…) Here’s a stove so efficient it boiled water in just a few minutes. It also comes with a coffee press filter allowing you to toss ground coffee into the hot water, wait a minute or two, press and enjoy. We met a number of other campers who had them and swore by them.

File this next one under how dumb do I feel today? The Desolation Wilderness is considered bear country, so all food must be either hung high from a tree or locked in a “bear canister” and positioned well away from camp. A bear canister is hardly more than a very large, plastic peanut butter-like jar with a locking lid. There are large and small sizes, but since we were going for a week I opted for the larger one. I nearly flipped when I discovered they wanted $80 for this reject from a giant’s recycling bin, but bit the bullet and bought it anyway. -Grrrr...

The Desolation Wilderness can be a busy place, so a permit system was established in an effort to spread people out and preserve the quality of the experience for everyone. The Desolation has been broken into 45 different “zones” with a quota system limiting the number of people in each one. Each group in the Desolation must carry a permit or be subject to a stiff fine. Luckily these are fairly easy to obtain online in advance of your trip

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at Recreation.gov. At least once you are in the Desolation there is no rule about going wherever you want or even changing zones, as long as you have that permit.

I’ve left physical conditioning for a trip to the Desolation for last since there are a number of variables involved. Needless to say, the rigor of hiking up and downhill at high elevation with as much as 50-pounds strapped to your back tends to filter the types of people you are likely to encounter in the Desolation. It is not the sort of place for people with serious health concerns or who are carrying a lot of extra weight. Most of the people you meet are younger and in reasonably good shape.

Both of my sons hover close to 30-years old and are in decent physical shape, so they did well. I am twice that age and, I had thought, still in pretty fair shape for my age. By way of training I went on almost daily eight to ten-mile up and downhill hikes with my fully-loaded backpack for several weeks prior to our trip. Turns out, it wasn’t enough. I hadn’t suspected how much I would be affected by the elevation. Before I go next time I will drop the 20 extra pounds I’ve been meaning to and spend more time hiking at higher elevation. As it turned out I was fine, only a lot slower than my two strapping sons. I had to rest much more often than they did, especially on those uphill grunts. They gently teased me by giving me the trail name “Father Time.”

So why go the the Desolation Wilderness, or any other end-ofthe-world destination in the first place? The answer is elusive and may go beyond the limits of simple answers like wanting to have a good time. We did have a splendid time and promised to make it an annual affair, but the kind of connection you experience in the wilderness has nothing to do with wifi.

There is a certain natural humility you feel when surrounded by such vastness, such beauty and majesty, and this is good. In time you might lose hold of that other world, the world you live in most of the time, and come to realize the world you live in day-to-day is not necessarily the world. There is so much more.

Vast natural beauty connects with something inside of us ancient and primordial, something infinitely larger than even the most daunting so-called challenge or problem you may face in everyday life. Suddenly the things we think are so important, spend so much time worrying about, seem small and cheap by comparison. It is under the influence of such feelings that people begin to see more clearly, sense the things that are really important in life and the direction they need to go.

It isn’t necessary that you experience these feelings with a single other person, but you are lucky indeed if you can. It is amazing how much can pass between people in such a place where it doesn’t matter how few words are actually spoken.

The connection goes deeper than words if you let it. All of that beauty, all of that greatness, all the exhilaration you feel upon vanquishing the next uphill climb stays with you long after you leave the wilderness and becomes a part of you.

There is nothing at all desolate about the Desolation Wilderness, and we will be back. If it were up to me to come up with a name that better describes this place and the warm feelings it inspired in my sons and I, I might be tempted to call it the Jubilation Wilderness.

NORCAL

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

35

outdoors

Courtesy Cache Mania

Hidden In Plain Sight The Secret Game of Geocaching

By Ross Lawrence

Everyone has experienced it—you’re going about your normal routine, driving or walking down the same street for the thousandth time, and you notice a building, a crack in the sidewalk, a plant that you’ve never spotted before. You question how something so clear, so obvious could hide in plain sight. Such an occurrence makes you realize how little humans scrutinize their surroundings on a day-to-day basis. We tend to focus only on objects, people and places that directly affect us while ignoring everything else.

