David C. Joseph Memorial Trail

Coppertone and I headed back to Sonoma Coast State Park to avoid some of the expected heat more inland and to just finish mapping out some of the trails in the area.  We really did not expect too much of the loop here, but were we wrong.

The Red Hill trail portion of the loop in particular boasts dramatic views of the the Pacific Ocean, the Russian River delta and the inland mountains.  Mostly the terrain is hilly with grasses and medium sized shrubs.  In a couple of small segments the trail darts into a grove of trees, including a few Redwoods.

The Pomo Canyon Trail rounds out the second half of the loop and represents a dramtic change.  There's much more tree cover but also fewer vista views, though we still managed some nice views into the Russian River valley.

When starting mid morning we went almost 2 hours while only seeing 2 other hikers.  We thought we'd found a hidden gem.  By the time we started to head back towards our parking area the number of people on the trail started to climb dramatically which makes the solitude only average.