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A Religious Group Is Strangling Access to Calif.'s Most Beautiful Waterfall
SFgate ^ | Sep. 21, 2022 | Ashley Harrell

Posted on 09/21/2022 5:49:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway

There are two ways to get to Mossbrae Falls, one of the most beautiful (and most often Instagrammed) natural attractions in California, about 30 minutes from the base of Mount Shasta. Unfortunately, neither of the routes are legal — and the more popular one involves a potentially deadly trek along active railroad tracks.

And yet the ethereal beauty of the falls is still a powerful temptation for visitors, who come here by the thousands, often drawn by shots splashed across Instagram and other social media sites. Tall as a five-story building and longer than an Olympic swimming pool, Mossbrae is actually hundreds of waterfalls in one, all cascading over a carpet of lush moss into the Sacramento River just outside the small city of Dunsmuir.

For nearly a century, the only way to see the beauty in person has been to trespass on one of two privately owned properties. The falls are located on the east side of the river, which is owned by the Saint Germain Foundation, a secretive religious group. The opposite bank is owned by Union Pacific Railroad, which regularly runs trains along tracks that overlook the river. This is the more popular route for visitors, but it comes with serious risks: Two people have been hit by trains while hiking the route since 2011.

Over the years, concerned citizens, nonprofit groups and city officials have pushed for a safe and accessible path to the falls. So far, every plan has fallen apart in the negotiation phase, due in large part to both passive and active resistance from the property owners on either side of the river. But that hasn’t stopped John Harch, retired surgeon and president of the Mount Shasta Trail Association, from fighting for a public right to view this natural splendor.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Local News; Outdoors; Religion; Travel
KEYWORDS: ballard; california; cult; fakenews; guyballard; guywballard; mossbraefalls; mountshasta; privateproperty; stgermain; stgermainfoundation; trains; waterfall; waterfalls
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To: vladimir998

Thanks for the link. It’s their property. Tough s**t to the trespassers. They should have a pilgrimage to another area with waterfalls. Have the falls there self identify as Mossbrae falls , and that’s all they get.


21 posted on 09/21/2022 10:04:07 PM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
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To: piasa

Is the waterfall itself on the privately held land? Believe it or not, common law holds that it is NOT trespassing to cross private land to go somewhere else, providing you in no way diminish the landowner’s own use of the land. California legislation clarified the supremacy of this common law, at least in respect to beach access; my state has long previously recognized that common law for any woould-be trespass.

The U.S. Constitution only enumerated very few elements of common law, but did clarify that the merely partial enumeration of common law did not overturn its existence: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”


22 posted on 09/22/2022 3:45:24 AM PDT by dangus
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To: Tax-chick

I Am.


23 posted on 09/22/2022 7:00:10 AM PDT by Captain Compassion (I'm just sayin')
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To: Captain Compassion

Me, too, oddly enough.


24 posted on 09/22/2022 5:19:56 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Nature, art, silence, simplicity, peace. And fungi.)
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To: nickcarraway
This is the more popular route for visitors, but it comes with serious risks: Two people have been hit by trains while hiking the route since 2011.

...Two deaths in 11 years is "serious risk". Does this author live in a plastic bubble? I certainly hope he hasn't gotten his ChinaVirus shots!
25 posted on 09/22/2022 7:28:48 PM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: BenLurkin

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks BFD.


26 posted on 09/24/2022 4:41:33 AM PDT by NetAddicted (Just looking)
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