Above: Hoodoos, volcanic rock formations, from the Palisades Trail in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, near Calistoga.
This week, I went for an exploration of the Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Specifically, I had intended to hike to Table Rock and through the Palisades Trail to Holms Homestead.
First, Table Rock--it's an easy 2.2 miles from the dirt pullout/parking for the trails. (Look for the pedestrian crossing 400 yards sign on the Calistoga Grades Road, a little past the Robert Louis Stevenson State Park sign. The pullouts are very soon after that sign.) The pullouts are tiny (only about 9 cars on the Table Rock side and perhaps 6 cars on the Mt St Helena's side; they are both right opposite each other on each side of 29).
Below: The trail up to Table Rock was foresty, loamy, and full of animal tracks of various types. Traffic is pretty audible, however, but the trail seemed deserted until I returned, when most people seemed to be headed for Table Rock.
Below: You'll see this sign once you've walked a little over a mile on the Table Rock trail. This overlook sign is actually a little prematurely placed if it's intended to point out the actual Table Rock. Keep walking about another 500 yards to the actual Table Rock formation; it's not overt from this overlook sign.
Table Rock had some great views:
Table Rock itself was pretty impressive--a cluster of large volcanic rock, upon which you could sit and look around at a birds'-eye view of Calistoga and the surrounding mountains. All very pretty.
Below: Table Rock from the trail.
After enjoying the Table Rock vistas, I rturned down the Table Rock Trail to the main trail, and turned right, and continued up the hill, hoping to find the Palisades Trail, which I expected to be relatively overt. (See all those qualifiers in the preceding sentence? You should be feeling some fore-shadowing at this point. :))
The Palisades Trail, unsigned it turned out but later confirmed by maps, starts as soon as you turn up the hill on the maint trail from Table Rock Trail. This trail, as Bald Mountain and Vista Trails from last week were, was surrounded by these plants, which bees adore apparently. Get used to the ever-present buzz of bees, who seem to be very conscientious guardians as they accompany you on your hike.
Onward: the Palisades Trail reminded me in places of the Sierras--pine smell, volcanic rocky trail, hardy plants, great views.
Once I reached the rocks above, however, much to my consternation, I found that the trail completely disappeared into bush. There were a few cairns here and there, but they either led me straight into brush or down the hill and into brush. I looked everywhere for the trail, bushwhacking and peering into the distance, but no dice.
In the end, without a GPS, I decided against continuing, much to my chagrin, and turned back. I was disappointed, however. I had wanted to see the Palisades, a mile-long volcanic rock wall described as one of the prettiest hikes in Napa. Oh well. Another time.
I worked back down the trail to the lot, and there, lightened my pack into the car, and then I simply crossed the road and started up toward Mt St Helena's--the two trailheads are directly opposite each other, which was great. Just be extremely careful crossing 29; it's on two blind corners, and drivers speed crazily along that road. You don't your last hike to be your last hike.
Mt St Helena's has been on my list for a while, and I was happy that I could do that today.
The two trails are well signed throughout, although the Stevenson/Helena sign was about 20 yards into the trail, past a tiny clearing with a picnic bench:
To get to the Mt St Helena's Trail, you first must walk the Stevenson Memorial Trail a short, accessible trail with very generous switchbacks and,consequently, several points at which hikers had made short-cuts.
After walking along this restful foresty, shaded trail, accompanied by the chuckling of a shaded brook, you reach this memorial, at the 0.8 miles mark, to Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous author who honeymooned in the area and actually wrote The Silvarado Squatters there.
After seeing the Stevenson Memorial, you scramble up some severely eroded trail:
and find, eventually, this sign, when you pop out in a relieved fashion on a fire road:
And you're ready to start up the hill. No more chuckling brooks, no more forested shade, no more Mr Nice Guy. Be prepared with plenty of water, block, and sunhats--the entire Mt St Helena's trail is actually a switch-backey fire road to allow the maintenance vehicles up to take care of the communications towers on top of the summmits.
It's an easy surface upon which to hike, but I can see that it would be brutal in the hot summer--no shade unless you're in the shade of the mountain, which is rare. Today was a perfect day for such a hike, however, but it still demanded a good sun hat, block, and plenty of water.
There were plenty of stunning views on the way up, and the raptors and butterflies and chipmunks/ground squirrels seemed happy to keep me company as I walked along:
I knew that the summit has several communications towers on them, but I didn't realize that there aretwo earlier 'false summits' also full of communication towers. Be prepared then to pass two communication tower summits before you reach the actual North Peak. Once you see this sign, you're about 0.5 mile from the top. :)
The views were tremendous although a little hazy on this day. Still, I could recognize Lake Berryessa, Napa, and Calistoga, and others more topo-orientated than I, could probably have recognized Hood Mountain and others in the surrounding peaks. It's worth that final steep push to the end.
There was no-one else on the peak when I was there. Since it was getting late in the day, I didn't want to be last on the mountain, so I started down again pretty promptly. On the way down, I saw these climbers, also enjoying the day on igneous Bubble Rock (so called because it is riddled with round holes):
Stats:
a) Weather: beeyutiful: mid-60's, starting out cloudy but breaking into blue and sun, mild wind now and then. A few wispy clouds here and there.
b) 1.5 hours drive from home--about 7 miles from Calistoga; on the way there, actually, I drove by the Old Faithful Geyser, the Petrified Forest, and the Bothe-Napa State Park, all of which are worthy of their own visit.
c) no parking fee, but get there early; the lots are small and fill up very quickly. The lots are on blind corners in both directions; be prepared to have your hair turn grey when you're trying to leave the lot after the hike.
d) bring a map with you from the web; there are none available at these trailheads. You don't need a map for the Mt St Helena's trail; it's just straight up and down. A topo map would have been helpful for finding the Palisades Trail, however.
e) Mt St Helena's is a 2,068-foot climb. 5-5.1 miles (depending on your source). Including the Stevenson Trail (and excluding Table Rock), the hike time was about 4 hours total--quicker down than up, of course.
Table Rock:
To Table Rock Outlook: 2.2 miles each way
To Palisades Blockade: about 1.5 miles each way
Total: 7.7 miles
Mt St Helena's:
Stevenson Memorial Trail: 0.8 mile each way
Mt St Helena's North Peak: 4.2 each way
Total: 10 miles
Day's total: 17.7 miles. Longest yet.
Want more info? http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=472
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