You know, surfer girl, that had totally NOT occurred to me. Don't know why! Do you recommend the trip north or south? I'm still toying with this idea because it sounds kind of fun

What I really want to do is go camping but that involves driving and that may be not physically possible this summer so I keep going back and forth. Hiking is not possible without a car, but driving with my current physical state don't sound all that much fun, so it's still up in the air.

The southbound Coast Starlight is more often early into Sacramento than it is late.
Ride to SAC and have a good breakfast and then either rent a car in Sacramento or take a later train to Emeryville with the bus into San Francisco.
On the northbound train I have been happy when the train was late and I could see Mt. Shasta in the early morning light.