Continuing north from Chico, we spent a week among the lakes and mountains of Mount Shasta in northern California. I don’t have an awful lot to say about Mount Shasta – we didn’t party the night away or see any Fields of Light, or visit any wineries. But we did enjoy plenty of the Great Outdoors.

But first, a bike ride and trail run along the way.

The only reason I’ve heard of Chico, California is because I read it on the side of a beer can. A Sierra Nevada beer can no less. So when we were looking for our next stop (usual criteria: co-working office, campsite, brewery), we dropped a pin on Chico. And while it IS home to Sierra Nevada brewing, it’s hardly smack bang in the middle of the Sierras. I guess maybe the northern foothills.

It started out kinda stormy in Chico. Which was actually cool because we don’t get a lot of those big beefy storm clouds back in SoCal. As long as it’s not actually raining on me, I don’t mind a bit of storm cloud and thunder drama.

What with that weather, it felt a bit like we were back in the UK. So we embraced the experience by going to a British pub. Which was actually rather nice. We enjoyed our scotch egg with brown sauce, Cornish pasty and a pint of bitter. I don’t want to sound picky but… But! I did have a few thoughts…

1. You couldn’t stand at the bar. You did have to go up to the bar to order but there was nowhere to hang around and drink – off to your table you go.

2. ‘The Bull’ pasty nailed it (chunks of beef, carrot, potato and onion cooked in a rich British Bulldog Brewery ale gravy). Still trying to imagine it being served ‘with a small house salad’ in England.

3. Woe betide the gastro-publican who makes a pie with ground beef and calls it ‘The Shepherd’. Have they no concept of what a shepherd is or does?

4. You risk getting ID’d for the ‘Drunken Duck’ English trifle pud, as it included almond poppyseed sponge soaked in sherry and was strictly 21+.

Of course, work is a constant in our lives and a productive working environment is important. Coffee helps. And almond croissants. Not to mention avocado toast. Yes, Stoble Workplace, which was attached to Stoble Coffee in downtown Chico quickly became my favorite office of the trip.

As the week wore on, the weather took a turn for the better. Not just sunnier, it got hot hot hot 🥵 Not so great timing for my half marathon long training run but I do love that having to train gets me out there experiencing more of a place on foot than I ever would otherwise.

We rounded off our Chico visit by driving up to Paradise Lake for a walk. The name Paradise rung a bell and as we drove along the Skyway highway, we remembered why. In 2018, the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history devastated much of the town of Paradise and surrounding areas, causing 85 deaths and many more injuries. From what we could see from the Skyway, much of the town had been re-built, although there were patches of vacated ground zero land.

The surrounding mountains were also in recovery mode from the Camp Fire (ironically not from a campfire but a faulty power line), colonized by fireweed and lupines, the slate grey spindles all that remained for now of the tree trunks and the forest that was.

The hike around Paradise lake was serenely beautiful but hot hot hot.

And there’s nothing like a cool dip in the pool after a hot hike in the sun. While the campsite was somewhat resort-like, that came with the added attraction of a swimming pool.

…And… relax!!!