Miwok-Burdell-Loop Trails and Miwok Village

Coppertone and I returned to Olompali State Park for the second time.  This time around we went with a couple of friends from the Sonoma Newcomers Group.

Unlike our last trip to the park in August of last year we saw fewer ground squirrels around the area of the park's farm structures.  They seemed to be under or in every structure or crevice in the past.  This time around we did spot two deer bedding down next to the large dead tree stumb next to the Burdell Barns, both when we headed up the hill to start and when we descended later in the day.

Since we tackled the Miwok Village earlier in the day this time around we were able to devote some more effort to reading the interpretive signs.  The signs for native plants in the garden area included not only their uses but also the names ascribed to them by both the Bodega area and Marin area Miwok groups.

We only saw a few people on the trail today and three of them were workers clearing some vegetation in the creek adjacent to the trail.

Unlike our 11+ mile outing to the top of Mount Burdell, we opted to ascend only a mile above the connection with the Loop Trail before turning back and completing the loop.  This still afforded us a couple of nice views over the Petaluma River.  Our turnaround point was probably fairly close to the point where the switchbacks and steepness up the mountain racket up a notch.