Mount Hood’s vast view of heaven and hell
From Mount Hood in Sonoma County, it isn’t difficult to picture the firestorm hell that enveloped the area during the 2017 Tubbs Fire. But look today, and you will see a landscape of new vegetation sprouting amid the skeletons of burned trees.
At 2,730 feet, Mount Hood towers over Kenwood to the west and most of Sonoma and Napa counties. The scope of view spans across much of the 36,810 acres that burned in the Tubbs Fire.
As the skies clear this week after drenching rains, two worlds are being defined here: the one that burned, and the one that did not. To see it, hike the 3.5-mile trail through Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, up 2,200 feet to the summit of Mount Hood (7 miles round trip). Most also take a 0.2-milespur available to a lookout called Gunsight Rock for a healthy 7.4-mile day.
The summit towers over Kenwood and across the Sonoma Valley. To the west, much of the big hill just across the valley is the flank of TrioneAnnadel State Park, much of which burned in the Tubbs Fire. Some of the burned zones in the area look like war zones. Others, glowing in greens, have no scars.
Just before you reach the spur for Gunsight Rock, you can see for miles to the west, and on clear days, even catch a glimpse of blue on the coast. Gunsite Rock, at 2,500 feet, provides a panorama over the Sonoma Valley. In an image captured by hiker Michael Pechner, photographer for the trip, you also get long-distance views with Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais on the horizon.
The park is radiant this week from winter rains. Sonoma Creek and its feeder streams have been recharged. New grass is poking up green through the brown carpet of the fall. On the cold, crystal days of winter between storms, the views from the mountaintops are sensational. Come March and early April, it’s likely there will be a sensational wildflower season here.
Finding the trail
The trailhead for Hood Mountain is the Goodspeed Trail, located on Adobe Canyon Road, the main road into the park along the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. You arrive with the trailhead on your left, with an adjacent parking area. An iron ranger is available to deposit your $8 park fee. Park headquarters, the campground and the trailhead for Bald Mountain are another mile up the road.
The Goodspeed Trail to Hood Mountain was once a mess. Erosion from storm runoff devoured and plundered the trail surface into gullies and rock gardens. State Parks, in partnership with a youth crew from the California Conservation Corp, reconstructed several sections of the trail. Then in October 2017, the Tubbs Fire roared out of the valley and burned a mosaic in parts of the state park.
In the first mile, you cross Bear Creek, and then in a series of switchbacks, climb about 400 feet to reach a subridge on the southern flank of Mount Hood.
It’s another 2.5 miles into Hood Mountain Regional Park and to the turnoff to Gunsight Rock, a west-facing overlook. Along the way, there are some steep stretches, one area where you have to scramble over rocks, and sections where you pass in and out of burn zones.
At a few spots, you can see how the intense heat of the firestorm actually cracked apart rocks into small pieces. You can see how redwoods were scorched, but their fireresistant bark saved them, and they survived the blaze. Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicle’s outdoors writer. Email: tstienstra@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom