Rail – The Northern California Explorer – Feather River/Keddie/Lake Almanor/Bieber/Klamath Falls

This is a short post for Chico-area residents to remind you of a rare opportunity to take a remarkable train excursion on two routes that never have passenger service, and another that is normally not covered during the day by Amtrak.

What’s more, this trip is set up in such a way that it is exceptionally easy for residents from our area to board, without having to first get to the Bay Area where the train originates.

The Northern California Explorer leaves Emeryville at 2 p.m. on Friday, 3 June, and operates as far as Oroville where it “ties up”. Bay Area originating passengers will stay at local hotels, but Chico-area passengers can buy a ticket that begins in Oroville at 9 a.m. on Sat., 4 June. They park their cars at the Amtrak station in Chico and take a charter bus to the Oroville station to board the train.

From there this is a dream itinerary that runs up the Feather River canyon as far as the Keddie Junction, turning left (north) along the east shore of Lake Almanor, through Westwood, to Bieber (for the reenactment of the 1931 ceremony driving the golden spike for this route called the “Inside Gateway”), and on through rugged country as far as Klamath Falls, Ore. The Inside Gateway never had regularly scheduled passenger service and the last time an excursion train was operated over it was more than fifty years ago.)

Sunday, 5 June, the train leaves Klamath Falls headed south past Mt. Shasta and through Dunsmuir, then down the Sacramento River canyon and across Lake Shasta arriving in Chico at approximately 2 p.m. Chico passengers will detrain here, then the train continues back to Sacramento and Emeryville. While Klamath Falls to Chico is covered by Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, it is during the night. This is a rare opportunity to experience it during the daytime.

It’s seldom that a chance like this presents itself. I won’t be able to ride this excursion, because it takes place the same weekend as the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey running relay but that shouldn’t stop anyone else.

Take a look at the website and get inspired both by the train and the scenery! You’ll love the photos, and you’ll find a very detailed description of the route and activities taking place that weekend.

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Rail – Another Tehachapis detour on the Coast Starlight (Spring 2011)

Take a look at my main blog, “Planes, Trains, and Running” for a post that Chico area residents may be interested in.

It’s another chance to ride Amtrak’s Coast Starlight down the San Joaquin Valley and over the rugged Tehachapis into Los Angeles.

Also be aware of the opportunity to easily take part in two special rail excursions (Chico and/or Oroville boarding locations) being marketed by Trains & Travel

Northern California Explorer (3-5 June 2011 – Feather River Canyon, Inside Gateway, Klamath Falls, Shasta route)

Dunsmuir Shasta Daylight (10-12 June 2011)

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Rail – Jordan’s first train ride

Our former neighbors’ grandson Jordan turned 6 at the end of December, making him an eligible candidate for his first real train ride. It’s at that age when boys (mostly) can get hooked on trains.

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That important mission was carried out this past Sunday when Jordan, his mom Hayley, grandparents Michael and Becki, and I rode Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor from Sacramento to Martinez and back.

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Rail – “Northern California Explorer” excursion train, 3-5 June 2011

Here is another way to ride the Feather River Canyon, plus an even more unusual stretch from Keddie past Lake Almanor and Westwood all of the way to Klamath Falls and back.

The 3-day trip begins and ends in Emeryville with the usual Amtrak station stops as far as Sacramento, but Chico area travelers have the option of making just a 2-day trip that begins in Oroville and ends in Chico.

For more, please go to my main blog: “Planes, Trains, and Running“.

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Amtrak Service and Fares – new blog series

For those interested in Amtrak I’m starting a new blog series entitled “Amtrak Service and Fares”.

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It will be similar to the “Airline Fare School” series, however it will include a great deal of information about Amtrak’s routes and service before delving into fares.

The series will run in my primary blog, “Planes, Trains, & Running“, but when I publish the chapter in the main blog about routes. I will also publish a Chico-centric post here about the Amtrak service available in this area.

