Ritchey Canyon and Vineyard Trail

Coppertone and I made a repeat visit to the park to map some more trails, this time the Ritchey Canyon and Vineyard Trails.  We were provided with great weather for our trip.

We spent a rather long period of time at the waypont we named "Eddy".  Here between two small waterfalls was a small circular pond with floating leaves on the surface.  The speedy flow of the upstream waterfall entered the pond at an angle, creating a lazy clockwise gyre.  The slow, peaceful spectacle of the leaves swirling around was relaxing and we staid there transfixed both on the hike upstream and on our way back.

The Hitchcock Site was the second home of a doctor from San Francisco.  The boarded up house, aptly named "Lonely", is no longer in use but the park seems to use the wooden building nearby for storage.  A nice little rough stone water fountain adjacent to the house sits as dry as can be.

We turned around at the bridge near the junction of three trails (Ritchey Canyon, South Fork and Spring trails).  The bridge fording the creek was unlike any we'd seen on trails before.  A large metal arch resembling a cut out section of very wide diameter pipe with rocks and dirt piled on top.

On the way back to our trailhead we opted to map out the Vineyard Trail which moves away from the creek.  Just a short distance from the creek the character of trail changes dramatically.  The Sun blocking heavy tree cover disappears, replaced by Manzanita bushes and more scrubby oaks.    The Sun beats down on us seemingly for the first time.  The trail name comes from its short detour through private property, in this case one of the Schramsbery Winery vineyards.  At certain places along the trail Coppertone and I could smell the must (crushed grape juice) from this or some other nearby winery.