Saint Helena was my third hike of the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge and so far my favorite. Perhaps it's because we took the opportunity to make it into a family camping trip. Unfortunately my son got sick the day of the trip but it was still a great trip with my wife and daughter. We stayed at the Bothe Napa State Park as I think someone mentioned on a post about hiking Mount Saint Helena. It was a great recommendation and we will be back and maybe visit a couple wineries.
Now about the hike. I drove to the trailhead and arrived at the Robert Louis Stevenson State parking lot a little bit after 7:20 am. There were already 2 other cars parked. I started the hike up right at 7:30 am and reached the summit at about 9:20 am. I took an early lunch at the summit since I had the entire peak to myself and enjoyed the views sitting on the rocky ledge.
After I finished lunch I got ready for the hike back as more people started to arrive at the peak. I hit the trail back at about 10 am. The heat was not too bad but I wanted to fish the hike before it got too hot. I made it back to the parking lot at 11:46 am. The parking lot was overflowing by now and cars were parked on both sides of the road.
This was a 10.2 mile hike and I enjoyed it so much that I'm looking forward to coming back and hiking it again maybe in early spring next year, but for now I have my sights on Mount Tamalpais as my next hike.
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