Lake Marie via Skyline Trail in Napa, CA

I arrived at Skyline Wilderness Park (can't say where the "wilderness" part came from as the park is next to downtown Napa), paid the $6 entrance fee ($3 for bikes, or $60 annual pass for an individual/$90 for a "family" - not sure how the "family" is defined) and parked in the nearest parking lot, which turned out to be right next to the trailhead to Lake Marie via Skyline Trail.

The trail seemed to be the longest in the park and covered a good perimeter, so I knew I would get a good feel of the park by going on this hike.

It was a windy day, so windy that I was a bit concerned about the branches falling. As the trail gained some elevation, I finally started to warm up. My heavier jacket that usually comes off at some point during the hike was meant to stay on today. Since it was a weekday, very few people were on the trail. In fact, I have only encountered 2 or 3 people and closer to the conclusion of the hike when it was finally warming up around 11 AM.

The views of Napa were pretty spectacular right after the first hill.

As I continued deeper into the park, I got to enjoy a close interaction with a family of deer. Mom was a bit hesitant about my presence, but the younger deer kept on chewing on the grass as if I was just another tree.

I moved on allowing them to enjoy their breakfast without me staring at them non-stop. The trail continued deeper into the wooded areas where I started to see areas of early wildflowers.

As I continued the hike, I found more of these spurts of wildflower growth. Despite the cold and windy weather spring was coming.

I finally reached the lake. I have to say I expected a bit more from it, but the lake seemed to be overgrown with algae near the shores and rather unspectacular. I guess I really should get my expectations re-evaluated...

The second part of the loop was a bit simpler to hike - wider roads and more exposure to sun (hence, warmer!). I enjoyed this park and will definitely be back, but it will not be my first choice. One of the main reasons is potential crowds. With city parks, unless it's the weekday, these trails are filled with people. I enjoy having people around, but not close by.