Geocaching challenges participants to defy their natural

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instinct to overlook things they encounter on a regular basis.

The pursuit encourages partakers to discover new frontiers, and to “wake up and smell the flowers.” Geocaching constantly goes on all around you, but you’ve probably never noticed. It’s a game veiled in plain sight, it’s hide-and-seek on a grand scale and it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

What is Geocaching?

According to Geocaching.com, geocaching is “a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices.

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Johan Larsson

Courtesy Kate Hoffman

Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location.” Or as avid, local geocacher Ken Hoffman (aka Sac River Pirate) puts it, “when you’re geocaching, you’re using billion dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods.”

Using GPS-enabled software available on geocaching.com, geocachers find or hide “caches,” which can be made of anything, be any size and usually contain at least a logbook (and writing utensil) so people who unearth it can document their discovery. With regards to rules, caches must reside at least a tenth of a mile from one another (582 feet), cannot include contraband and cannot be placed in a state/national park or unauthorized location.

On a smaller scale, cache-hiders might use film canisters as caches. On the other hand, a semi-truck accounts for the largest geocache on Earth. Geocachers have constructed their hides from

Nestle hot chocolate containers, crates, treasure chests, flashlights and any number of other random items. In terms of the contents of things geocachers conceal, containers are often filled with small, low-cost trinkets like toys, coins or keychain pieces.

Those who find caches may take items from them as long as they’re replaced with something of equal or greater value.

Utilizing your creative side to fashion or hide new caches is part of the fun. Hoffman and his wife Kate (aka Pirate & Poodle) have a whole room in their home dedicated to making unique caches. A geocaching professional, Ken experiments with novel ways to conceal caches. So far, he’s built underwater caches, tree caches and a cache seamlessly camouflaged on an electric pole.

With a global following, geocaching has found its way to some pretty crazy locales including Mt. Everest and the International Space Station (see: Craziest Geocaches sidebar). The magic of geocaching is that it can be done anywhere. Randomly scroll

Craziest Geocache Locations lot of sand, heat and one of

this cache to any young, as-

of oxygen. Summiting the

the most covert geocaches

piring astronauts in the family.

tallest peak on Earth requires

on Earth. Surprisingly, 35 different people have found the

The Leap, Arizona – As much as

years of intense preparation and world-class skill. So, when

cache, which really highlights

it comes to finding the Everest

the dedication of world’s best

geocache, the question be-

geocachers.

comes: what will you sacrifice

International Space Station

Along with hiking over precipi-

for geocaching?

(ISS), Space – If you thought

tous hills, avoiding huge drop-

Registan Desert, Afghanistan-

the cache on Mt. Everest at

offs and conquering a gener-

people who climb Everest

Ever wanted to traverse a

approximately 29,000-feet

ally perilous landscape, you

would describe the experience

desert in the middle of Af-

was the toughest to log you’d

must jump over a five-foot gap

as rewarding instead of fun.

ghanistan? If you’re anything

be wrong. For some reason,

with a 100+ foot drop in order

Those that make it to the sum-

like us, then probably not.

getting to the ISS geocache

to get to this cache. Do not try

mit must brave numbing winds

You won’t discover much in

doesn’t exactly fit into our life

this at home, or in Arizona for

and temperatures, steep drops,

the Registan Desert except a

plan. You might have to leave

that matter.

istock

technical climbs and low levels

Earth’s Roof, Mt. Everest – Most

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

activenorcal.net

we endorse active pursuits, and in particular geocaching, we do not recommend attempting to uncover “The Leap” cache.

Courtesy Kate Hoffman

Geocaching Types The definition of a geocache

To prove that you’ve found an

has expanded over the years as

Earth Cache, you often have

participants look to add some

to answer questions provided

spice to their favorite activity.

by the owner that can only be

Traditional Geocache: These are the most basic type of geocaches. They can be any virtually any size, and made from anything, but must contain at least a logbook where cachers that find it can

answered by people who have visited the location. When you’ve uncovered an Earth Cache, the owner often supplies additional historical or geological information about what you’ve found.

write their names. Larger ones

Multi-Caches:

may include small trickets

With multi-caches, partici-

like coins, toys or keychain

pants have to travel to two

items that cachers can take

or more destinations in order

as long as they replace them

to complete the find. Usually,

with items of equal or greater

you are supplied the coordi-

value.

nates for the first location.

