3-26-13 Knobcone Point

Mt. Diablo State Park has many miles of beautiful trails, and some of the most spectacularly rugged terrain in the east bay. But in my hiking the last couple of years, I have avoided it because I like to take along my dog, Darby, and dogs are not allowed on any state park trails. For some time before this hike, we had noticed Darby limping on his right front leg, and we finally took him to the vet. He diagnosed it as arthritis asked us to limit Darby's exercise for a couple of weeks. So since a long hike with Darby was out, I decided to take advantage of the situation and go to Mt. Diablo.

Years ago (probably about 30), I had made several hikes east from Curry Point on the Knobcone Point Trail, and I had found a way to make a loop hike out of it by cutting across to the Blackhawk Ridge Road in the canyon to the south. The key was about a half mile of cross country travel along a faint use trail. It was a little rough, but I was able to go back and do it with a friend and my wife, and she is not especially tolerant of rough hiking.

Driving up the South Gate Road from Danville, I encountered my first problem. Previously, there had always been a ranger at the entrance gate to take your money, but with the current cutbacks in park services, there was no one there, and a sign said you had to put $10 in an envelope and deposit it before entering the park. I looked in my wallet, and there was only $8. I re-read the sign, and noticed that seniors got a $1 discount, but I was still a dollar short. The other problem was that I hadn't bothered to bring my reading glasses, which I don't need for distant vision, and I didn't have a pen. I searched the car and found a pen, but I could barely see the form I was supposed to fill out on the envelope. I wasn't about to give up my hike for the lack of a dollar, so I did my best to fill out the form, deposited my $8, and took my chances.



It was a beautiful spring day, and the hike out along the ridge was very enjoyable. The terrain changed from grassland to chaparral with lots of rocks, as the trail climbed toward Knobcone Point. I began to notice the Knobcone pines for which the place is named. Years ago, I remember scattered trees, but now there were large dense groves where skinny little trees were packed so close that you could hardly get through them. Then I realized that my previous hikes had been only a couple of years or so after a big fire, and this little forest had all grown up since then.



Finally, the trail ends at a gate marking the park boundary, and I headed to the right down a short access road leading to a tower of the high-voltage lines that cross the park here. This was the point where my old use trail had started, but I saw nothing but dense brush. There is a line of sandstone cliffs here, and I climbed a few feet to look over the edge. In the basin below, where I remembered grassland and vernal pools with scattered brush, really a beautiful little spot. Now it appeared to be totally filled with brush. I was already quite tired and the prospect of some difficult bushwhacking did not appeal to me. So I turned around and headed back. After the steep climb back up to the ridge, the return hike wasn't bad, and I enjoyed seeing everything once more.

When I got home, I did a search to see what I could find out about the area. I found a recent post which described a connecting trail a little west of where my old path had been. On the short access road, I had noticed a use trail heading to the right through the trees, but I thought it was probably made by climbers to reach the rocks and cliffs. According to the post, it goes all the way through to the Blackhawk Ridge Road. They called it the mountain's best kept secret. So one of these days, I want to go back and try it.

4.9 mi. - 900 ft.