Trip Report: Mount Shasta & Mexican Food
May 7 – 13 (Red Bluff and Mount Shasta, CA) —
After Sisters, we headed to Red Bluff, CA to visit David’s 80 year old uncle. We relaxed at his place by the Sacramento River for a few days, caught up with him and David’s cousins, and then headed to Mount Shasta once the weather window cleared.
We arrived at the Bunny Flats trailhead just in time to catch the evening chant session by the local hippies (see group of three with bongo drums in picture below):
We later learned that there are some who believe that aliens live inside Mount Shasta, called the Luminaries, and the believers pray to the aliens. Having lived in Venice, CA for a few years, we were not really surprised by this.
We slept well at the trailhead along with a few other campers until we were awakened at 3:30 am by a rowdy group of skiers from Colorado who were making an early start for their summit attempt and seemed to think the rest of us should join them. After they finally departed, we snoozed for another couple of hours and headed out at 7 am on our intended route, the Avalanche Gulch.
As the sun rose, we made it to the tree line and headed more sharply uphill.
At Helen Lake, we took a break for lunch and some pictures:
The snow was starting to soften significantly, so a short while later we stripped our skins and headed down for some beautiful spring corn skiing. The snow was really nice all the way until the terrain flattened out near tree line.
Of course, by now we were hungry again after ascending 4500′, so we headed straight to Poncho & Lefkowitz, which serves an odd couple menu of Mexican food as well as Bratwurst and other sausages. It’s not exactly a taco truck since it’s stationary, but it’s similar. And very delicious.
After we filled our bellies, we headed back to Red Bluff where we fell asleep by 8 pm.
The next day, I was delighted that David’s cousin came over to teach me how to make flat enchiladas with a red chili sauce, which were awesome. And then the following day his uncle’s girlfriend came over to teach me how to make sopes from scratch.
Absolutely the best sopes I’ve ever had. I think I ate 5 of them.
The following day, I rolled out David’s grandmother’s recipe for sopapillas (below) and we had these for breakfast:
We then waddled to our car and drove away before we could eat any more incredible Mexican food.
Sopapillas
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
2/3 c lukewarm water
fat for frying
honey, sugar and cinnamon
Sir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the shortening till mixture resembles cornmeal. Gradually add the water, stirring with a fork (dough will be crumbly). Turn onto floured surface: knead into a smooth ball. Divide dough in half; let stand 10 minutes. Roll each half into a 12 -1/2 x 10 inch rectangle. Cut into 2 ½ inch squares (do not reroll or patch dough). Fry a few at a time in deep hot fat (400 degrees) till golden. Drain on paper toweling. Serve with honey or roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture.