As six of us headed down past McCloud, we started to get concerned with the amount of snow we may be hiking through. We arrived at the Cabin Creek Trailhead and were a bit surprised at the cool temperature.
The headwaters of Squaw Valley Creek begin on Mt. Shasta in Southgate Meadows and flow all the way down to the McCloud River. (I know many places have renamed anything using the word Squaw, but as I researched, this creek is not one that has changed the name)
A man told Bob that there was some snow just a little way from the trailhead that could be troublesome. As we approached it, I was glad to see that it was soft snow and not difficult to cross through.
We kept a good pace and in less than 1 mile, a few of us decided to remove our jackets. The flow of the river was good and made a wonderful noise. We stopped a few times to get some views of some small waterfalls.
Because of the late spring, there were not many showy wildflowers yet in bloom. The most common were the yellow violets found in this region and Indian Rhubarb blooming in the creek . I believe the other wildflower that we saw was an an Indian Warrior Lousewort.
We found a nice shaded spot with big rocks so we could sit down and enjoy our lunch. It was very relaxing along the creek.
We continued along the trail and decided to make a water crossing to get across to the road. The water was cold and refreshing. We walked along the steep road until we got to the PCT. That area was much more shaded and had much more snow than we had seen. I decided I would rather the group continue along the road and know the conditions rather than put anyone at risk by going through what could be slippery snow. When we got back to the trailhead it was quite warm and into the lower 80o temperature.
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