Upper Sacramento River Trail

I have been looking at this trail for a while. It's marked easy, it is less than 2 miles, it runs right along the river, and it is only about 15 minutes away. So, what's been keeping me from heading out, you ask? Well, you know I'm not great with directions, and I didn't exactly know how to get there. One website says to go to Castle Crags State Park, another says to go on the other side of the freeway, and still another said to go further south and take a whole different exit. I was gifted a book of local hikes, and it agreed with the second option of starting across the freeway from the park. With that second opinion confirmed, I headed out. (In retrospect, those weren't very good odds, which is why I don't gamble at the big kids' table.)

Now, just because I had directions doesn't mean I knew where I was going. I got onto the frontage road like I was supposed to but then I came to a sign and a bridge, so I turned and ended up in a picnic area. Of course, there was no service and I didn't download the map, so I didn't know exactly where to go. What I did know is that I was supposed to be walking with the river to my left. (See, getting lost on the Dunsmuir River Trail taught me a lesson!) Whether I found the trail or not, I decided I couldn't actually get lost as long as I could see or hear the river, so I got out of the car, put on my backpack, located my bear whistle, and walked into the forest.

Not really. I had passed an informational sign, so I went to see if it had a map on it. No such luck. But I did learn that Castle Rock Springs Resort was built across the river in 1895 and the "healing" water was bottled and sold throughout the country. Castle Rock Water Company went bankrupt during the great depression. About 10 years later, the state of California bought the land, which was the beginning of Castle Crags State Park. The only remnants of there being building in the area are the stairs down to the spring, and the wall keeping the river from flooding the stairs.

My head was full of new information, but I still didn't have a map, so I just walked toward the picnic area and hoped for the best. There were several little eating areas, each with a picnic table and a stone bar-be-que, and I explored almost all of them. Whenever I came to something that looked like a trail, I took it. Boy, I was feeling confident on this hike! (I mean, there were people, and I could see the parking lot, so I was pretty safe.) I walked down to the river at least three times before I actually found the trail.

Here is what fascinates me about nature and rivers in particular: the view is always changing. With each twist and turn there are different plants and rocks and trees and the light hits differently and the water goes from calm to tumultuous and it's just mesmerizing. Every off-shoot down to the river was a completely different experience, and I took it all in.

When I finally found the trail, I felt a little silly. It was on the other side of the tables the whole time. Very flat, very wide, and, I'll admit it, very obvious. But, if I had found the trail right away, I wouldn't have gotten so close to the water...silver lining?

Anyway, the trail was gorgeous. It meandered along the river and through the dense forest. The trees kept the mid-day sun at bay, only allowing rays of light to slice through their branches when you gazed up at just the right angle. Looking past the shade of the trail toward the opening where the river parted the forest, the water flowed past, illuminated by the sun. I'm not sure "gorgeous" is a strong enough word.

After a few minutes, I came to a suspension bridge with a sign pointing to the trail that I was on. Confirmation that I had gone the right way, thank you. Also, I think this is the bridge that was mentioned in the directions...so I was supposed to WALK over a bridge, not DRIVE over it. Noted. Let's move on.

Even though I knew that the bridge was going to sway, I walked out past the middle so I could get a good view up and down the river. There were anglers to the north casting their lines in the water and telling each other stories. A fisherman's version of Champagne Brunch, I guess.

Moving on, I was surprised when I came to a little bridge over what is probably a creek when the snow melts in the spring. I paused and looked up the mountain and down to the river, said a little thank you to the people who made the bridge, and kept going. It turned out that I would be doing that a lot on this hike.

That first little stream was dry, but the next ones were not. As I continued on, each stream got bigger, until I came to a bridge with side rails and a gorgeous little river of water cascading down the rocks and into the larger Sacramento. I just had to stop and stare and walk up and down and around that bridge to get a good view. Once again, I was reminded of million dollar photographs developed on metal, so they glisten and glimmer while hanging on your wall...except I was looking at the real thing. How lucky am I?

Now, I love going on hikes and exploring nature and seeing all of the sights. But I also want to get to the end of the trail and turn around at some point. Unfortunately, I didn't really know where the end was, or if there even was an end. I mean, maybe this trail just followed the river all the way up to where I got lost in Dunsmuir. And, because I didn't download any map, I had no idea how far I had gone or how far I still had to go. I'm gonna be really honest; most of the time I will check my map, sure that I'm almost done, and realize that I haven't even gone half way, even though I feel like I have been out there all day. So, I pushed on, heading up-hill and then back down, feeling tired and a little winded and kind of lame when parents pushing strollers and chasing their little ones while holding full conversations whizzed passed me going in the opposite direction. Yeah, I had farther to go.

Once again, I was glad I had not turned around because I came to a couple of little, rocky openings that led right out to the water. I could have sat down and read a book, if I had brought a chair (hmmm...I'll have to look into that). One area had some huge boulders jutting out into the water so I could stand above and peer down to look for fish and watch how the water wound around rocks and logs, creating whirlpools and whitecaps. And there were pools of water on top of some of the rocks. I didn't really understand how it got there, we haven't had rain, and I don't think the river can rise another 5 feet. But it was there, and it was neat to see.

Walking back to the trail, I noticed that the next part was up hill. Since I had already been out in the wild for a couple of hours, I decided to turn around. Now, you know I love an out-and-back trail. I think I say that every single time, and this is no exception. Things just look different on the way back, the sun highlights things I had not seen, and there is almost always a surprise. Today that surprise was the top of Castle Crags. Those granite spires jutting out above the pine forest look like a crown upon the earth. I don't think there will ever be a time when I am not mesmerized by that view. I'll keep testing that theory, you can be sure of it.