Earth Caches: Earth caches are not actually physical objects or caches,

There, you are given a clue that helps indicate the site of the next or final cache.

but instead the GPS coordi-

Mystery Cache

nates for interesting natural

This variety of cache requires

features. The first person to

people to solve complex

log a particular location be-

puzzles or riddles in order to

comes the owner of that Earth

unearth the cache. Mystery

Cache. This type of cache

or Puzzle caches encourage

proves especially useful in

hiders to innovate unique

places where it’s impractical

ways to conceal or construct

or illegal to leave a geocache

caches.

like a national park.

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

39

across the maps provided by geocaching software, and you’ll see caches everywhere you land. Just in Redding or Chico, there are hides around every corner that you’ve likely never noticed. In its most basic form, geocaching is global game of hide-and-seek. For those that fall in love with it though, it becomes much more.

More than Hide & Seek Stashing and uncovering caches in-and-of-itself is not what makes geocaching such an awesome hobby. Instead, the activity has grown a diverse, global community of followers because of its dynamism. Too many variations of geocaching exist to mention in one article (see: Geocaching Types sidebar), and partakers can also combine it with any number of active pursuits.

“When I first started geocaching, my husband took me to some really good ones to get me hooked on it,” stated local geocacher, Florence Chase-Crow (aka flo-flower). “Later, we ended up buying a Jeep just so we could go find caches in more remote areas. Geocaching has kept me very active, but it’s just another thing to do. If you like hiking, then it’s already right there in front of you.”

If you enjoy spending time in nature, geocaching supplements your outdoor experience by giving you another reason to get out. A leisurely fall walk through a lush NorCal forest becomes all the more absorbing when there’s the possibility of discovering hidden treasure.

“There are plenty of caches in town, but it’s getting out in the mountains or other interesting places that really makes it worthwhile for me,” expressed Chase-Crow. “My husband and

I like hiking. Geocaching got us to hike Black Butte and Grey Butte near Mt. Shasta. We definitely wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for geocaching.”

As for the Hoffmans (aka Pirate & Poodle, their geocaching moniker), they’ve combined boating, fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, swimming, camping and even cleaning with geocaching. On one of their more surreal geocaching hikes, they spotted a lone, rusted-out 1940s motorcar in the middle of a forest. During another one of their journeys, they stumbled upon an abandoned Gold Rush Age mining town. If it weren’t for geocaching, the couple would have missed out on some of their most memorable moments. Through the course of their adventures, they’ve stashed 1,153 caches making them the 35th most prodigious cache hiders in the nation.

Meeting like-minded people at group events constitutes a big part of geocaching for its most ardent practitioners. Groups of geocachers will plan camping trips with each other near natural landmarks like lakes. They’ll swim, camp, boat and kayak all the while finding and hiding caches in the area.

Pirate & Poodle even incorporated geocaching into their wedding by giving attendees a cacheable souvenir. Also, every Easter, they organize a large Easter Egg Hunt involving the use of GPS devices on their property. The Hoffmans go as far as saying that people they’ve met through geocaching are their “second family”.

One variation of geocaching meet-ups, Cash In Trash Out (C.I.T.O.) events encourage cachers to band together to clean up a particular area.

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

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Geocaching Games While simply hiding or discovering tra-

geocachers focus on finding these new

car and a jet. Geo art calls for both dedi-

ditional caches can make for a fun time,

caches before anyone else. FTF challeng-

cation in that you have to do a great deal

many seasoned geocachers have added

es add a competitive edge to geocach-

of planning and hiding, and a new level

an element of excitement by creating

ing, and certain people will only look for

of creativity.

games, events or variations from the

caches that they have the opportunity to

hobby. Here are just a few of them…

locate before anyone else. Some cache-

First To Find (FTF): If you are a member on geocaching.com, you’re immediately informed when a new cache has been added in your area. Some

hiders will even put small five or ten dollars in their newly planted containers to give an extra incentive for people to find it fast.

