02 Feb 12. We leave the Mt Shasta area today with one last parting image. This one is a fun image, HDR in format, that I made to amplify the strange condition in which we found ourselves on the trip south, namely, no winter weather, with temps in the mid to high 70s. This was taken on the morning of our second day; I pulled the SUV over to the curb side on a local street in Shasta City, got out, and walking to the middle of the street, snapped this view. Note that it looks like late autumn with plenty of trees still sporting colorful leaves. A little over a week later this little community was totally snow bound with virtually no way in or out for a couple of days save for one main road. We were having breakfast just a couple miles north of here during that storm and "kinda" overheard a lot of the locals discussing the present conditions (refer back to the photo of the trucks). General consensus seemed to be that this was more of what they had been expecting for several weeks and that it was very needed. Based on what we saw on that second day of the southern leg,, I believe they were most correct, as the ski slopes we observed were nothing but dirt and ground cover. By now everyone should be happy as it would seem that winter has finally arrived. Regardless of the season, this must be a hard place to have to live. ISO 320; 1/320 sec (middle of 5) @ f / 9.
