Coppertone and I returned to one of our favorite hikes in the area.  We did the loop that included the Prairie Ridge Trail since it offers so many nice views in 360 degrees.

We're late enough in the year such that all of the grasses are brown and brittle.  Much, although not all, of the trail was the beneficiary of recent mowing.  We did not have to brush past brush for most of our hike.

Strangely, we found a dead rabbit and a dead mouse on the trail.  We were surprised some scavenger had not yet dragged them off for consumption.  A swarm of yellow jackets were busy working on the rabbit.

Several powerlines crest the ridge within the park and descend towards American Canyon.  Since our last visit one of the lines appears to have had its metal towers replaced with new wooden poles.  The bases of the old metal towers were all that remained of the old supports.

We stopped at a couple of blackberry brambles along the trail.  Although most of the berries were not yet ripe, we found a few morsels to enjoy.

A few years ago, a local Scout had installed a set of Orienteering markers along the trail.  An online guide provides background on how to find the markers.  Unfortunately, many of the markers appear to be missing now, though some remain.

In the end we logged almost 6 miles and only saw a few other people on the trails.

Coppertone and I parked in the adjacent Sonoma County Park in order to get closer to a few trail segments in Annadel that we had not yet mapped out.  We start off heading south on Canyon Trail along Spring Creek for about a mile before we cross a bridge over the creek and into Annadel.  From there we continue on Canyon Trail until it runs into Lake Ilsanjo.  This part of our hike is somewhat dusty and mostly exposed to the Sun.  Hikers are also out numbered by the cyclists buzzing by. 

At Lake Ilsanjo we turn left onto Lake Trail for a short distance.  The view of the lake is alternately visible or hidden depending upon the dense foliage along its banks.

We turn left again onto Spring Creek Trail and it's almost like a different world.  First, the trail path gets much more rocky.  The extra difficulty does seem to filter out the less motivated cyclists.  On this trail hikers will outnumber cyclists.  The path also gets more shaded, a welcome relief from the exposure earlier in our hike.

Our path leads us back to a junction with Canyon Trail and then we doubled back to our starting point.

Coppertone and I signed up for a guided wildflower hike on this day.  We saw a bunch of different varieties of flowers but also put in more mileage than we had hiked in quite a long time.  At the end of the day we were very tired!

Among the flowers we observed and recorded were Pacific Hounds Tongue, Common Pacific Pea, Red Larkspur, Bermuda Buttercup, Fernald's Iris, Blue Dicks, Miner's Lettuce, Popcorn Flower, Starry False Lilly of the Valley, Miniature Lupine, Lupine, Baby Blue Eyes, White Nemophilia, California Poppy, California Manroot, Blue Eyed Grass and several others that I failed to record properly.

This hike ascended up the mountain via the Mountain Trail.  From there it followed the Sonoma Ridge Trail all the way to the end at the Eliot Family Loop Trail.  So we were able to map out a trail segment we had never visited before.