3/22 Hike: Mt. Diablo
Mt. Diablo is the highest point in the eastern part of San Francisco Bay, and at nearly 4000', it is one of the larger of the coastal range mountains (which pale in comparison with the Sierra Nevada to the east, but also mean no altitude sickness when climbing). The plan was to get there at 10 am, but delays forced us to get there about noon, which was just as well, as the mountain was still shrouded in cloud.
Within 30 minutes or so, however, we started getting some of the great views of the East Bay and the Sacramento Valley.
The path we took rambled around some of the main ridges of the mountain and gave us a chance to circumnavigate the summit in order to overlook the various lesser peaks.
By mid-afternoon we reached the largest ascent of the mountain, a climb of a little over a thousand feet from the northern ridge to the summit. Here you can see the "saddle" of Prospector's Gap between the North Peak (left) and the summit.
It was a steep climb, but worth it. The views of the green rolling hills to the south were a nice sight to take in.
One of my favorite shots of the day captured the late afternoon clouds and sun casting long shadows over the ridge.
By the time we headed back to the car, the weather had started to turn again, and we got down the mountain just as a minor bout of rain began.