Mt Madonna

I had never been to Mt Madonna, so I figured it was finally time to go. I wanted an interesting hike, so I decided to start at the base of the mountain, at the Sprig day use area, and do a loop over the summit. It was overcast and cool when I pulled into the parking lot and got what seemed to be the last spot.

Still in redwood country on the way up.

 I took the Sprig Trail up the hill. Another runner used "Power Hiking" unironically at me as she seemed impressed I could walk up the hill at the same speed she could run. I didn't have the heart to tell her that running uphill is very inefficient and she shouldn't have been surprised. I could tell I was almost at the top when the smell of campfire smoke got very strong.

Open area on the summit plateau.

 On the summit plateau it got much foggier and wetter, from all the moisture blowing in off the ocean. Every time the breeze blew it would rain a little on me. The GPS in my watch seemed a little off, or maybe the maps were wrong, but it made choosing the correct trail at intersections more fun. Eventually I wound my way up to the summit, which was extremely underwhelming.

View from the summit.

 There is a paved road leading there, and a parking lot. I'm pretty sure I was at the highest point, but it was so flat it was hard to tell. After taking a few pictures, I continued down the other side. As I descended below the clouds, there were a few views through the trees, but nothing spectacular.

The only view I had.

Back at the trailhead the parking lot was just as full, and there were lots of people parked along the road. Seems to be a popular park for some reason.