Cache In Trash Out (CITO) Event: Local geocacher Florence Chase-Crow explains, “CITO is a clean up event that I do every year. I go out, and try to find to find an area that’s been trashed so that myself and other local geocachers can go

Geo Art:

clean it up. Mother Nature has rewarded Using Google Maps along with

us with so much especially around here.

geocaching software, cachers

People that show up are happy to pick up

create geo art, which involves

garbage because they all have the same

hiding hundreds of caches in

attitude about geocaching and the out-

a strategic way so that they

doors. I’m just trying to make the world

resemble a shape, person or

a better place just the small little portion

object when looked at from a

that I can fix. We’ve worked with the BLM

digital bird’s eye view. People

who have helped us find good places to

have assembled caches to

clean up, and been really helpful in terms

look like a bear chasing a

of providing resources for us.”

stick figure, a cyclist, a train

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September/October 2015 Active NorCal

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“I’ve done six C.I.T.O. events in the past six years,” recalled Chase-Crow. “Me along with other geocachers will clean up a dump or a littered area, and have a barbeque or get-together afterwards. Mother Nature has rewarded us with so much especially around here so people who show up are happy to help because they have the same attitude about keeping our surroundings pristine.”

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“Discovery” best describes the goal of geocaching. Each time you stash a new cache, you’re inviting others to intimately explore a new place. With geo tourism, people will travel across the country or between continents to uncover new caches. Using geocaching.com software, you can see that people have traveled to NorCal from Sweden, Japan and all across the United States in search of caches.

Geocaching connects people from different backgrounds, latitudes and longitudes. As long as you have a GPS or smartphone and an interest in hiding and/or seeking, you’re “in the club.”

The activity does not even require a physical cache. In places like Whiskeytown where planting objects remains illegal, you can register an “Earth Cache”, which prompts cachers to certain GPS coordinates where they must answer questions about the locale in order to prove they’ve found it. Earth Cache creators sometimes note interesting historical or geological information about the area in which they “plant” the cache.

“Locals know the best landmarks or places where they live so they try to put caches nearby to show their area off,” observed Chase-Crow. “So, geocaching can give you a pretty good introduction to a place you’ve never been. In Mendocino, it took us to this beautiful garden with a hippy bench on a bluff.”

Highlighting the global nature of geocaching, trackables allows geocachers from all over the world to interact with one another. These objects, which can be as small as a keychain or as large as a car, possess a tracking number that enables people to see and note where it’s been.

Many trackables challenge finders to take the object to specific locations. For example, a “zoo” trackable would encourage people in possession of it to take it to as many zoos as possible before leaving it in another cache for someone else to take.

Kate and Ken Hoffman sent out a keychain trackable that has traversed 17,000 miles. It currently rests somewhere in Eastern Europe – a long way from its starting point in Redding. A testament to the commitment of longtime cachers, Ken has a tracking number tattooed on his arm making his body a trackable.

To begin geocaching, simply visit As active aficionados, we’re perpetugeocaching.com or ally striving to get the most out of life and download the app. each day. That’s what geocaching is all Learn more from about. It challenges participants to engage local geocachers with their surroundings, to meet new on the Northern California Geocachpeople, to discover new things and not ing Facebook Page take the great outdoors for granted. Busy schedules and little adversities bog people down, but geocaching reminds us of wonders that lie right in front of our eyes. The question is: are you willing to notice them?

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

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Get Active in Your Active NorCal Swag!

In the coming weeks we will be releasing our brand new t-shirt designs highlighting the great NorCal landmarks and activities that we hold dear to our hearts. Go to ActiveNorCal.net/shop/ to buy your swag today!

culture

Small Town Creativity The Mount Shasta Fourth Friday Art Walk

By Frances Griffey

Known primarily as a hub for winter sports, the town of Mt. Shasta has been somewhat overlooked in terms of culture.

