Vista Angst at Pacific Union College on the Ridge Trail

The Bay Area Ridge Trail passes through the Pacific Union College Demonstration Forest at Angwin. The trail drops gently along an unpaved service road through a heavily thinned woodland for 1.5 miles before dipping sharply down a footpath that winds along a hillside. The trail offers tantalizing glimpses of an unrealized view.

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TRAIL MAP (date hiked)

• Pacific Union College (March 29, 2022)

Our Journal

We tried to hike through the woods at Pacific Union College at Angwin last November but were turned away at the trailhead by a forest thinning crew. They must have completed their work, because the first half of our hike four months later passed through a heavily thinned forest littered with timber shrapnel. The smell of freshly cut wood was nice. The trail was a snooze.

The back half of the hike, high on a hillside, provided a more standard Ridge Trail hiking experience, but a sheer veil of trees obscured the view the entire way. We did take a short detour to Inspiration Point on the way back and found a window to a view of the valley below and the hills beyond.

Everything about the hike seemed a little off. We began in the afternoon after a two-hour drive from home. The humidity was a bit high after weekend rain. The second half of the hike was mostly up hill. And as a recent addition to the Ridge Trail, the segment is not included in our 2019 edition of the Ridge Trail guide. Online info is limited.

The best part of the day was post-hike gumbo and drinks at Evangeline in Calistoga.

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