Hike To Grandmother Oak and Beyond
In Hood Mountain Regional Park and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Sonoma County, California - April, 2015
David and Bob

Video: David runs up a mountain (watch in full screen, high def mode)
Video: And runs down and up another (again, watch in full screen, high def mode)

This is the "Grandmother Oak", reputed to be the largest known coast live oak tree

We climb to our picnic destination to find a Buddha has been left on the highest rock to greet us.
Video: The view from our picnic rocks. (again, watch in full screen, high def mode)

Video: A pretty stream greets us near the end of the hike

Hiking Route

This hike begins in Hood Mountain Regional Park at the end of Los Alamos Road, but quickly enters Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, as shown on the map below. The red arrows on the map indicate the direction of our hike. The red arrow labeled 1 is off trail. The entire map is available at the park website.

We started down Alder Glen Trail, but as soon as we crossed the creek, we climbed up a short bit and headed northeast, following and above the creek, with a barbed wire fence between us and the creek part of the way. It was not easy going, but by holding tree branches and, I believe, following animal trails, we made it along the steeply inclined hillside without too many stumbles. After less than a 1/4 mile, we saw a gate in the fence. A barely readable sign on the gate said "End of Trail".

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