Many simply drive right through the place on their way to the mountain, not giving it a second thought. But this tiny town is actually packed with art, crafts and culture.

Every month, locals and tourists alike gather in the heart of Mt. Shasta to sip wine, nibble cheese and admire a wide array of art displayed by the downtown galleries. A mere three blocks in length, the Mount Shasta Fourth Friday Art Walk is packed with 12 galleries and shops (marked as purple stars on the map distributed during the event). What’s not to love about walking down the street and exploring local shops with the snowy peak of Mount Shasta looming above you and the fresh mountain air filling your lungs?

Although its name may imply otherwise, the Art Walk is much more than just art. On top of paintings and sculptures, the Walk also has a variety of clothing, body care products, food, jewelry and other trinkets for sale. A small taste of wine, cheese, crackers, cookies as well as locally-made foods like chocolate and spreads can be found in most participating galleries and shops.

Over the past few years, more and more retail stores have become involved and

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Along with featuring unique art from top North State artists, the Art Walk has a variety of booths selling and sampling everything from wine to lotions.

today, many eclectic downtown shops are officially part of the Walk. The shops that participate feature a different artist for every Art Walk, so visitors can enter various shops, peruse their merchandise and sample local products while still admiring unique displays of art. Even if you’re not an art lover, there’s something for everyone on the fourth Friday of the month.

“There’s a lot of great shops that are offering some really nice products and this is an opportunity to come in and you get to go sample everybody and go see what’s going on in all the shops,” said Alpine Originals Owner Debra Punt.

Although the majority of visitors to the Art Walk are locals from Mt. Shasta itself, many, like Donna Winger and Jeannie Tuman from Weed, come from out of town to see what the event is all about.

“We just wanted to stroll and look at all the good artwork,” Tuman said.

Both Tuman and Winger visited a demo booth at Snow Creek Studios and got the chance to make their own art. They were first-time visitors of the Art Walk and were captivated by the quaint creativity that filled the small town.

“It’s just a great community thing,” Winger said. “I run into a couple of people that I haven’t seen in a long time and it’s supporting the local community. For me, it’s all about shop local.”

And shopping local is fun and easy when the stores and galleries are in a constant state of flux. Every month, new art can be seen in galleries and new products are on sale in shops.

“Our inventory changes almost every day, along with most of the galleries on this street,” Carlee Punt from Alpine Originals said. “They’re always getting new things and products all the time. Moving in, moving out. I don’t think people realize how much we change.”

Art Walk Director and Snow Creek Studios Manager Lindsay Budner agrees.

“I think that’s probably the main draw, that it’s different every

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month and you could be turned on to something new or a new artist that you weren’t aware of,” she said.

In The Gallery at Mount Shasta, Artist Linda Vivas had around a dozen multidimensional paintings on display. Canvases appeared to come out of (or in some cases, sink into) the wall.

“It’s an unusual, unique thing that I haven’t seen anywhere else in the world. So I’m really excited to show it,” Vivas said of her one-of-a-kind artwork.

Squares and rectangles were cut out of many of the canvases, giving the viewer a unique three-dimensional peak into the mind of the artist. In some, the figure of a woman protruded, standing on a pedestal; in others, picturesque landscapes seemed to be submerged into the background. But one piece in particular caught my eye.

It was a colorfully painted canvas with a square cut into the center. Within the square, sat a large piece of dark brown wood shaped like an anatomical heart. Vivas found that piece of wood while jogging and thought it would be the perfect addition to an art piece. Behind the heart is the Roman Pantheon and above it written in Latin, it reads, “When the ego surrenders, the heart remembers.”

For Vivas and other artists, the Art Walk is a great way to showcase their art to a diverse audience as well as make a little bit of money. The Walk allows their art to reach more people than it usually would hanging in the galleries by day.

“I think it’s better for artists because more people are inclined to come out and look, otherwise they wouldn’t,” Vivas said.

“And what we really want is people to look and even if they just buy a card or a print, it’s great for us. It keeps us motivated.”

