Skyline Wilderness Park, Napa

Back in Napa. This time it was a park on what seemed like the outskirts of the actual town. It was next to some fairgrounds area where it looked like a Renaissance Festival of some sort was occurring. I went to one of those years ago because I got free tickets and I vaguely remember the jousting, the beer and the people walking around talking to each other in medieval accents. Not really my scene. Anyway, this hike is in a park that was developed by volunteers and was supposed to have some spectacular wildflowers and other plant life as well as cool views. All true. Lots of poison oak too along the trails, but that’s why I usually wear hiking pants, not shorts. Also, I’m not all that susceptible to poison oak or poison ivy. I’ve handled both plenty of times and done OK. Lucky, I guess. Our group – thankfully about the half of the size of last week’s crowd – took a windy trail that led up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain and then another trail that overlooked a lake. I think it was Lake Marie in Napa. It was about 11 miles and brought lots of sun-time and the chance to see amazing colors of the different flowers. Nature can be downright impressive.