The weather cooled just enough on Saturday, April 29, to make for a pleasant hike on McClure Trail, in the Tehama Wildlife Refuge. It was only 82 degrees with a slight, cooling breeze when we got back to our cars following the field trip.
This hike starts at 2,800 feet in elevation and has a gradual downhill grade that makes for easy hiking to the old McClure homestead, of which there are still a few relics, including a stone wall. Here we sat under valley oaks in a cool, lush meadow, enjoying the beautiful scenery.
This trail mostly traverses a blue oak woodland with many wildflowers along the way. One that is rarely seen in western Shasta County is the yellow star-tulip, which was scattered in many shaded areas along the trail.
The first part of the trail has many shrubs, some of which were Sierra plum, mountain mahogany, scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia), buckbrush, redberry, and deerbush. Still-blooming herbaceous plants included grand hound’s-tongue, scarlet fritillary, miniature lupine, sky lupine, fiddleneck, and many others. Western buttercup was found along the entire trail.
Two miles of the road to the trailhead are quite rough, so a high clearance vehicle is recommended. But that also means it’s a good place to get away from crowds. We were the only people on the trail, and had this beautiful area all to ourselves. ~David Ledger
