The trail to the summit of Mount St. Helena is, in the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, an ascent to heaven.

Josue Rosas and Julia Gonzales of Clearlake head down the trail last month. The first (and last) portion of the out-and-bike hike is through shaded terrain, but the bulk is on a fire road.

On the Stevenson Memorial Trail rising to the Mount St. Helena Trail lies this monument to Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who with his wife, Fanny, spent two months here in 1880.

John Hodge of Hobergs walks down after he reached the Mount St. Helena summit last week. The trail’s elevation gain is 2,100 feet.