This is one of the finest views in the canyon, with the mighty form of Mt. Shasta in the background. The great white cap extends 14,444 feet above the sea. The foothill counties tributary to this valley are rich in gold and other minerals, while the rich soil of the entire valley is adapted to raising of a most diverse variety of crops. The upper canyon of the Sacramento River constantly presents to the traveler an ever-changing scene of astounding splendor.
[CASTLE CRAGS IN SACRAMENTO CANYON]
Castle Crags, in the Sacramento Canyon, are great granite rocks, rising close beside the track, to a height of 4,000 feet. Their vertical strata splintered into a hundred parapets, makes this a scene never to be forgotten. Beyond the Crags is Castle Lake at an elevation of 7,245 feet, and from this point appears the rounded summit of Mt. Shasta, silver against the turquoise sky; a watch tower of the world, gazing ever toward the eternal.
[MOSSBRAE FALLS AT SHASTA SPRINGS]
Here one of the enormous streams which have their origin in the melting snows of Mt. Shasta, divides itself into a myriad of little waterways before reaching the top of a wooded semi-circular cliff, from which point it tumbles into the Sacramento River, a hundred feet below, forming Mossbrae Falls, as they appear like a thousand springs born under the rocky ground.
[SHASTA SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA]
Shasta Springs, near the base of Mount Shasta, is one of the best-known all-the-year-around resorts in the world. Here the train stops long enough for a drink of the famous sparkling Shasta water, real soda water. This resort is noted for its scenic beauty and its health-giving water.
[CANTARA LOOP, 18TH CROSSING, SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIFORNIA]
The train spends five hours crossing and recrossing the Sacramento River. This loop was devised to get out of the canyon and up on the plateau where stands Mt. Shasta, with its snowy summit, as seen from the car windows; nothing could be a more glorious tribute to the marvelous skill of the modern railroad engineer, than the obstacles met with and overcome in building a railroad through this rugged country.