Shastice Loop

I'm still adjusting to living in the snow, and it's a little confusing. In most places, the only visible snow is from the snow plow, but there are some neighborhoods where there is still snow on the ground. So, heading out to explore the trail in a local park, I wasn't sure what to expect. Fortunately, I put on my construction boots with thick tread because this trail was full of ice and snow and… SO. MUCH. MUD.

To get to this trail, you park in the back lot of Shastice Park and follow the fence along the soccer field to the path entrance on the other side. Not gonna lie, I totally thought I was in the wrong place because I did not see anything that resembled a hiking trail in front of me. I also was worried that I might have overdressed, because there wasn't a speck of snow on the ground. But, as I mentioned above, snow is confusing. And my confusion was validated as I made my first turn and was greeted with an icy path surrounded by a blanket of snow, all dotted with beautiful, golden leaves. I wish I had a better photographic eye, because the snow on the ground looked just like Christmas to me.

Now, the calendar tells us that it's still fall, but the trees think it's winter, so most of them were bare. I loved seeing all of the branches, how they bend and weave and intertwine with one another. Pausing to look around at the empty branches and the patches of dry ground between mounds of snow, I spotted a majestic pine ahead, just waiting to be admired. If you’ve been here before, you know I had to stop and have a conversation.

Continuing on the beautiful, golden path in front of me, I realized that the leaves hid the slippery ice and muddy ground. So, today I was Hiking Slowly not to catch my breath, but to make sure I didn't slip on the ice or fall in the mud. Maneuvering from one side of the trail to the other to avoid falling, I noticed that, even though the leaves were sparse, there were areas where the trail was very narrow. The recent snowfall had weighed down plants, causing them to stretch their branches across the path.

The surrounding forest vacillated between white and gold, just as the trail switched from ice to mud and back again. The bushes were dense in some areas and then I would walk through bare branches only to come to a grove of green pines. One of the things nature teaches us, is that diversity is a requirement. We need to have different strengths and weaknesses to make this world of ours work.

Knowing that tripping is one of my strengths, I had to pay close attention to the ground, which allowed me to notice all of the different footprints. I definitely saw human prints, probably some dogs, pretty sure I saw some deer hooves, and some kind of big feline prints, but nothing that made me think there was a bear nearby. Thank goodness! (Although I did have my handy bear whistle with me, just in case.) After looking down for quite a while, I stopped to look up and saw this amazing view. I have trained myself to look for Mount Shasta while I'm out. Clearly, she wasn't the main attraction today.

Coming out of my awestruck-ness (is that a word?), I took a good look at the path in front of me. First, I noticed that it led straight to the railroad tracks. No, thank you, trains go through town all the time. And – physics. Then I noticed that the snow was really white and there wasn't a dirty path of ice to follow, and that's when I looked down and realized that there were no human prints anywhere around me. Yep, you guessed it, I had wandered off the trail. What's interesting about a winter forest is that there is so much space, you can't always tell where the trail is, exactly. Thank goodness for modern technology!

Using my trail app, I hopped back on the right path, followed it through a frisbee golf course, out to the high school football field, past the very muddy access road, and back to the original fork on the path where the loop began. Walking past the football field was a little odd, but going through the frisbee golf course was neat. There were places to sit at each tee pad. Wondering if they were strategically placed (other than to hit the basket), I stopped at a few to check out the view. And that’s when I caught a glimpse of Mount Shasta in all her glory.