This weekend definitely went to hiking. Combined yesterday and today, I hiked 15 miles. While this may not seem like much, my body feels like it was a lot more! Yesterday's hike at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland was a very tough, up and down 10 miles. But this post is mostly about today's hikes, which were both up in Lake County. ROAD TRIP! The drive up was rather uneventful, but went on CA-29 through the very scenic Napa Valley. After passing through Calistoga, the northernmost town in Napa County, I began the climb over Mt. St. Helena. This has got to be one of the windiest roads maintained by the state of California that I have ever been on. Hairpin turns and narrow pavement wind up the mountain and eventually over into Lake County. I can only imagine what it was like for my dad when I first went on this road, he drove it in the pounding January rain! After entering Lake County, it was only about 5 miles to Middletown, where I picked up lunch at a deli that I have been to previously and liked. 15 more miles past the town of Lower Lake brought me to Anderson Marsh SHP, where I would do my first hike. It was mostly flat, through a large grass field. Truthfully, it didn't look like much of a marsh. There were lots of butterflies though, most of the monarch variety. The hike was only about 1.5 miles, and I finished it in about 45 minutes. Next stop would be Clear Lake State Park, the site of my second hike. After eating my lunch my the boat launch, I headed up towards the trailhead. The first mile or so was a huge hill that I huff and puffed my way up to the top. Luckily, this would be my only uphill. The rest of the way winded around the top of the hill, then down it towards the end. I was rewarded several times with spectacular views of Clear Lake, one of which is shown at top. For those who don't know, Clear Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake wholly contained within California (Lake Tahoe is larger, but it is partially in Nevada). I completed the 3 mile hike in about an hour and a half. Maybe less I can't really remember :P. On the way home I decided to take the scenic way home, avoiding the climb over Mt. St. Helena. After heading a little west into Lakeport, I hooked up with CA-20 towards Williams. This I followed along the north shore of Clear Lake, passing many small towns along the way. One of them was called Nice. Although it is pronounced NEESE, like the city in France, I thought the name was kind of funny. Contuning east into Colusa County, I turned south onto CA-16. 16 winds through a valley along the Cache Creek, a very scenic drive. It passes through a few small towns and of course, Cache Creek Casino, probably the most desolate Indian casino in California. Really isn't close to anything! After leaving 16, it was just a short drive down I-505 and back roads to home. This was a fun day, but boy am I sore! I've got to do this more often... :)
