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Serpentine Soil

The underlying rock in this area, serpentine, creates a soil that gives rise to a number of unusual plants. Among these are leather oak, a shrub, and Sargent cypress, an evergreen tree growing here in a stunted form. Leather oak grows in low clumps, its dull green, oval leaves curled under and often spiny. Sargent cypress, found farther up the road, has round, gray-brown cones, and angled strips of gray bark.

Now on rocky ground, you climb on a gentle and then moderate grade past a few pines, stands of manzanita, chinquapin, and chaparral pea, and a dense thicket of oak — some of the trees are the dwarf form of interior live oak, and others are a hybrid variety. The grade eases, and as you crest a high point, you can see The Saddle, a windy gap between Pine Mountain and an unnamed peak to its northeast.

Dropping slightly, you soon pass Oat Hill Road, left, at about 1 mile. Now on a moderate descent, you may just be able to make out the summit of Mt. St. Helena, perched on the border of Sonoma, Napa, and Lake counties, to the north. Gaining elevation once again, you begin to see a few Sargent cypress trees, the advance guard of a large forest that blankets a flat expanse to the north of Pine Mountain.