A long tale of a short trail

A valuable piece of Sonoma Mountain history is being added to the Jack London State Historic Park trail system this weekend, and a long-running saga of inspiration, cooperation, determination, setbacks and eventual triumph comes to a happy ending.

The 1.3-mile East Slope Sonoma Mountain Ridge Trail – the name is almost longer than the track – will be dedicated with a brunch, acknowledgements and ribbon cutting ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Winery Ruins of Jack London State Historic Park.

A guided hike will start at noon; though the new trail section is just over a mile long, it’s a full five miles to hike up Mountain and Sonoma Ridge trails to the new trailhead, and it’s been a 20-year effort to make it happen.

“This whole thing started in 1995, and it was really a struggle for many years,” said Pat Eliot who, with her husband, Ted, owns the property where the newly inaugurated trail ends in a wooded loop. The parcel had originally been acquired by LandPaths in 1997 from Tom McCrea, but when new owners took over his estate in 2001, they found that McCrea had not properly executed the easement. They withdrew their cooperation, and trail development halted.

After nearly a decade of litigation, a settlement was found and the Open Space District purchased 20 acres on the ridgeline. In 2011 the project was allowed to continue, and ultimately it was a volunteer crew that finally built the trail, overseen by the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Sonoma County Trails councils.

Eliot’s own connection with the flanks of Sonoma Mountain goes back to the 1940s, when she, then Patricia Peters, and her friend Mickey Cooke rode horses in the high country above the Jack London ranch. “It was a something of a dude ranch then, and run very efficiently. The war was going on, and people using their gas ration couldn’t get very far. The ranch was very pleasant for San Franciscans to ?be able to escape to ?Sonoma.”

Both young women worked at the ranch as “gofers” and stayed in touch once they grew and moved apart. Pat Peters married diplomat Ted Eliot Jr. and in 1975 they purchased their property on the south slope of Sonoma Mountain; in 1995, she and Cooke helped form Sonoma Mountain Preservation to protect the scenic anchor of Sonoma County, the 2,463-foot summit and up to 3,000 acres surrounding it.

The final piece of the Sonoma Mountain puzzle was purchased by the Open Space District in 2009 following a lead from local real-estate agent Kirsten Lundquist, Mickey Cooke’s daughter. Lundquist, a board member of the Sonoma Land Trust and other local nonprofits, passed away on Feb. 14 of this year, and she will be remembered at the March 14 ceremony.

Even the summit of Sonoma Mountain will eventually become accessible via public hiking trails, though it is currently closed to the public. “The properties are fully in Regional Parks ownership now, so there are no ownership or right-of-way issues that I’m aware of,” said Sheri Emerson, the Stewardship program manager of the Open Space District. “I don’t know the timeframe, but I know it will happen. “

The new trail’s modest length may not seem newsworthy, but it is not insignificant, says Janet McBride, executive director of Bay Ridge Trail Council. “Combined with existing Ridge Trail through Jack London State Historic Park and the new North Slope Trail, this stitches together a 9-mile showpiece Ridge Trail stretch ready to be explored.” The North Slope Trail opened just last month in the North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve.

After the 90-minute community celebration at the Winery Ruins, the inaugural guided hike begins at noon from the Beauty Ranch parking lot, led by representatives from several of the key organizations who cooperated in the preservation effort including Craig Anderson of LandPaths, Jack London Park naturalist John Lynch, and Dave Chalk of the popular Bill and Dave Hikes.

Additional guided hikes will be offered on March 28 with John Lynch, and May 2 with Dave Chalk. Those hikes will begin at 10 a.m.

While any hiker will tell you the journey is the destination, it always helps to have a stunning view at the end of the trail. “We think this trail offers amazing views, when you get up there,” said Emerson. “You can see San Pablo Bay, the whole of Sonoma Valley, all the way up to Mt. St. Helena – it’s just incredible.”

Hikers should bring water, hiking poles, lunch, and binoculars, dress in layers and wear sturdy shoes. For those who are unsure of completing the full 13-mile round trip hike, there will be numerous turn-around points along the way with Park docents to lead way back to Beauty Ranch. For more information on the free March 14 event as well as the newly opened trail, visit jacklondonpark.com.