Chip O'Brien

When you spend enough time in wild places, you’re bound to run into a few of the creatures that call…

Photo by Stephen Leonardi One day I was up in Oregon and pulled into the “Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint”…

Photo of James F. and Margaret Reed, who were members of the Donner Party I could have died so many…

As written in the book California’s Best Fly Fishing Old Shavehead. Photo: California State University, Chico While geologists estimate that…

Photo by Sebastien Goldberg Who isn’t fascinated with standing on top of NorCal’s premier active volcano, the formidable Mt. Shasta?…

Photo by Steven Cordes I gotta admit, I’m torn on this one. I’ve recently returned from a fishing trip to Yellowstone…

Hunter S. Thompson began his literary journey in San Francisco When you think of famous people associated with Northern California,…

Photo: Chip O’Brien When October finally arrives in NorCal, chances are you will find me fishing somewhere. It may only…

Photo by Zden?k Machá?ek Why does the California State Flag feature an extinct animal, the California grizzly bear, a beast so…

I call it a successful camping trip if I don’t forget the mosquito repellant and a roll of TP. But…

Photo by Sébastien Goldberg When you see the Golden Gate Bridge, no one has to tell you where you are. The…

Northern California is well known as a fishing Mecca, and the Sacramento River is sometimes referred to as the best…

Hollywood is obsessed with “good guys and bad guys,” and why not? There’s something very satisfying when good triumphs over…

From the prow of our anchored pram I gazed across the Fall River Valley in the setting sun, and the…

Photo by James Whitney Often referred to as “the most common shrub in California,” if you’ve been at all active in…

Just about wherever you live, there’s that one season.  In northern climes when the mercury dips below freezing, most folks…

Who hasn’t heard of Kit Carson, the steely mountain man, courageous explorer, military hero, character in numerous dime novels and…

The list of special places in NorCal is endless, but besides getting out there and forming your own impressions, it’s…

She was late getting back to the Trinity this year, at least later than a lot of the others. They…

Lassen Peak Geology is not considered terribly exciting, probably because most of it happens in ultra, ultra, ultra slow-motion. But…

When Christopher Columbus discovered the “New World,” (Cuba and the Bahamas, really) he was convinced he had landed on the…

How do you take the measure of a man? It usually begins with facts documented and witnessed by credible sources.…

I never knew there was such a thing as “brewer’s anxiety,” until it smacked me in the face. While it…

The California Bear Flag (the official state flag of California) hardly gets any love despite flying over virtually every government…

Like a whole lot of people, I’ve been trying to avoid the question. Residents of NorCal tend to love where…

Photo: Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis Residents of NorCal love their beer. But how many knew the oldest and most prestigious Master…

There is little doubt the standards have changed for what it means to qualify as a “bad dude.” NorCal has…

If every ardent fisherperson in Northern California went fishing at the same time, think of how clear the freeways might…

Photo by Tony Webster Don’t try it. Redding in the summertime is a study in contrasts, contrasts that can be…

If you buy into the notion that we learn best from our mistakes, I must be one of the smartest…

Reasons people have for needing to escape the rat race are endless, but the fact remains that we all do.…

Ishi making a wood harpoon in Deer Creek in 1914 Most California school kids have heard the story of Ishi,…

Joe Kimsey was a fishing legend on the Upper Sacramanto River If you refer to that fly rod as a…

“If I were you,” he said as he passed by, “I’d head back down the mountain. Storm’s brewing.” His words…

Captain Jack The 1870s were turbulent, bloody times in Northern California. Tensions between Indigenous Peoples and the U.S. Army who…

Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Lightning, heavy winds, hail and deepening snow pummeled intrepid mountaineers John Muir and Jerome…

John Muir and Jerome Fay made it to the summit by 7:30am on that fateful day in 1875. That’s right…

“If I were you,” he said as he passed by, “I’d head back down the mountain. Storm’s brewing.” His words…

It’s larger than Shasta Caverns. Extinct ground sloths were found there, the first ever in California. Sharp-faced bears, the most…

The novel was published in 1983, and the movie came out in 2010. So why are we finally getting around…

Northern California is pretty famous for good fishing. In fact, I‘ve often wondered how much this may have to do…

When you think of what California is best known for, obvious answers might include Hollywood, surfing, giant redwoods, the Golden…

In a crowded pub I had one of those “TV commercial” moments. My buddy and I were talking fishing when…

A bear with a tasty treat along Shasta Lake When bears turn up on city streets or caught foraging in…

It wouldn’t be the first time I discovered I had a bad attitude about something without fully considering the facts.…

That magical, terrifying, intense time between the late 1960s and early 1970s saw change sweeping across America in steady waves.…

You’ve surely seen the name Lassen plastered throughout Northern California, but behind the name sits a wild west murder mystery.…

While it might be a stretch to describe Mark Twain’s ascent to literary rock-stardom as luck, he truly did not expect…

Who knew that Mark Twain, beloved American author and humorist, creator of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, spent seven wild…

Like stepping off a bar stool after swilling shots of whiskey, nudging my canoe into Fall River catches me off-guard.…

People dream of coming to California to become the next Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks, but hardly the “father of…

Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington “WHOA,” my teenage son screamed. “Watch out! Those rocks are slippery. I…

While some dams are old and nearly useless, major dams like Shasta provide flood control and water storage for millions…

Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife In a world with…

It was a foregone conclusion that I would love the Shasta Caverns tour. First, you find it off the O’Brien…

Brought to you by Visit Redding Photo: Visit Redding We’ve all felt like we were going in circles at some…

Photo: California Trout It’s the strangest feeling. I can be standing for hours in a rushing trout stream totally absorbed…

Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou Mount Shasta overlooks much of the North State and provides a certain familiar presence.…

Brought to you by Visit Redding Photo of Chip O’Brien on the Summit of Mt. Shasta “Doubly happy,” said John…

BThe story was well known to me, but we at Active NorCal always check our sources. If you Google “Tarzan,…

Peering into the lives of the first non-Native people in Northern California, dreams, imaginings and real history clash in a…

“AAAAAAUUUUAAAACK… AAAAAAUUUUAAAACK…” My eyes opened the size of softballs and the sleeping bag I’d been dozing in nearly lifted off…

At four thirty in the morning no one saw the light from my tiny headlamp inching uphill in pitch darkness…

Thankfully, no invisible or bony hand ever reached out to touch my shoulder on dark evenings while fishing the October…

When you combine a pithy streak of spontaneity with a penchant for living life on the edge, bad things might…

Names almost always make for a good story, and Hat Creek is no exception. Of course, not everyone may agree that…

The security guard handed my driver’s license back and announced something into the burly walkie-talkie hoisted from his belt. There…