Val Zavala>> The Native Americans see it as sacred, but others see it as a way to make money. Today we head to the northern tip of California as part of our "Magical Mystery Tour of California". Student reporter Amy Tenowich from the USC Annenberg School of Journalism takes us to Mt. Shasta.

Amy Tenowich>> At more than fourteen thousand feet, it stands alone on California's northern border, Mt. Shasta. For centuries, it's been a sacred place for Native Americans. Now it's where many tourists come to reboot their souls.

Ashalyn>> "So what I'd like you to do is just ground and center yourself and think about what your intentions are for the day."

Amy Tenowich>> Ashalyn -- that's her first and last name -- runs Shasta Vortex Adventures. She's turned this natural beauty into a successful business. Now she's cleansing her client's aura with burning sage.

Ashalyn>> Everything that I do has a spiritual aspect in it. So when we go on our tours, we use our intention and our focus to communicate with the realms of spirit as well as the beauty of the physical terrain around us. "There's shakras in the bottom of your feet. Imagine those shakras opening up and, with each step you take, little tiny lotus petals fall out of the shakras and are behind you as you walk."

Amy Tenowich>> Sharon Szczybor, a retired science teacher from Baltimore, felt called here to go on one of Ashalyn's guided vision quests. That includes visiting sacred sites and focusing on spiritual cleansing and growth.

Sharon Szczybor>> I hope today to get purification, clarification and energy for healing.

Amy Tenowich>> As part of that healing, Ashalyn encourages her to hug a native.

Ashalyn>> "Wow, that one was opening up my third eye (laughter)."

Amy Tenowich>> With their third eyes of consciousness now wide open, the two ended the day at a local waterfall, the perfect place to cleanse any lingering negativity.

Sharon Szczybor>> I released energy and impurities and I allowed myself to be filled with energy from the earth and from the waterfall.

Amy Tenowich>> Sharon says that it was $385.00 well spent. Other tourists are opening their wallets too. Just walk through town and you'll find stores catering to every spiritual appetite. Thousands of outsiders hoping to look within come to Mt. Shasta each year, but some feel that tourism threatens what makes this place so sacred.

Floyd Buckskin>> A lot of people just treat it as a big playground. "All right, let's go. We can do anything we want." No, you can't do anything you want.

Amy Tenowich>> Floyd Buckskin is with the Pitt River Tribe. He introduced me to flowers as a snack. Tastes like children (laughter).

Floyd Buckskin>> (Laughter) I hope not.

Amy Tenowich>> His job is to manage and protect the land around Mt. Shasta, and with good reason.

Floyd Buckskin>> Mt. Shasta has always represented the home of the creator. It's always been a place that's recognizable on a spiritual level and on a physical level.

Amy Tenowich>> Buckskin knows that many New Agers aren't disrespecting the land, but says that many Native Americans are sick of visitors leaving so-called spiritual objects in their sacred places. Like at this spring, we found beads, ashes from incense, twine that once held burning sage to trees, and this colorful prayer bundle. But the New Age invasion doesn't stop at the edge of the spring.

Floyd Buckskin>> People are supposed to be able to go and drink and not worry about whether someone's sitting in there in the spring nude with a bunch of crystals sitting around them. You know, you don't want to drink water then.

Amy Tenowich>> Buckskin says that the beauty of the area is its simplicity and that all those objects aren't necessary to get the most out of it.

Floyd Buckskin>> When it gets right down to it, all you need to do is to open your mouth and let your spirit talk and let the spirit of the land talk to you.

Amy Tenowich>> Back on the vision quest, Ashalyn agrees with the Native Americans.

Ashalyn>> I understand their feelings a hundred percent. They want everything to stay in its pristine natural state as the creator created it.

Amy Tenowich>> No matter, she says, who your creator might be. For Life and Times, I'm Amy Tenowich.

Val Zavala>> Our thanks to the USC Annenberg School of Journalism for those stories, and congratulations to all those student reporters. I'm Val Zavala. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.