This time last week, I, for one, still had no idea that Sonoma/Sugar Loaf Ridge has such beautiful views. Now, blogging this hike a few days later, I know that that area is well worth visiting with really enjoyable and stunning foothill type of hikes--it's a winner of a hiking spot and now one of my favorite low-elevation areas.
So--the original plan was to meet up with my usual hiking group and hike up Hood Mountain, but, due to some confusion on our end, I and a few others from my original group ended up walking with a different hiking group, this one from the North Bay. Very friendly people willing to adopt some errant hikers from another group, so I appreciated their company.
After some confusion as to who was in what group and where the hike was going to go, we ended up walking up Stern Trail on our way to Bald Mountain. This trail is pretty direct (good), but it's also paved the entire way (less good). While the company was interesting, therefore, the paved trail was a little disappointing.
I learned that I don't much enjoy walking on paved trails although this one had some pretty redeeming views:
Still, paved roads,for me, lack the feeling of exploration or escape that seem to come inherently with a hard packed dirt or loam single track trail. I hadn't been to Bald Mountain before, however, and it was rumored to have wonderful 360 views of the Napa countryside, so I decided to go check it out with the newly adopted group.
As we marched up toward our destination, I noted that there were numerous trail offshoots along the way, so I knew that, on the way down, I would do some 'sploring of the other (non-paved) trails.
Once at the top, the view from the top of Bald Mountain was, indeed, worth it. You could see all the way to Point Reyes in one direction to the SF city in another to Mount St Helene in another to Pyramid Peak (in the Sierras) in yet another direction--all four compass directions had wonderful views--quite stunning. It was also a very clear day, so you could see as far as your eyes would allow you to do so. Plus there were very helpful signs to help you identify the peaks around, and overall, it was definitely worth the hike up.
The question for me, of course, would be the most scenic and enjoyable way to go down from this vista-rich peak. The map showed several possibilities that reduced significantly the amount of time spent on the paved road, so I determined to explore the options on the way down.
After studying the (really helpful) State Park map (available for $1 from the Visitor Center/park ranger), I decided to explore the Vista Trail. Any trail named 'Vista' is probably worth exploring since park officials tend to keep that name for the most beautiful trails.
So, about 1.2 miles down the Bald Mountain Trail/road, I side-tracked down Vista. By the way, on the way down Bald Mountain Trail and all along Vista, I kept hearing an ominous buzzing of bees, and, after looking around to see what was up, I realized that the trees on the side of the trail were all in bloom, and that they were consequently just dripping with bees. It seemed early in the year for the bee/bloom thing to be happening, but it was neat to see that at least those types of bees were thriving.
As soon as I stepped onto Vista, I felt myself relaxing as I realized that now I was doing what I had come to do. Vista was a single-track hard-dirt, loam trail, surrounded by trees, bushes, streams, and creeks, and nary a paved road in sight. There were tiny bridges, interesting creek crossings, lots of winding trails close to woody and leading meadowy/big sky areas---yes, this was what I had come to experience, and now, thankfully, I was. I was so happy; it was perfect, and while a day hiking is never awful, of course, Vista truly made the day fit more closely my expectations and hopes.
As soon as I stepped onto Vista, I felt myself relaxing as I realized that now I was doing what I had come to do. Vista was a single-track hard-dirt, loam trail, surrounded by trees, bushes, streams, and creeks, and nary a paved road in sight. There were tiny bridges, interesting creek crossings, lots of winding trails close to woody and leading meadowy/big sky areas---yes, this was what I had come to experience, and now, thankfully, I was. I was so happy; it was perfect, and while a day hiking is never awful, of course, Vista truly made the day fit more closely my expectations and hopes.
Vista is a pretty great collection of trail types. You walk through mossy, damp, wooded tree areas to various open meadow and hillside/big sky type of trails, and, as with all trails, you're just never sure what is coming up around the corner. It was wonderful. Since it's been so wet recently, it was a pretty muddy trail, but my Keen shoes are great for that type of hiking, so I was happy as a clam as I sloshed and squelched along the trail.
Half way along Vista, I discovered the name-sake area for the trail-- a huge rock upon which you could sit and just enjoy the view of several large rolling hills straight in front of you. It was a peaceful pondering place. Below you lies a vast expanse of downhill meadow, and you could sit there and just enjoy the day. Well worth leaving the paved trail for this experience.
Because it's been so damp recently and because my other group had planned to hike Goodspeed Trail and because that trail had been thought to have a creek crossing, I had my Teva sandals with me along with a tiny camp towel because we thought we'd need to do some paddling across the trail.
Why do I mention this tiny gear-fact? Because at the end of Vista, there turned out to be a relatively small but determined creek lying directly across the trail--possibly about 6 feet wide and maybe five inches deep.