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Rail – Feather River Express and Trains Unlimited Tours

Chico area folks may be interested in this post in my blog “Planes, Trains, & Running” about the annual excursion trains up the Feather River canyon to Portola operated by Trains Unlimited Tours.

Click here to view the post.

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Running – Whiskeytown Relays, 19 September 2010

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If you have 3 other friends who run, then you have a team for the Whiskeytown Relays on Sunday, 19 September.

Never done a relay? Here’s your chance to try one out without making a big commitment to an all-day, all-night, 12-person/36-leg affair.

Whiskeytown is logistically easy. You just drive up the morning of the race and the event organizers will put runners 2, 3 and 4 on buses to hand-off points, as well as get runners who finish legs 1, 2, and 3 back to the start/finish point.

The race is almost 20 miles in distance (19.9) and is challenging. Save your toughest runner for leg 4. It’s the longest of the four legs, has some very steep elevation gain (and loss), and is mostly on trails. Leg 1 is all up and then all down. Leg 2 is up at the start, then rolling hills along Hwy. 299. Leg 3 is the gentlest of the legs with more distance along Hwy. 299 and then a side road. Views along the course are terrific.

Click here for the event website. Register by 11 September for the lower rate of $100 per team.

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Planes, Trains, & Running – my new blog

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Planes, Trains, & Automobiles now has a big brother blog called Planes, Trains, & Running.

In addition to being new, the blog its very own URL: www.planestrainsandrunning.com

Why don’t you bookmark it or, better yet, add it and the other blogs you follow to your Google Reader account so you don’t have to individually check each blog to see if it has been updated?

I will continue to post to Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, but it will be sporadically and about subjects with a purely Chico local appeal. There may be times when I run a companion piece with the Chico angle to a larger subject that I write about in the main blog.

You will find the same subject matter in Planes, Trains, & Running that you’ve grown accustomed to in the original blog, but I changed the name since I found myself writing more about running than I expected to, and I intend to keep on doing so.

Otherwise airlines, trains, hotels, car rental, and destinations will continue to comprise the topics I write about. And you’ll never be far from this original blog when you’re reading Planes, Trains, & Running because you’ll have links that take you back to all but the most time-dated material I wrote about. And you can see all of the posts in the Planes, Trains, & Automobiles” archives.

For those who’ve been waiting for the same treatment for Amtrak fares that I gave to airline fares in “Airline Fare School”, that will start soon in the new blog.

However the very first subject that is waiting for you at Planes, Trains, & Running is about a change of business direction for Horizon Air, a carrier I’ve mentioned often in the original blog. I think you’ll find it interesting.

Please join me over at Planes, Trains, & Running!

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Destinations – Lassen Volcanic National Park’s Paradise Meadow

Every spring you can count on seeing articles in newspaper travel sections, AAA’s VIA magazine, Sunset, and other similar publications about how rugged and pretty Lassen National Park is, that the number of visitors is very small, and why you should plan a visit soon.

The articles keep on coming but the crowds don’t.

Lassen’s distance from any large metropolitan area and lack of a signature resort will probably assure that lonely condition in perpetuity, no matter how many magazine articles appear.

That’s just fine with me.

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VIEW OF PARADISE MEADOW FROM WHERE THE TRAIL OPENS ON TO IT

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Running – 2010 Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run

Since 2001 I’ve made a trip to Ashland, Ore. at least once a year, usually more often. And somewhere over the years I became aware of a race that seemed challenging, to say the least: the Mt. Ashland Hillclimb Run.

The race starts in downtown Ashland where Lithia Park begins (elevation 1900′), and proceeds almost continuously uphill to finish at the summit of Mt. Ashland (elevation 7533′) for a rise of more than 5600′ over a distance of about 13.3 miles.

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THE GOAL: MT. ASHLAND AS SEEN FROM DOWNTOWN ASHLAND

At some point this year, mere knowledge of the event turned into a decision to run it, so I signed up soon after registration opened in May and shortly after I had run the Eugene Marathon. The field is limited to about 250, and it fills up quickly so I wanted to be sure I had a spot.
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