Completed: December 22, 2023 | Elevation: 2,729′ | Trail: Bald Mountain Trail Out & Back | Distance: 5.4 miles
From our campsite in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park we walked to the trailhead for Bald Mountain, located at the end of the parking lot. This short spur eventually connected to the main stem of Stern Trail, which meandered up the slope through a landscape of bushes and shrubs, and was really pretty. Less than half a mile later we reached the intersection with Bald Mountain Trail, an unmaintained, but still paved fire road. As we approached the junction with the Vista Trail we could hear frogs croaking in the distance. The sound got louder and we saw a woman coming towards us from Vista Trail. She commented about the frogs and encouraged us to walk down to the pond. We did. It was deafening! It almost sounded like a loud speaker had been plunked down near the pond. However, while we could hear the frogs we couldn’t see them even though we strained our eyes to see where the noise was coming from.
With no luck finding the frogs that were causing all the ruckus, we made our way back to Bald Mountain Trail and continued our hike. We walked past Red Mountain (which at first I thought was our destination) and at the next trail intersection, hiked the last 0.4 miles to the top of Bald Mountain. From here we had amazing 360° views of Napa and Sonoma. It was even possible to see all the way out to the Sierras. Several of the peaks that we had reached as part of our Nifty Ninety quest were visible in the distance: Mt. Diablo in the south, Mt. Wittenberg to the southwest, Mt. Vaca to the east and Mt. Saint Helena to the north.
The return trip was an easy downhill and the views were no less stunning.
Vineyards dotted the landscape, and everywhere around us were rolling hills. When we got closer to camp, we saw a herd of deer make their way across the trail and into the safety of the trees.
It took us about 3 hours to hike the out & back trail and there was still enough light left in the day for us to finish setting up camp and get dinner started on the fire. As darkness settled upon us and the temperature dropped, we huddled around the fire and enjoyed the cold night air before turning in for the night. Tomorrow we’d be hiking Hood Mountain.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here.