Hot, Hotter, and Really Dry

We knew that the temperature in Northern California would be hot. Yes, indeed.  On Monday (7/7/14), a record was set at 114 degrees.  Otherwise it hovers at around 95.  Not awful, but when one is from the PNW where 75 is considered blazing, 20 degrees warmer makes a difference. As one local put it, though, once the sun goes down it cools down enough to sleep.  It even cools down enough that around 3:00 a.m., we pull up a blanket. Life could be worse.  Thankfully we have a fan in Lucille and just bought another one.  Air conditioning is a serious consideration at the moment.  Hm. 

To understand just how dry it is in California, one just needs to look at the reservoirs.  Trinity Lake, which is where we are at, is a huge reservoir SW of Mt. Shasta off HWY 299.  Shasta Lake is an equally large reservoir, which is due S of Mt. Shasta.  In our day off from hiking we headed to Shasta Lake and had the good fortune to run into an employee for Shasta County Dept of Agriculture.  He explained that Shasta Lake is usually filled to the tree line as of March by the rains and snow, which occur from November through March each year. However, this  year Mother Nature by-passed the area, creating a desperate situation due to lack of moisture (as in almost none).

Hard to believe that the water should have actually reached the treeline based on the a few pictures we took from a popular boat launch at Shasta Lake.  As he explained, in March of this year, the reservoir started at August levels, which would still be half-way up the hillside. Notice in the lower right the road to the boat ramp, which ends about midway in the picture.  This would normally be where boats put into the water in August.
 
The reservoir drains more each day as  the Shasta Lake dam releases enough water to keep the salmon happy.  A little mud shows just above the water line, which is the recent release and change in water levels. 

However, this year water enthusiasts need to drive an additional 3/4 to 1 mile to get to the marina.  The road is dusty and needless to say a bit out of the way.               

 The marina in the distance.  Not much left to it.  It will need to move again, soon. 
 
The Trinity reservoir looks much the same.  Many of the boat ramps are closed as the end of the cement is 200' - 300' above the water line.



 
So here we sit at Bushytail campground without water.  We do have electricity so the fridge is working it's heart out to keep our goods cold.  So far we have managed as Lucille's water reservoir was full.  We also had 12 gallons of additional water with us.

We were not deterred and decided on three things as part of decision to stay (aside from the fact that we prepaid for the site).  One, another campground up the road about a mile has water.  So we take our jugs and fill them up on our way back from hiking.  Two, we can purchase a shower ($5 each!) at one of two other privately owned campgrounds. KOA was dissed in favor of a locally run RV park, that looks a little like the backwoods from Deliverance.  However, Jo is super nice.  That $5 hot shower feels awfully good after a long day on the trail!

And three, which I never thought I would say, I will take a pit toilet over a port-a-potty any day!!  We finally had to call the company that manages the US Forest campground and complain about overflowing sani cans. I have no problem with this since we are paying for flush toilets! (Yes, we are wusses, we like flush toilets.)

Long story short, we take water for granite. We have managed to conserve and still have a good time. Rethink and adapt!