Philo, CA

We went up to Philo, in southern Mendocino County, for part of the weekend. If you don't know where Philo is, it is just north of Boonville, in the Anderson Valley. We go there at least once a year to visit Navarro Winery, and since it is just too far to go for a day, the past few years we've been camping overnight at Hendy Woods State Park, just down the road.

at the campsite

This year, we drove up late Friday afternoon, and set up camp. The camp was full with families - I think that we had one of the more minimal campsites - no bikes, tables, Coleman stoves, multi-family tents for us! I forgot my good camera, so the photos are from the phone...

We woke up in the morning and had a nice little hike through the Little Hendy Grove, to see the redwoods, and then packed up camp and drove across the street to the Navarro barrel tasting event. This is a great event -  you get to taste the pinot noir from the previous year directly from the barrels, right before they bottle it, as well as all of the other wines that they offer.

Then they have a bluegrass band, usually some animals, and a great taco bar with interesting salsas made by various farm workers, as well as other great picnic fare.

Alec enjoyed his taco with purple beet salsa!

This year, there was goat cheese from the goats that were visiting.

The goat that Alec and N milked

We also took a 4x4 tour of the property, it is almost 1000 acres, and rises from around 300-over 900 feet elevation. From the top you can see the Hendy Woods. We also saw some of the short-legged sheep that they use as weed control, and some of the barriers that they use to keep out birds, deer, and even bears! I felt a little bad, since the previous night I had to convince Alec that there weren't any bears around (he kept seeing the California State Parks symbol), and I seriously thought that there weren't any. But apparently there are, and they like munching on grapes.

We leave you with a photo from up top at Navarro...