Hmm--too deep for Keens, but perfect for my Tevas. :) I hadn't done a creek crossing before, and while I realized it was in no way dangerous, it was kind of fun to do. I changed shoes, repacked my bag, and ventured across the creek. The water was invigorating and my feet were refreshed, and the whole thing was quite the adventure for this new hiker. I was happy to have the right gear to be able to do so.
After the creek crossing, the trail opened up a little into more meadowy surrounds, and I joined the Hillside Trail, which looked more like this:
Hillside was quite steep in places, but always pretty, with plenty of hills, meadows, trees, and even deer to see as you walked along the trail. I couldn't believe that we hadn't hiked up that way to begin with, but ce'st la vie. It was a very pleasant people walk up the hill, after all.
After about 0.5 miles, I found myself at one smaller waterfall (or really a series of stepped waters because the water didn't really fall so much as work its way down a series of rocks). It was pretty enough to almost convince me to stop there, partly because it was getting a little late and party because I could tell that the going up hike would be pretty rough on my knees; still--I wanted to see the big waterfall about which I had heard so much, and since I was mostly there, I decided to keep going toward the larger roar of water, and I was very glad I did.
Pictures can't do the waterfall justice, of course, but it was pretty stunning, no? Lots of mossy rocks, the huge wall of roaring sound coming from the falls and about 20 feet or so of rushing water. I was the only one there at the time, so as a bonus, it felt like my own personal falls and truly, it was a great end to my invigorating day.
Stats:
Hillside Trail (dirt): 0.75
Hmm--too deep for Keens, but perfect for my Tevas. :) I hadn't done a creek crossing before, and while I realized it was in no way dangerous, it was kind of fun to do. I changed shoes, repacked my bag, and ventured across the creek. The water was invigorating and my feet were refreshed, and the whole thing was quite the adventure for this new hiker. I was happy to have the right gear to be able to do so.
After the creek crossing, the trail opened up a little into more meadowy surrounds, and I joined the Hillside Trail, which looked more like this:
Hillside was quite steep in places, but always pretty, with plenty of hills, meadows, trees, and even deer to see as you walked along the trail. I couldn't believe that we hadn't hiked up that way to begin with, but ce'st la vie. It was a very pleasant people walk up the hill, after all.
Once I returned to the car (via Hillside and then along the Creekside Nature Trail--very sweet with a bridge, it turns out, built by a colleague when he was an Eagle Scout way back when), I wanted to explore one more trail. I had heard about a terrific waterfall in the area, and since it had been raining so much, I thought now would be a terrific time to find it.
I walked out of the park, down the road for about 200 yards, and then turned left and went down, down, down on the Canyon Trail-- a short steep, stepped trail, about 0.6 miles each way, down to the waterfall.
It was a pretty, primeval, damp forest, with plenty of moss-covered trees, sticky trails, and no sounds.
After about 0.5 miles, I found myself at one smaller waterfall (or really a series of stepped waters because the water didn't really fall so much as work its way down a series of rocks). It was pretty enough to almost convince me to stop there, partly because it was getting a little late and party because I could tell that the going up hike would be pretty rough on my knees; still--I wanted to see the big waterfall about which I had heard so much, and since I was mostly there, I decided to keep going toward the larger roar of water, and I was very glad I did.
Pictures can't do the waterfall justice, of course, but it was pretty stunning, no? Lots of mossy rocks, the huge wall of roaring sound coming from the falls and about 20 feet or so of rushing water. I was the only one there at the time, so as a bonus, it felt like my own personal falls and truly, it was a great end to my invigorating day.Stats:
- mid-50's, cloudy/sunny/dry
- $8 to enter park--worth it since the parks are feeling the economic pinch too. Many park in the small turnouts along the way, but since I was using the park, I thought I should probably pay that pittance to do so. Plus, before you believe that I'm being too righteous for words, I have to note that also there were no available parking spots outside the park. :)
- pay $1 to get the trail map; the trails themselve are well signed, but the overall trail map sign at the trail head is faded and hard to read. The map came in very handy once I discovered I wanted to change the trails. I learned also that it's well worth studying the map before you go up a trail; if I had studied it more closely, I could have seen even before the hike started that that trail was going to be paved.
- about 1.5 hours from home
Trails:
Going Up:
Stern Trail (paved): 0.35
Bald Mountain Trail (paved): 3.4 one way
Going Down:
Bald Mountain Trail (paved): 1.2
Bald Mountain Trail (paved): 1.2
Vista Trail (dirt with creek crossing): 3.2
Hillside Trail (dirt): 0.75
Side Trip:
Canyon Trail (dirt, steep trail steps) to waterfall: 0.6 x 2 =1.2
plus lots of wandering: 1.5
Total: 11.25 miles
Want more info? http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=481
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