7-16-13 Mt. Diablo - The Grand Tour

Juniper Trail near start of hike

For the last couple of days, it has been foggy in the mornings and fairly cool in the afternoons. Today promised to be the same, so I thought it might be a good day for a hike on Mt. Diablo, where it is usually too hot this time of year. One of my favorite hikes on the mountain is a loop around the north side that I have done several times, but not for at least 20 years. The last time was with Maureen and a friend, Kim, a young guy that she worked with who loved a challenging hike. It was mid-winter, cold and windy. There were patches of snow in some spots along the trail, and near the end of the hike it began to snow again.

I remembered the hike as a demanding one, and I debated with myself for a while about whether I was too old for this now. I decided to go ahead. If it seemed to be getting too hard I could always turn back if I hadn't gone too far. But once I neared the half-way point, I would be committed to finishing because there are no short-cuts.

Driving out through Danville, I could see that the top of the mountain was still in clouds, but by the time I parked near the Juniper Campground, they had gone. Next to me was another older guy getting ready for a hike. He asked if I was doing the Grand Tour. I had seen this name for the route on my map, so I answered yes. But he was heading out in a clockwise direction and I had chosen to go the other way. I wanted to get the climb to the summit out of the way first, or maybe find a way to avoid it.

I started out up the Juniper Trail, climbing steeply, then leveling off for a bit. I had thought that maybe I could cut down off-trail to the road to avoid climbing the last 400 ft. or so to the Lower Summit Parking Lot, but although it was only a short distance, it was all solid chaparral that would have been very difficult to get through, so I stuck to the trail.

Clematis lasiantha

I noticed here and there in the brush was a plant with pretty white puff balls. I looked it up later and it appears that they were the seed pods of Clematis lasiantha, or Virgin's Bower. I continued to see lots of it throughout the hike. I also saw silk tassel, with similar feathery tassels, but not in a ball like the Clematis. In fact I noticed that there are all kinds of plants up here that I don't see in the hills nearer to home. I thought that being a dry July, it would be rather dead looking, but it was quite beautiful to see mountainsides patched with so many colors of green and gold.

On North Peak Trail

My climbing done for the next few miles, I headed down the Summit Trail to the hairpin turn called Devil's Elbow, and across the steep mountainside on the North Peak Trail, enjoying the great views to the south and east. As well as the many sights, I was enjoying the fragrant smells of pine and juniper, and the total quiet except for the occasional wind in the trees.

Prospector's Gap Road

By the time I reached Prospector's gap between the main peak and North Peak, I was feeling good and ready to commit to the whole route. Heading down the very steep road, I passed the guy who had hiked the other direction. He was making better time than I was although he still had about 1000 ft. of climbing ahead of him. Near the bottom of the descent, I passed Big Spring, a shady spot I remembered from previous hikes. For the next mile or so, the road stayed fairly level, then climbed a bit to Murchio Gap on the ridge leading out to Eagle Peak. The road dropped fairly steeply down grassy hillsides with views of Mitchell Canyon and then up again to Deer Flat.

Rocks somewhere on north side

There is not much there but a trail junction, but I remembered the spot from my Boy Scout days when I was in my early teens. As a training hike for a Sierra backpacking trip, we hiked with full packs from Mitchell Canyon all the way over the mountain to the Scout camp near Rock City. It was one of those 100 degree plus days, and I had a seriously hard time with it, suffering from dehydration and probably heat exhaustion, I had to stop and puke a couple of times. Deer flat was the spot where we stopped for a rest and wait for stragglers, of whom I was probably one. It was still another 800 ft. or so over the ridge to Juniper Camp, but after the rest I was better able to go on and complete the hike.

Manzanita and pine cones

Today, the weather was comfortably cool and I felt fine -- just a bit tired. I sat down and ate a granola bar and an apple. I could have used some water, but I didn't bring any. I guess lots of people would think it was pretty foolish to do a hike like this without water. I see people with their camelback packs hiking or cycling with a water tube in their mouths, apparently needing constant water. That way is probably healthier, but I've always gotten by without much water. On my first scout backpacking trip, I was told that it was not good to drink when you were hot and thirsty, that it would make you sick. Just suck on a little pebble and your thirst won't bother you so much. It was bad advice, but I learned that I could survive without frequent drinking. So I usually don't want the extra weight of a water bottle unless it is quite hot or the hike is long.

Today, the climb to the ridge didn't seem so bad. Most of it is an easy grade. I think doing the hike in the counter-clockwise direction was easier than the other way, although the elevation gain and loss are the same either way. But you don't have the steep sustained climb of nearly 2000 ft. on the last half of the hike.

There were a number of campers set up in Juniper Camp as I walked through. I always thought that this would be a very nice place to camp, although I never have. Shady sites with great views. When I got to the car, I noticed that the other guy's car was gone, confirming that he was a faster hiker. I don't mind. I'm way past being concerned with speed these days. This really was a great hike. Besides the rugged country and great views, I think what I like best about it is the feeling of being way out in a wild place, even though the surrounding cities are always in view far below.

 7.2 miles, 2000 ft. climb    (mileage from gps on my iPhone -- the map says 6.2 miles)