Because Mt. Shasta is a small town, the options for activities one can do in the evening are somewhat limited. Carlee Punt thinks the Art Walk is just one more fun thing people can add to their list of activities to do in the area, especially at night.

“I really think that Mt. Shasta doesn’t have enough of a nightlife. There’s nothing to draw people from other towns as an event, not frequently enough,” Carlee said. “So I think that this is one of the things that the locals get to go do.”

Indeed, the Art Walk has become a type of social event, where people can get together with friends or family and explore local arts and crafts before going out to get dinner or drinks.

“It seems like it’s built a little bit of a community that way,” noticed Debra Punt.

Not only is the Fourth Friday Art Walk a great way the public can spend their Friday evenings, but it’s also extremely beneficial to the community. Galleries and shops see more visitors during the Walk and gain more revenue and publicity.

“We definitely get an increase in traffic on this. So, for us, it’s definitely worth the extra time and the extra effort that goes into it,” Debra said.

The Art Walk can only grow and improve from here and Debra Punt and Lindsay Budner both hope to see more businesses involved in the future as well as live music. This event has provided the community of Mt. Shasta with a venue to express its creative side and share it with others and Budner hopes visitors leave the Walk more inspired.

The Mount Shasta Fourth Friday Art Walk is hosted year round, so next month grab your family and friends and check out what the charming town of Mt. Shasta has to offer.

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Humor

Karaoke with Confidence A How to Guide by zach o’brien

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Active NorCal September/October 2015

A karaoke song should fit your mood at the time. Are you angry? Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know” will make you feel better. Feeling heartbroken? Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” will keep you thinking that you almost had it all. Did you show up in boots? You can ruin the black tie affair with Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places.” Feeling like a small town girl? Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is the song for you.

Choosing a song can be a very intimate process, like seeing your soul in the mirror. Just remember, you don’t pick the song.

The song picks you. Just show it the commitment it deserves, and never announce the song you are singing before you get on stage. The surprise factor will put the audience in a frenzy.

Karaoke is not for the uncompetitive. It’s all about the performance. The worse your voice is, the better your presentation must be. There’s nothing worse than someone standing up on stage frozen, scratching out off-tune lyrics like it’s a 3rd grade talent show. You have to play to the crowd. Get in the persona of the original artist and perform some sweet dance moves.

Most importantly, have some fun. That’s what karaoke is all about. Music lives inside us and karaoke is simply a way of letting it out of its cage. It’s a way of forcing yourself out of your own cage.

On a final note, the last bit of advice I can give you when it comes to performing karaoke—don’t sing “Happy” by Pharell.

Seriously, no one wants to hear that.

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Here you are reading our active Under the Stars edition of Active NorCal where we’ve been encouraging you to experience Mother Nature at night. For varieties’ sake though, you can’t spend every “under the stars” in front of a campfire admiring the Big Dipper. Sometimes, getting active at night might include a little indoor song and dance. It’s said that public speaking is mankind’s biggest fear, and karaoke is essentially the same thing.

When I was a little kid, my parents bought me a “karaoke machine” (it was just a cassette player with a microphone) and I would belt out all of my favorite songs. I will not confirm nor deny that Hanson and Spice Girls were included in that category. These days, you can still find me at local establishments publicly providing my renditions of terrible pop songs on a regular basis.

I’ve learned a lot during my days as a semi-professional karaokist, and lucky for you, I am happy to impart this wisdom on you ever-so-fortunate readers.

First thing’s first, you should always travel in packs. Much like the prey of a wolf pack, karaoke has to be attacked from many different angles. It’s important to know your friends in the audience will give you the self-confidence to recite those quick “Baby Got Back” lyrics or enunciate the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” in Aretha Franklin’s signature karaoke jam. If you’re feeling extra nervous, you could simply have a friend join you onstage for the alwaysunpopular Grease duet, “Summer Nights”.

If you must go alone, I suggest your first song should be “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond. The Bah-Bah-Bah’s will make you the most popular person there.

Picking a song is not always easy since perusing through thousands of songs in a DJ’s rolodex can be an emotional roller coaster.

Which song fits your personality? Which song matches your energy level? What songs do you even know the words to?

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