Today we did a day hike to Mount Diablo. I found a trail that looked nice and we decided to go do it. Unfortunately, I approached it with a very Canadian attitude: I’m in California, and I’m Canadian therefore I won’t get cold. Shorts and t-shirt for me!
I started having doubts with my approach when the ranger at the park gate was commenting how cold and windy it was at the top. Still, I wasn’t going to back down.
When we got to the trailhead, the temperature was around 9°C, and there was a cloud floating across the parking lot. And I will admit that I should have brought a jacket along, but I was okay for the most part as long as I kept my hands in my pocket. But there was one pass where the wind was whipping by and clouds were making it difficult to see.
After that pass, we started going down and the clouds went away. It was a pleasant temperature for the rest of the hike. Even after we started going up again, the weather was lovely.
There was only one other person we encountered on the trail (a senior doing a different eight hour hike.) The flora was different from what I was used to (tree trunks that were red), but there were a lot of wildflowers; probably due to the atmospheric rivers from winter. Beautiful views all around. I get to say I saw the Sierra Nevadas.
Towards the end, we were near the summit, so we went off the planned trail to go to the very top. There is a museum there, but they did a good thing. The museum is AROUND the summit, but not actually on it. So you can go inside and stand on the actual rock that is the top.
Written 2023-5-11 11:05