Mt. Diablo Hike 16.4 Miles, 3800 Ft elevation

We group of four completed a challenging hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo from the Regency St trailhead as part of our preparation for our upcoming 10-day hiking adventure in the Dolomites.

The weather couldn't have been better, with clear skies and pleasant temperatures throughout the day. The ascent was steady but right pace, we were able to climb without feeling overly exhausted. The real challenge came during the descent. The trail was extremely dry, covered with loose gravel and small stones, making it very slippery. Every step required careful attention, and we had to slow down significantly to avoid losing our footing. In fact, I slipped and fell once, which reminded me how demanding downhill hiking can be, especially on loose terrain.

Surprisingly, the descent took longer than the climb because of the technical conditions. Reaching the summit was rewarding, and we celebrated with a well-deserved ice cream while enjoying the beautiful views. The hike tested both our endurance and confidence on uneven trails. Overall, it was a great training hike that highlighted our strengths while also showing us the areas we need to improve before taking on the spectacular trails of the Dolomites.

 

Mt.Olympia Trail 2946 Ft Elevation, 7.5 Miles, 4 hr, 2000 Kcal

  It was expected to be a sunny day with temperatures nearing 80's. We decided to do an early start and headed to the Mt. Diablo trail head on Marsh Creek Rd at 6:30am. Unfortunately, on our way we missed a few turns and ended up taking a roundabout route and ended up at the trail head after over an hour's drive. By this time the sun has already up and there was no breeze, We knew were in for a long, hot day. We started the hike by taking East Trail. It took a few wrong turns to finally find it. The trail was narrow, hugging the mountain line with a drop on one side . Also it was steep and slippery due to loose dirt and rock. This was the first time we saw wild flowers blooming to the fullest. We stopped at several places to take photos. We had great views of the bay, the delta area and central valley.
We also did an impromptu Holi celebration once reached the Mt. Olympia. It was surprise celebration and nice timing to celebrate. We took Mt. Olympia road down but the trail was equally steep and slippery. It took longer than we expected and we were exhausted by the time we reached the cars. We saw traces of the fire, in the form of charred trees, that had swept through the park in Sept 2013.

Excellent link to the trail: http://gregable.com/2014/01/mt-olympia-hike-part-of-mt-diablo-state.html


Route:
Time: 4 hr  
Difficulty: 7.5/10
Total Elevation:2946 ft

Mar 16th, Mt Diablo State Park, 14 miles, 4000 ft elevation, 3,500KCal

It's been our burning desire to summit Mt Diablo this year, especially since we have been seeing it on every hike we have been on. Though I was a bit skeptical about my own ability to complete the loop, I tried not to reveal my fear to the others. But I guess our motivation and the inner desire helped us to pull it off. All of us were better equipped  for this hike with hiking poles, boots, ample food and water. It was very foggy when we started off on the hike at 8:30 AM from the Mitchell Canyon Staging area, Clayton. While there were a number of options to go up, we took the Back Creek trail and it was nearly 7 miles of uphill hike. I wished the there was some breeze so that we wouldn't feel that exhausted. At every mile we felt summit is closer to us but even after 5 mile of constant climb it felt  as if we had not reached any closer. We met other hiking teams who hiked several times in a year to the summit to see the wild flowers in bloom. But for some of us it seemed like once in year was more than enough while for others in the group, once in a life time was more than enough :). With a few 5 min breaks, we reached summit at 12.45 PM and quickly polished off the food & ice cream. Few of the people who had driven up to the summit, commended us for the hike we did. The views along the trail were spectacular and the photos do no justice to it. The trail allowed us to get a 360 view of Bay Area.

The hike downhill was no less spectacular, but we had to keep a close watch on the trail, since loose rocks and pebbles made it very slippery. One of the team members slipped and fell, but was fortunate not to get too hurt. The constant downhill hike put severe stress on our knees and calf muscles. We finished the downhill 7 mile portion of the hike in less than 3 hours. Even though we were exhausted, we were already planning our next big hike at Yosemite in mid-May. A bit crazy isn't it? We recovered some of the last carbs by having pizza and crashed to bed @8.30PM while some of us added Advil and/or chilled beers:).
Total Hike time - 7Hr

Most of the downhill trail  is like this

View of Summit from where we are

Lonely CA poppy

View of Summit from another point

At the summit

on our way back

Mt Diablo State Park- Mitchell Canyon Staging Area - Back Creek trail - Bald Eagle Trail - North Peak Trail - Summit Trail - Summit - Juniper Trail - Deer Flat Road - Mitchell Canyon Road - Mitchell Canyon Staging Area

Difficulty: 8.5/10

Feb 23rd, Mt. Diablo State Park, Elevation 1760 Ft, 7.16 Miles, 2.32 Hrs, 1137 Kcal

This year our target is to hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo.  As part of that goal, we decided to tackle a moderate hike on Mt. Diablo. The drive to Mt. Diablo is very scenic. With the rains over the last few days, the hills had turned full lush green all around making it extremely beautiful. There were a few areas along the trail that were still wet and slushy to walk. For most part of our hike we didn't see a single hiker and nor any animals as we usually come across in other hikes. Although, we were compensated on the way back by a bald eagle and a baby green snake. We had decided that whenever we hike more than 7 miles, we would treat ourselves with a grand lunch & we kept our promise :). 4-5 weeks from now our goal is to reach the summit of Mt. Diablo. Stay tuned..

South Gate Rd- Curry point- Curry Canyon Trail- Frog Pond Trail and the same way back.
Difficulty: 6/10

A small  pond along the way

Long shot view of the summit

scenic view from one point

Valley view

 

on our way back

this creek had cut through the trail