Mount Diablo

Silas and I decided to tackle Mount Diablo one Saturday morning. I barted over to East Bay, where Silas picked me up, and we drove over to the park.

By the small parking lot, we found a visitor center, where we picked our trail and grabbed a trail map. “Summit via Back Creek and Mitchell Canyon” certainly sounded like the most fun one to me; a 12.4 mile loop with 3,225 feet in elevation gain, this trail is called “the definitive Mount Diablo hike…[encompassing] all of the park’s life zones, from meadowlands to rock summit”. We found the description to be quite apt.

We started off walking through some grassy meadows, before the trail began to follow a small, intimate creek. This section was more rocky, with some forest cover. Then, the ascent began earnestly and brutally. Being in no fit cardiovascular shape, I was a bit challenged and lagged behind Silas. The climb was by no means extremely strenuous, but boy I was tired. Even Silas afterwards admitted he was a bit tired. We passed through a section with interesting smooth dark-colored trees, before emerging at a trail crossing, which marked the end of the intense uphill stretch.

Here, the scenery changed drastically. Suddenly, we found ourselves upon a ridge, open air all around us. We could peer into valleys and gaze upon the final peak in the distance. This was really the most picturesque portion of the hike.

After the ridge, the trail wound around the other side of the peak. The hike then cut across some steep hills, for some fun views straight down the slope and across nearby towns. Finally, we arrived at the summit, which was cold. The wind was really blasting up there, to moderate discomfort. We sought refuge in the visitor center, where we found the actual summit point, a small bit of rock exposed under a sign.

We had some small snacks and began our descent down the other side of the mountain. This part of the hike was less scenic and exciting than the climb. Grassy, open hills eventually gave way to dark, wet forest. One part going down was particularly pretty, descending into a valley. There were many birds in that area. Once in the valley, the path opened up and we followed a stream before ending up back at the parking lot.

Overall, Mount Diablo (in particular Back Creek Trail) was a pleasant surprise. The ascent was challenging, the terrain widely varied and beautiful. Creekside trails, ridgetop climbing, blisteringly cold winds accompanying panoramic eagle’s point views. Mount Diablo ain’t a bad hike.