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Mt. Saint Helena, not to be confused with Mt. Saint Helens the volcano in Washington state, is a peak with a wide broad prominence that sits at the northern head of the lush Napa valley. Below is a picture of the peak taken from the lovely grounds of Clos Pegase winery in Calistoga.
The drive up through the Napa valley on a cool spring morning was fairly magical. Tall Redwoods and Oaks mingled quite naturally on hillsides and glowed a warm green, still freshly nourished by rain. Four million dollar an acre vineyards flattened out the narrow valley which terminates at the foot of Mt. Saint Helena where the town of Calistoga manages to retain somehow it's quaintness and realism despite the money and yuppies on hogs rolling into it's streets.
A short climb on a crowded twisty road brought us to the trailhead parking lot. The 2,000ft elevation gain over 5 miles turned out to be a fairly easy go up a gentle grade most of the way. The views were pretty spectacular from the top where we could easily see Mt. Lassen to the north east which unfortunately doesn't come out in the pictures I took, all of which you can see here:
Link to Flicker Set
