Another father/daughter outing, this one to Napa Valley where I had a trio of
summits in mind that we could do with a total of less than 10mi. The only one
of real consequence was Peak 2,031ft (Stags Leap Ridge on PB), and it was the
only one we would do, it turned out. It is reported that there is a trail all
the way to the summit, with some minor scrambling and some poison oak to avoid.
Several trip reports on PB give this one high marks as one of the best in the
Bay Area. It was decent, but I wouldn't put it high on a list of Napa County
hikes, let alone the whole Bay Area. The trail is completely informal, having
never actually been graded, maintained or otherwise drawn the attention of the
various park agencies. The only thing such entities have done is put up a
couple of signs at the trailhead. This isn't a complaint, by the way,
just an observation. There are various threads in places, and the trail location
probably changes from time to time with overgrowth and fire. The trail
is pretty decent all the way to Pt. 1,740ft+, but the last portion is
quite thin. There is much poison oak in the upper reaches, at
least on our visit, and this is why I wouldn't recommend it as a classic hike.
We had gloves and long pants/shirts, and glad we did. Our hike started out in
fog, but it burned off before we got to the summit, allowing us the nice views
overlooking Napa Valley to the west and Soda Canyon to the east. Some
nice flowers along the way, including some yellow/orange
poppies, but the grasses are quickly going to seed and we'd have to
stop a few times to remove some of these. The summit rocks are a nice
touch to get one out of the vegetation. We left a register tucked in a
nook between the two highest summit rocks. We spent five hours on the outing,
rather slow
for a 6.5mi outing, even with the 2,400ft of gain in entailed. Jackie didn't
hesitate to say she'd had enough when we got back, so I didn't press her to do
the other two, even if they were much shorter. They would be there for a future
visit. One tick was discovered on Jackie hours later when we got home, the
only real surprise being that there weren't more.
signs at the trailhead. This isn't a complaint, by the way,
just an observation. There are various threads in places, and the trail location
probably changes from time to time with overgrowth and fire. 
The trail
is pretty decent all the way to 
Pt. 1,740ft+, but the last portion is
quite thin. There is much poison oak in 
the upper reaches, at
least on our visit, and this is why I wouldn't recommend it as a classic hike.
We had gloves and long pants/shirts, and glad we did. Our hike started out in
fog, but it burned off before we got to the summit, allowing us the nice views
overlooking Napa Valley to 
the west and Soda Canyon to the east. Some
nice 
flowers along the way, including some yellow/orange
poppies, but the grasses are quickly going to seed and we'd have to
stop a few times to remove some of these. The 
summit rocks are a nice
touch to get one out of the vegetation. We left 
a register tucked in a
nook between the two highest summit rocks. We spent five hours on the outing,
rather slow
for a 6.5mi outing, even with the 2,400ft of gain in entailed. Jackie didn't
hesitate to say she'd had enough when we got back, so I didn't press her to do
the other two, even if they were much shorter. They would be there for a future
visit. One tick was discovered on Jackie hours later when we got home, the
only real surprise being that there weren't more.