50 images in this album on 6 pages. |
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I've been looking around for some new "Spring Training" hikes and decided (almost on a whim) to go finally take a look at Mt Diablo. Somehow I've lived in the Bay Area for a decade and have never even driven up to the Diablo Summit.
Matthew Holliman had posted a route on summitpost (here) that looked intriguing- a loop hike that tagged Mt Diablo itself and 3 surrounding high points- Eagle Peak, North Peak, and Mt Olympia. (I opted to skip the class 3 scramble that he included in his route and took the slightly longer and slightly saner trail from North Peak to Mt Olympia)
I got the workout I was looking for- This may be the most brutally graded hike I've seen outside of the Sierras.
There's stuff in Henry Coe and the Ventanas that comes close, but you'll not see anything like 7 miles of sustained uphill with this grade.
The weather was near perfect for hiking (though unfortunately whats good for hiking isn't good for visibility) and we are near the peak (of an admittedly miserable) wildflower season.
A clockwise variant of this route that included Mitchell Rock and Twin Peak can be found
here
Today's ~14 mile route from the Mitchell Canyon trailhead at the top of the loop. Route was counter clockwise around the loop. Last comment 05/05/2008.
Viewed: 378 times.
04/22/2007 06:39 PM
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The elevation profile for today was pretty brutal. Almost a mile of elevation gain and nary a flat stretch to be found. If I'm calculating this right, an 10000 ft elevation change over 14.5 miles is about an average grade of 13%.
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04/22/2007 06:41 PM
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Trailhead sign at the Mitchell Canyon ranger center. Forgot my camera memory card and ran back out to the nearby Longs Drugs to pick one up. Headed out a little after 10am.
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04/22/2007 10:01 AM
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The early sections of the trail were a bit muddy from last night's rains, but it dried out as the day wore on. There were a number of joggers out on the fire roads.
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04/22/2007 10:08 AM
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Right turn here to start the climb to Eagle Peak. Very green in the lowlands
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Into the chaparral as the trail wound steadily upward. Clouds Hanging over the Diablo summit in the distance.
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Taking a break from the relentless uphill to peek down at the portion of the Eagle Peak trail that I had just traversed.
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04/22/2007 10:42 AM
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Junction of the trail leading back to Mitchell Rock. Hard left turn to keep heading up towards Eagle Peak.
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04/22/2007 10:44 AM
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An hour into the hike and most of the way up to the Eagle Peak summit, looking back towards the trailhead.
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04/22/2007 11:05 AM
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