A bird launches from shore as a man fishes along the Sacramento River along the Garden Highway. Now is apparently a good time for catching Steelhead, Rainbow Trout, White Sturgeon, Striped Bass and American Shad. The headwaters of the Sacramento River include numerous tributaries. Its three main forks stride down from alpine slopes gaining girth and grandeur as streams and creeks converge into it.

At the Sacramento River Delta, the watershed empties 31 percent of California's total water runoff into the San Francisco Bay. In its 384 mile journey, the mighty Sacramento River feeds Lake Siskiyou, Lake Shasta, and the Keswick Reservoir. At Lake Shasta, it is joined by the McCloud River, the Pit River, and Squaw Creek.

The picturesque river pays its passage by filling the wells of towns like Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir, Keswick, Redding, Red Bluff, and Corning (riverpirate.com).

SacPress Photo | Kati Garner