Be really careful trying to stay in Mt. Shasta if you are from Sea Level Right now

The problem is the same one that I had when I started to panic because I couldn't breathe the smoke in Shasta on the 7th of July. I was okay at the 3500 to 3800 feet elevation in the little Town of Mt. Shasta without the smoke because I'm from the San Francisco area. But, when the smoke came in the night of the 6th heavily into town from the Klamathon fire that is now out around Hilt near the border with Oregon then, I had to leave on the 7th even though I wanted to stay longer because I just couldn't get enough oxygen at that altitude because of the smoke and coughing from it. At Redding with the smoke I was fine but not at Mt. Shasta. So, if you haven't traveled at altitude combined with smoke from fires before be really careful you don't wind up in a hospital on Oxygen because this happens a lot now when people don't realize they can't breathe at altitude AND deal with smoke too from all the fires. My friends in Mt. Shasta have told me I shouldn't likely come there now because of this.  So, IF I want to go north of there likely I will have to either fly or go up 101 along the coast and hope the smoke doesn't blow that way. Usually the smoke goes to the east across California into Nevada and further East on the winds this time of year but like today it went south to Morgan Hill and Gilroy and San Jose and out to sea instead which it also can do but that isn't the prevailing winds for this time of year. But, it can happen. The prevailing winds are almost always to the east off the ocean and inland which is why people like living a lot from Santa Barbara north up to Canada on the Pacific Coast because the air is usually one of the clearest places on the planet off of the Pacific Ocean. (unless fires are burning and blowing the smoke out to sea which can happen sometimes in the summers.)

Note: If you are healthy enough to drive straight through from somewhere between San Francisco and Redding over Mt. Shasta and the Mt. Ashland Pass there is still smoke in Ashland as far north as Grants Pass and beyond. So, the smoke is going to be heavy going north on Interstate 5 likely from about the Clear Lake area northward and then the Carr Fire in Redding and then more fires in Oregon as well now. So, if you drive straight through without stopping and maybe just buy gas (which in Oregon it is against the law to fill your own tank by the way) (You have to let the attendant do it).

So, in smoke this might be easier for you. You turn your air conditioning on on recirculate keep all your windows tightly closed and head right through the whole thing from Clear Lake all the way to north of Grants Pass or beyond at the very least. This is another way to deal with all this by not stopping for anything but gas from Clear Lake (around Williams on Interstate 5) and driving straight through until you get beyond the worst smoke somewhere north of Grants Pass. (but by the time you read this check for new fires in Oregon or Washington if you are traveling there through California.