March 4, 1998
March fourth was the most beautiful sunny day we've had in a couple El Niņo months and ... it was Jennie's birthday! She decided it was the perfect day to snowshoe at Bunny Flat .
We departed about 2 o'clock for the 12 mile, 20 minute drive. Everitt Memorial Highway was clear and dry between the walls of snow that steadily increased in height as we climbed from 3500 to 7000 feet. At the overview the walls were higher than the car. We stopped briefly and had to climb up the snow bank for a peek down into the valley. From there on when we rounded a curve it was like circling a gigantic birthday cake with the tops of 50 foot spruce trees for candles. Before long even the trees disappeared and all we could see was the vertical white walls on either side, the black pavement below and the vivid blue sky above. One final layer-cake curve and we were at the Bunny Flat parking area and the end of the cleared pavement. It was a laughable scene. How were we going to get up those 15 foot snow walls to do any snowshoeing. It looked like finally there was simply too much snow at Bunny Flat. Where the road ended there were at least a few gouges where people had scratched their way up and a kind of shoot where they had skidded down. Perhaps we could find a way up there.
Click here for a photo of Bunny Flat parking area
I snapped a few pictures and then with the small shovel we carry in the Jeep I started chipping some steps into the end-of-road wall. The compressed snow was nearly as hard as ice and it took quite a bit of chopping just to hack 15 or so toe-size steps. They were just enough to get us to the top and just enough for a cross-country skier who had been kibitzing to get down, breaking most of the steps in the process. His pal had tried the shoot descent, lost a ski, tumbled down the wall and scraped his hand bloody on the way. We took a couple of photos to prove we'd made it up the wall and decided we'd rather snowshoe at a spot we'd seen just a short distance below the Bunny Flat parking area. We slowly descended the partially destroyed steps with backs to the wall.
The decision to try the alternate area turned out to be good. There was a small parking space cut into the road-cut wall and a jumbled ramp of snow leading up onto the top of the 12 foot deep snow. We strapped on our shoes and headed up the open space between the trees that must be a dirt road in Summer. The trees were burdened with huge mounds of snow, only this time the sun was shining through them creating wonderful contrasting patterns of sparking white and deep blue shadow. About a quarter mile up the trail there was a break in the timber and we could see Mount Eddy and Black Butte. It was surprising to note that we were at the same elevation as the summit of Black Butte -- about 6325 feet. Off in the other direction there was a beautiful un-tracked clearing stretching up a gentle slope. We decided to shoe to the far end of the clearing as the goal of our walk. The hushed expanse of sparkling snow; surrounded by towering, snow laden trees pointing to an intensely blue sky created a sense of dreamlike unreality that is hard to describe. We paused now and then just to savour the silence and sights. In several places we noticed rabbit tracks leading from burrows in the snow beneath the tree branches. We felt a little sad about defacing this gently undulating expanse with our clumsy tracks, but realized it would only take one small snowfall to wipe it clean again.
Click here for a photo of Jennie among the snow laden trees.
One good feature of hiking on snow is that unless you are surprised by a storm, it is very difficult to get lost. You always have your own tracks to follow back to where you started. After reaching the end of the clearing we paused to take in the snowy forest panorama that spread down the slope behind us. Once again, as we do so often, we wished all of you could have been there to share it with us. There was no doubt in our minds at that moment that this was where we were meant to be.
But now it was time to retrace our tracks and drive the 12 miles back to civilization. We had a birthday dinner reservation at a highly recommended little place in Mount Shasta called The Trinity Cafe. It was opened last August by a San Francisco Chef and his wife in a charming little house on north Mount Shasta Blvd. We'll save our restaurant review for another time.
On the drive back there were long distance views of Mount Lassen and the Castle Crags, sharply etched in the late afternoon sun.
