Mt. Madonna County Park
Hike Review
I have camped at Mt. Madonna before, but I had not visited it since I started the blog.
The park is wonderfully forested and has many spacious campsites (and even has yurts for rent).
I parked at the Sprig Day Use Area and hiked the Sprig Trail, Rock Springs Trail, Upper Miller Trail, Loop Trail, Ridge Trail, and Blackhawk Trail.
Sprig Trail was my favorite and was the most densely forested. It is a steep, single track trail, but as you gain elevation, a soft breeze picks up and all is right with the world.
Rock Springs Trail is almost as nice as Sprig Trail and is single track. It weaves around a redwood forest and the air was clear, with a hint of campfire smoke.
The other trails were double track trails that didn’t have the character as the first two. Still, except for the Ridge Trail, there was good to decent shade throughout, which was wonderful on a nice summer day.
There were bits of trash here and there. I spotted two dog bags and hoped that the owners were picking it up on the way back.
Surprisingly, on the Rock Springs Trail, there was a bit of the trail that was muddy and slick. The other parts of the trail were bone dry.
I was worried that I’d run into a whole lot of people since I was starting my hike late in the day, but saw far fewer people than I thought I would.
What I Learned
It’s been a whole month since I had hiked and my body really didn’t like getting back into it. Near the end, my right hip ached and my body complained, but after a nice dinner, my body felt better, and by the end of the night, I couldn’t remember the aches. Ah the joys of type 2 fun.
Even though it was a short hike, I consumed a whole liter of water (and I drank 3/4 of a liter of soda on the drive over). It’s summer and I need to over pack water.
Media Consumed
Book Lovers
What Happened?
6.3 miles, 2 hrs 47 mins, 1737 ft of ascent
I had plans for dinner at Santa Cruz, so I wanted a hike that was on the way over the mountain. And given I hadn’t been to Mt Madonna in a few years, I thought it’d be good to hike a few trails there that I had not hiked before.
I had this intense craving for fast food, so I got lunch on the way there (Impossible Whopper), which I then finished at the trailhead before I started the hike. Given that I was hiking for less than 10 miles, I figured it’d be fine to eat before a hike. Boy was I wrong.
I felt pretty horrible on the first mile, as it’s a pretty steep hike up and gains almost a thousand feet of elevation. I was pretty overheated, and would have suffered more if it weren’t for the nice breeze that picked up as I hit the top of the ridge. I spotted this beautiful bench, so I sat down to write some post cards. I enjoyed it, except for the couple of mosquito bites that I got while writing.
The rest of the hike was just really nice, though uneventful. Actually, there may have been more to remember, except that the book I was listening to was so engrossing that I had trouble paying attention to nature. I must have been a hoot to see, as I was cackling and laughing my way through this hike.
Afterwards, I finished my hike a bit earlier than I thought I would, and got over to Santa Cruz with lots of time to spare. Even with the little bit of trash and some soreness, I really enjoyed Mt. Madonna, and I plan on coming back. It’s just too pretty here.