A Mighty Mountain Metric

Saturday, June 22nd

Miss P and I are off for another trip, returning to Mt. Shasta but this time to do the Castle Crags Mountain Metric.  She's done it once before.  Last time I was in the area was to do the Mt. Shasta Century in 2015.  As usual, I'm not in shape but I do so love an adventure. And well, I often have a good time when traveling alone.  You tend to meet lots of people.  The Boyfriend was unable to join us since he's busy in Europe somewhere. 

I drove alone trying to caravan with Miss P and her friend but we got separated during the long drive from the Bay Area.  We found one another for lunch but got separated again.  We were staying in different lodgings as well.  The place I booked had a bar, a bartender, and a band.  What can I say.  I enjoyed the evening.

And we're off on the ride.  Almost always, Mt. Shasta is visible.  It was a joy to see it covered in snow and to appreciate its beauty.  This ride would test our endurance and fitness.

The ride essentially involves a lot of climbing and descending, some steep pitches, lots of woods, and being alone a lot.  But it's very pretty.

At rest stops, the male volunteers noticed my jersey (Central Coast Classique, Arroyo Grande) and that led way to conversations.  The Boyfriend said it was just an excuse to flirt with me.  I'm not going to disagree....  Ah, Castle Crags, stunning.

Be prepared to be in the woods forever and to be alone.  Climb, descend, repeat.  As the day wore on, it got rather warm.

Omg, civilization.  Shortly afterwards, Miss P and I had to map out an alternative route because there was a train parked on the tracks we were supposed to cross.  Really?  Do I need the stress? I often joke about how slow I am, slower than a snail.  Well, this time, being out of shape, the last rest stop had packed up.  Sigh.  But we did it, we finished, we climbed more than 6300 feet.  Okay, so, it took me 7 hours....