We set out with a group of three and were sure to closely follow the hiking guide and arrived around 6:45am. There was only one other car present in the parking lot. The weather forecast was a sunny 61 degrees for the last day for February.

The first section of the hike was good fun and there were lots of switchbacks and rocky areas to negotiate and we made good time arriving at the Stevenson monument pretty quickly. Soon after we were up on the fire road that was a steady incline with breathtaking views of the surrounding area. The fire road is pretty exposed so on a sunny day don't forget to put on your sunscreen. After a steady climb up there is a plateau area before the final incline to the summit. We arrived around 8:40am and had the place to ourselves for about 40m while we took a break and enjoyed a snack. It was really windy on the top and we took lots of photos. It was so clear that we could see the snowy peaks of the Sierras, Mt. Tam, and Mt. Diablo.

The hike down was a lot more sunny and there were numerous spots where people were rock climbing which was fun to watch. There were also lots of people on the trail especially closer to the bottom. We arrived back to a full parking lot around midday to conclude our hike and took the time to enjoy some of the sights in beautiful Calistoga and surrounding wine country in the Napa valley.

Overall this we a fun hike however I typically enjoy hiking on trails over fire roads but the views made up for fire road lacked. At this time I had also done Mt. Tam and Mt. Diablo and this summit was by far the easiest yet so don't let the altitude of the summit trick you into thinking this is a challenging hike.

If you have already done this hike. Let me know what you think.