Shasta Trip
Jul. 22nd, 2013 08:51 amThis week R and I took a mini-trip to visit Shasta Dam, since I'm writing about it in my thesis. Thursday night we drove up to Redding, which is a small city in the north of the central valley, and quite hot. I was pleased that as we were driving along highway 5 almost no one was watering crops in the middle of the day.
On the way up we saw a sign for the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, so we decided go visit. High summer is not really the best time to see wildlife in California. The Refuge is a big stop for migrating birds in the fall, and has lot of seasonal wetlands which were dry. However we did see some birds, and it was nice to stop.
We stayed in a Howard Johnson (chain motel)in Redding. Thursday night we went out for Indian food -- it was nice but there was so much food we couldn't finish.
We got up bright a early Friday morning and headed out for the 9 am Shasta Dam tour. The Dam is really big! We got lecture about all the thing you aren't allowed to bring -- which is most things, including any bags. To go the tour you have to walk out on to the dam to a elevator. There is a little security screening there, with a metal detector. R and I were the only people on our tour. We went down the elevator to an overlook. There is lot of seepage into the dam, and it is always 65 F inside. Inside all the walls a lined with green tile. We took some pictures form the overlook, then went through the powerhouse. We got to see a bunch of pictures of dam construction, and to learn about how they now have temperature control devices so that the water that goes downstream is the right temperature for fish.
We also visited Coleman National Fish Hatchery which is the hatchery they build to mitigate for Shasta Dam. It was really hot there, around 100 F, so we didn't end up staying long, but we did get to see some baby salmon, and some other facilitates that were not in use. But we felt meltly and got back in the car quickly.
On the way up we saw a sign for the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, so we decided go visit. High summer is not really the best time to see wildlife in California. The Refuge is a big stop for migrating birds in the fall, and has lot of seasonal wetlands which were dry. However we did see some birds, and it was nice to stop.
We stayed in a Howard Johnson (chain motel)in Redding. Thursday night we went out for Indian food -- it was nice but there was so much food we couldn't finish.
We got up bright a early Friday morning and headed out for the 9 am Shasta Dam tour. The Dam is really big! We got lecture about all the thing you aren't allowed to bring -- which is most things, including any bags. To go the tour you have to walk out on to the dam to a elevator. There is a little security screening there, with a metal detector. R and I were the only people on our tour. We went down the elevator to an overlook. There is lot of seepage into the dam, and it is always 65 F inside. Inside all the walls a lined with green tile. We took some pictures form the overlook, then went through the powerhouse. We got to see a bunch of pictures of dam construction, and to learn about how they now have temperature control devices so that the water that goes downstream is the right temperature for fish.
We also visited Coleman National Fish Hatchery which is the hatchery they build to mitigate for Shasta Dam. It was really hot there, around 100 F, so we didn't end up staying long, but we did get to see some baby salmon, and some other facilitates that were not in use. But we felt meltly and got back in the car quickly.
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