Yét Atwam Creek
As Philip Reedy and John, his fishing buddy, drove north along the Upper Sacramento River, Friday morning, they were disappointed to see that almost no color could yet be seen along its banks.
Phil wrote, “This is usually a perfect time for color along the Upper Sac from Castle Crags up to the town of Mt Shasta.” Though, he found “just one patch of Indian Rhubarb in the box canyon below Lake Siskiyou showing some red and orange.” Phil and John were “feeling pretty disappointed and not at all optimistic” about their second destination, south of the town of McCloud.
Yét Atwam Creek had recently been renamed in a national effort to purge some 650 geographical features across the country from the derogatory term ‘squaw’ which had been used widely in naming mountains, streams, valleys, with little care for the fact that it was insulting to native people.
After seeing the disappointing color along the Upper Sac, Phil and John anticipated that Yét Atwam Creek would have even less, since the creek is 200 feet lower. “However, as we drove south from McCloud, we were encouraged to see patches of color. After we turned on to FS Road 39-N21 for the last three miles to the creek, the colors steadily improved.”
Along the road, trees flanked pastures with lemony, golden and grassy-green-colored leaves. In the distance a peek is seen of Mt Shasta’s peak. By the time they reached the creek, they realized that Indian rhubarb (Darmera) had already peaked and “were well on their way to brown.”
Odd. No color along the Upper Sac, past peak along this creek. Phil regretted not having planned his trip a week earlier, but then past experience led him to estimate he’d be there at peak. As seen in these photos, some green Darmera remain to peak beside the creeks, so getting there now is an absolute directive, if you want to see any of them at their bold best.
As for the Upper Sacramento River, it’s one to two weeks from peaking.
- Yét Atwam Creek (2,500′) – Past Peak, You Missed It.
- Cabin Creek (2,658′) – Patchy (10-50%)
- Upper Sacramento River (2,700′) – Patchy (10-50%)
