Castle Lake Road

Car
IMG_6270.jpeg

MVP

  • Ear plugs—The deeper sleep I got with the ear plugs helped me to stay capable the next day, without me feeling drowsy on the 5 hr drive home. Quality of sleep really matters.


Camp Review:

  • There are many pull offs on Castle Lake Road and because it is National Forest land, you can disperse camp on them.

  • It’s bear country, so keep your food and toiletries locked up.

  • There was no car traffic after 10pm, so it was actually nice and quiet.

  • Had I known one could backpack at Heart Lake, I would have just done that.

  • Cell reception is on and off on the road, but where I camped, I had 5G signal with T-Mobile and 2 bars of LTE with AT&T.


What I Learned:

  • I was worried before coming here that there would be tons of people taking advantage of free camping, but I was alone in a huge turnout. Driving up to Castle Lake the next morning, I found at least two other spots on the main road. There are unpaved roads intersecting Castle Lake Road that also has camping spots.

  • I celebrated a tough hike earlier in the day with two large cokes. Due to that, I had a terrible night of sleep that was full of fits and starts.

  • Ear plugs that I had stashed in my backpack were awesome at helping me achieve deeper sleep when I could sleep.


What Happened?

IMG_6272.jpeg

After a celebratory dinner with my brother and sister-in-law, I came to Castle Lake Road without much pressure. It’d be nice to find a camping site, but if there were no spots, I knew of a few other places around Shasta that allowed dispersed camping. As my ultimate backup, my brother and sister-in-law graciously offered a spare bed where they was staying.

I passed by a wonderful spot that was already taken, then I found my turnout 3 or 4 miles from the lake. I was slightly nervous that I hadn’t crossed into national forest land yet, but I checked my map and I felt much better. I quickly setup camp with some bugs buzzing around me, and within 10 minutes, I was brushing my teeth and washing my face.

I got into my bed and found myself not sleepy at all, so I wrote a few journal entries, organized photos, checked my email, etc. Around midnight, I forced myself to fall asleep, which never works. I had a terrible night of sleep due to the caffeine coursing through my veins.

I woke up with a start at 8AM when I found that my alarm was going off. I would be late if I didn’t caste haste on myself, but I found out 15 minutes later that it was for naught as my brother was sleeping in. It turned out just fine, because it meant that I could hike Heart Lake earlier in the day, while it was cooler.

 

Previous
Previous

Henry Coe State Park—Ridge View Camp

Next
Next

Redinger Lake