Walk amid the colors of fall
Autumn colors are reflected in Merganser Pond, part of Hood Mountain Regional Park.
The Press DemocratPublished: Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 8, 2010 at 6:56 p.m.
If ever there was a time of year to take the high road, it is now.
Hikers look for shady groves and cool woodlands in summer. But in autumn, when temperatures go tepid, get elevated. From the hillsides and ridgetops, you can look down on fall's fevered colors igniting the vineyards.
Autumn is not just visual. There is a distinctive sound to the season.
“It's fun scrunching through the leaves,” says Paul Grammens, who traverses the trails through Northbay Hikes (Northbayhikes.com). An informal club, it began with a bunch of friends at Agilent in the mid-'90s and and since has swelled to about 500 Sonoma County residents who share a love of the outdoors.
Grammens suggests three top spots that will give you the lift you need for the broad sweep: Table Rock from Robert Louis Stevenson State Park in Calistoga, Gunsight Rock on Hood Mountain outside Santa Rosa and Shiloh Ranch Regional Park outside Windsor.
It's the vineyards that upstage everything else in nature's autumnal show. But there are other smaller attractions to watch for as you hit the trail.
One is poison oak. Whether in a ravine or crawling up a tree, it is “particularly lovely” in fall, says Liz Parsons, a member of the Native Plant Society, Milo Baker Chapter.
“It really gives you the sense of what a dominant shrub it is in our landscape,” she says. It comes in leaves of three. Often bright red and delightful to look at this time of year, but steer clear. This isn't a leaf you want to harvest for your harvest table.
Another autumn eye catcher is California buckeye.
“It flowers in May and then it start to go into a dormant state. But it's beautiful now as the buckeyes start to form at the ends of the branches. It's this beautiful brown package that will open up to reveal this tiny little buckeye. It's a tree that has lovely gray bark when you can see it in its nakedness.”
Until the first frost, keep an eye out for the bright red flowers of the California fuchsia popping out of rocky outcroppings and the little lemony yellow petals of the last of the tarweed (Madia elegans) dotting the meadows in Jack London State Park and Shiloh Regional Park.
In the inland chaparral, watch for the scruffly daisy-like asters with their yellow centers and lavender petals and the reddish-green little clusters forming on the ends of the Manzanita branches.
“It's always nice to be reminded of the change of the season by observing the wild landscape. We know summer is over because we just look at the landscape and it has all this color all of a sudden,” says Parsons, who lives in the Sonoma Valley.
GUNSIGHT ROCK: This is just about the best perch in all of Sonoma Valley. And you can get there from either Hood Mountain Regional Park or along the Goodspeed Trail from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
This is a serious hike. But if you can handle an elevation change of nearly 3,000 feet, you'll be delighted with the destination. It's a bit more than three miles along the Goodspeed Trail from Sugarloaf.
If you approach it through Hood Mountain you'll take the Lower Johnson Ridge Trail from the southern entrance (1450 Pythian Road, Santa Rosa) up to Merganser Pond. This is a placid autumn site, with fallen leaves floating on the surface, says Dave Chalk, a state park docent who along with partner Bill Myers leads regular hikes through the Sonoma Valley.
From the trailhead, it's a very steep trek up an asphalt road for about 1/3-mile before you get on the real trail and the going gets easier.
You don't have to go all the way to Gunsight to get views of the upper Valley of the Moon decked out for autumn. Go up about another one-quarter mile and there will be plenty to see. If you go the distance, you'll follow the Upper Johnson Ridge Trail.
It's 2 to 2.5 miles up, but here above the valley you can see on a good day out toward Jack London State Park to the south, out to Annadel State Park and both flanks of Bennett Mountain as well as the south side of the Santa Rosa plain.
On Oct. 23 “Bill and Dave,” as they are known, will lead a hike to Gunsight Rock. Meet at the Los Guilicos parking lot off Pythian Road at 9:45 a.m. for a 10 a.m. departure. Bring plenty of liquids and dress in layers. It's about 11 miles and a six-hour journey. There's no cost to join. (For information call 539-8847.)
SHILOH RANCH REGIONAL PARK: This suburban oasis outside Windsor looks out on a vast sea of vines that laps up almost to the parking lot. The Big Leaf Trail just off the lot takes you through on an easy stroll parallel to the vineyards on Faught Road and through a grove of big-leaf maples.
They won't dazzle with color like the east coast sugar maples, but will turn a sunny California gold that brings a bright contrast to the russet oak leaves drifting at your feet.
It's an easy hike if you simply follow the vineyards. Another mile or so up, circle around the pond. For the big visual fireworks hit the North Ridge Trail, only about 1.8 miles up from the parking lot, says Grammens, who lives not far away in northeast Santa Rosa.
At the top, benches await “where you can sit and rest and enjoy the view,” he says. From your Shiloh perch you might see Cobb Mountain, Mount St. Helena, Geyser Peak and Fitch Mountain. 5750 Faught Road, Windsor.
TABLE ROCK OVER NAPA VALLEY: It's a rocky road but you won't regret taking it, says Grammens of the Table Rock Trail from Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.
The cliff edge is unprotected so this is not a good trek with children. It is about 4.4 miles out and back, but this is the place to go to see the best of the Napa Valley quilted in fall colors.
You might also be lucky enough to hit the trail at the right time to see Old Faithful Geyser spout off.
The park is located seven miles north of Calistoga off Highway 29.
You can reach Staff Writer Meg McConahey at meg.mcconahey@pressdemocrat.com or 521-5204.
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