|
Camping on Your Parcel
Dear Neighbor
About Us
Being Here
Don't Go There!
A View from Here
Pets
Recreation
Wildlife
Noxious Weeds
Weather
Local Links
Juniper Flat Fire Safe Council
By the People
Fire: A Fact of Life
Siskiyou County Government urges you to read this before you buy land or move
here:
Code of the West
MSVPOA
Governing Documents
| |
Recently I logged onto one of those Internet map sites to get directions to
some place in Weed. The directions told me to turn onto Rising Hill Road and
follow it to SR97. Been there - done that - don't recommend it!
 Here's
what happened to me when I was out exploring the subdivision in my car one
evening. I came to a road marked Rising Hill Road - it sounded so charming. But
the road didn't rise, I never saw a hill, just a rough gravel pit where my car
tires sank to the rims in seconds. AAA could not get in there because their tow
trucks do not have four-wheel drive! The driver told me he had encountered this
problem many times up here, on several roads. The problem was that the
gravel looked just like the gravel on other roads and there was no way of
telling that it was so deep in this spot. Also, if this is a dead end road is
should be marked as such at the last intersection before the dead end, so people
don't turn down there.
During the Hotlum fire we had a number of
out-of-area firefighters up here who are not familiar with our roads, we need to
provide a safe environment for these brave souls who put their lives on the line
to protect us.
A nearby friend with a large four-wheel drive pickup truck pulled me out the
following day. It turns out Rising Hill Road was washed out years ago by Whitney
Creek. Whitney Creek is no ordinary creek. Most of the year it looks as if it
has been dry for centuries. Whitney Creek is really a run-off trough for Whitney
Glacier, the largest of Mt. Shasta's five named glaciers. Every summer the
glacier begins to melt. When it does, it isn't water that runs down the creek,
it is a dense mud slide that drags with it massive amounts of rock, ranging in
size from sand to gravel to huge boulders.
If you are considering buying a property near Whitney Creek, be sure to ask
about this. Some years it can affect properties a half mile away or more.
California Street is another road that is not navigable for its entire
length. Tom Davis, our road maintenance person, suggests you avoid this road
past the first home off of Country Road.
Here is a message sent by a man who was looking
at property to buy in the area:
"I was driving on Placone Drive to Jennie to White to Thrush. According to
Google maps and satellite imagery, Country Rd, which is off Thrush continues to
Buck Horn Road. It does not. Driving on Thrush we originally missed Country
Road. We did a U-turn to find two entrances onto the road. We took the path
that had the least sand but more trees (my truck got damaged going through
here). We continued down the road for a few miles when the road abruptly
stopped at a mound of sand. We attempted to turn around and drive back the way
we came but our back tires sank, into the sand, to the axel. We called AAA and
they sent out a tow truck which too, got stuck. Four hours of winching in heavy
winds we finally got the tow truck back onto Thrush. The road was deceptive and
looked like a hard surface but was not. In the end, it took a week to retrieve
my truck and AAA had to contract out to extract it. Contrary to what Google
says, Country Road is not a through road."
Be wary of Google maps or internet directions of any kind. Whitney Creek is an
alluvial waterway, which means it deposits mud in its path as it flows, so that
its path is always changing. It has washed out roads since those Google
satellite photos were taken. The road leading down from SR97 is no longer there.
Country Road is a very short road that extends from Buckhorn to Trails End and
does not go up the hill toward Bonanza and Mildred. Those roads can only be
accessed directly from County Road A-12.
Wherever your drive in the subdivision, please
drive slowly, stay as far right as you can and always wear your safety belt.
Fatal injuries can occur at speeds under 10 MPH.
|
