Windy Hill Loop

Today's weather was very warm and sunny and I wanted to hike on trails that are shady, like the Hamms Gulch and Razorback Ridge trails in the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve. I figured that I can hike up the sunny Spring Ridge Trail to the top of Windy Hill in the morning sun and descended in the shade on the Lost and Razorback Ridge Trails. It is an 8.8 mile loop. I started from the Alpine Road parking lot at 10AM and clearly lost to the sun, the trail was already very hot. I walked up at a fast pace to get out of the sun quickly, and caught some mild breeze near the top of the hill.

There was very few people hiking today, except for a large group of the Contra Costa Hills Club which was hiking the loop in the opposite direction to mine.

The plaque at the top of the hill.

A view from the top of the Windy Hill towards the Black Mountain. The hills were dark gray and tired of the sun, ready for some rain.

As soon as I entered the shade of the trail south of the Windy Hill, the temperature dropped and even felt chilly compared to the sunny slopes. Going down on these shaded trails was fun. From time to time I was getting out into the full sun, where the air was standing still and smelled of the conifer sap and needles, and you could only hear the buzz of the flies.

A runner near the top end of the Hamms Gulch Trail.

A huge tree fallen across the Razorback Ridge Trail. It must have happened quite recently.

A view at the Windy Hill from the Razorback Ridge Trail.

A view of the Corte Madera Creek slowly trickling along the Alpine Road was very refreshing on this hot 90s day.

This is near the end of the trail, an old bridge from the early 1900's, not a common view in the Bay Area. The bridge leads to the Villa Lauriston property.