Why are you looking at a video screen right now? Have you not noticed that very bright light in the sky? It’s called the sun, and you should be enjoying it after suffering through weeks of dreary rain and snow. Get outside right now and come back to the Take-Out Window after sunset. I’ll wait for you …
All right, then. Did you make it down to the Sacramento River bike path and the Sundial Bridge? If not, you might have been the only person in Redding missing.
The river is lapping at sections of the bike path (and has flooded parts of Anderson River Park), and Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko has once again closed the river to recreational boating because of the large releases from Shasta and Keswick dams. That’s a bummer for crazy kayakers, but fishermen know that the fish don’t bite in these conditions. So stay on shore and enjoy the trails. The river will be down to a safer level soon enough.
Update: Because river releases have dropped, Bosenko repealed the boating ban as of 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 31. Still, the river is high and full of debris. I’d be mighty hesitant to get out there unless I really knew what I was doing.
The coming weekend might not be quite so sunny and warm, but it still looks more promising than any weekend we’ve had in two months. A few suggestions for getting outside:
• If you want to get in a run, choose from 5- and 2-mile options on Saturday morning at the Run 4 the Wild in Anderson River Park. On Sunday morning, the Trail Less Traveled quarter-marathon and 5K trail run goes from the Saddle Dam Day Use Area at Lake Oroville Recreation Area.
• Running isn’t your thing? Our friends at Redding Mountain Biking club will be riding the Clikapudi Trail in Jones Valley beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Clikapudi is a technically challenging trail, but I understand they’ll have a route for beginners, too. The club’s website has a list of rides through the end of April.
• Mountain biking not your thing? Shasta Wheelmen will be pre-riding the Jamboree Century’s 28- and 100-mile routes beginning from the Sundial Bridge on Sunday. You can find the road cycling club’s schedule through the end of April on its website.
• Or how about Nordic walking? My pal Don Jacobs is starting a six-week Nordic walking class beginning at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday at Fleet Feet, on Hilltop Drive, in Redding. He’ll provide the walking (not trekking!) poles and the instruction. Give Don a call at (530) 945-2218.
• Need more horsepower? Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson kicks off its nighttime racing for 2011 on Saturday with midgets, modifieds, bombers and the infamous hornets. The front gate opens at 5 p.m., and racing is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Paul Shigley is senior editor of California Planning & Development Report, a frequent contributor to Planning magazine and can’t remember where he last placed the tube of sunscreen. He lives in Centerville. Paul Shigley may be reached at pauls.anewscafe@gmail.com.
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