i always love to take a pic from this spot because it shows how large the mountain looms over the surrounding countryside.
in the town of mt. shasta, this is our first stop...
look at the crema on this coffee...
and this scone.
the bookstore is next. this is where i bought my little green travel journal (below).
this shop has everything metaphysical. it's nice just to see what's there each time, and i always buy prayer flags... yep, i got a set of vertical ones this time.
from the outside you wouldn't give this shop a second look. in fact, it's on a side street and i missed it for years. but inside, oh my. it's full of magnificent crystals of all shapes and sizes, and quartz crystal bowls. this picture was taken in a room full of bowls-- there are more on the wall behind me and to the left. these all have a quartz base with another mineral on the outside. they no longer allow customers to play these, but when the owner plays them, oh. my. goodness. their sound is beyond description. the good thing is that customers are welcome to play all of the plain quartz bowls, and they have a lot of them. when you walk out of this shop you're not the same as when you walked in...
here we are about halfway up the mountain, looking towards the top. i've never seen it like this-- with so little snow. i left this pic large so if you click on it you can see some details of the rocks. (in case you're a mountain/rock lover like me : )
we're at the end of the road (but nowhere near the top), looking west.
besides generally wandering around after we get out of the car, we check in with this water... it's not on a trail -- our son happened to find it on one of his wanderings. i always wonder why the pipe is there, and i always drink some...
there's lots of rock art...
we're driving back down (to wander around below the tree line). i got out to take this pic that shows the path of an avalanche. while the trees on either side of the path don't look large here, they're all 1 - 2 feet in diameter. the road was closed to cars the summer after this happened, and i remember walking up the road, wondering why it was closed, and then coming to the spot where the avalanche had crossed the road. all of those giant trees laying like toothpicks, facing downhill. it was truly mind boggling.
hours have passed... we've wandered around at a lower elevation, eaten our supper on the side of the mountain, and now we're heading north towards ashland. one last shot of this glorious mountain...
What a fabulous spot Lynne. I feel that if I took a deep breath I could breathe in that mountain and it would sustain me for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI know that feeling. I get it when I go to the Drakensberg. This is such a great post Lynne. The coffee shop, the book shop and that great bowl shop, all tantalizing. Love the stone spiral!I thought you were back but now having read your post I see you still have adventures ahead of you. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteyes, kate, it would sustain you... and when you took that deep breath it'd smell like balsam fir. the whole time you're there it's like having your nose next to one of those balsam fir pillows...
ReplyDeletehi robyn... oh, it's a magical feeling, isn't it?! yes, i'm back -- just recovering. the excitement of mt. shasta and then getting together with other women in ashland to talk about forming an 'art group' just filled me up to brimming.
stunning
ReplyDelete16 Years! This mountain truly is part of you! When I was a very young girl, our family were traveling to California and it was one of those trips with no stops, just my mom and dad trading off driving. Those were the days when no one was strapped in and my two brothers and myself could make little nests in the back seat and sleep the night away. I remember waking up and it was dark and I looked out the car window and saw the most amazing thing. It was a huge florescent mountain? I remember asking my dad, "what is that?" "That is Mt. Shasta," he said. It was covered with snow and it was a full moon and to my young eyes it looked like something surreal! I have never forgotten that image.
ReplyDeletei never heard of Mt. Shasta before, but if it is loved, it is powerful. Love the photos, the purple trimmed bookstore reminds me of a purple bookstore in Arizona that had a great cafe with the best almond scones I have ever eaten. : ) my mouth is a memory of delight.
ReplyDeletethank you kate (notmassproduced kate, that is!).
ReplyDeletejeane, i can believe the image has stayed with you... and i remember those days of not having to be strapped in too. probably would have saved my parents a lot of arguing about who was sitting on whose part of the seat!
although it was during the day the first time i saw mt. shasta, it had a similar effect on me. i've never forgotten the first time i saw it-- driving by on I-5, it took me completely by surprise. that was about 30 years ago.
hi mansuetude, it is loved by *many*...
hee, it's funny how we remember tastes and smells, huh? i'll remember this coffee shop in mt. shasta for the best scones ever, but not almond. they only seem to have fruit ones.
Thanks for taking me along on your trip.. I wish I was there!
ReplyDeleteThat was some avalanche... holy cow... My daughter lives in British Columbia very close to where the side of a granite mountain came slamming down on the road that is being built on the narrow winding road to Whistler (home of the next Olympics 2010)... These crazy acts of nature sure show their power.
The room full of crystal bowls must have sent chills through you... so beautiful!!
gwen, i'm always surprised when humans think they can outwit nature... oh we try, but in the end nature will prevail.
ReplyDelete