11-3-13 Wall Point - Mt. Diablo

View west from Wall Point

It was a nice Saturday afternoon and I wanted to go hiking. I've been avoiding hiking with Darby on weekends because there are usually lots more people out with loose dogs. If I left him home there would be no problem and besides I could go anywhere, including trails where dogs are not allowed. So I decided to go Mt. Diablo State Park. Years ago I had done a loop from the Macedo Ranch entrance that I remembered being one of my favorites, so I set out to do it again.

When I arrived at the end of Green Valley Road, I found that it required a self-service parking fee. I needed $5.00 (with senior discount), but I only had 3. I wasn't going to give up my hike for a couple of bucks, so I put what I had in the envelope and hoped that I would get away with it. I figured that it would cost them way more than $2 to track me down and give me a ticket. We'll see what happens.

I started off up over the first hill and down into Pine Canyon. Everything is very dry now, but still quite pretty in the late-season afternoon light. There was quite a lot of fall colors (at least a lot for California) along the way, especially the maples and sycamores. At the bottom of the canyon, I turned right, heading upstream and climbing gradually along the dry creek bed. After a mile or so, the road climbs more steeply and keeps climbing for a good long way. As it begins to head away from the creek, I turned right on the Secret Trail, a single-track trail that is not exactly secret since it is well-signed. It climbs some more, then cuts across the side of the ridge to the south and connects with the Wall Point Road. I turned right again and began returning along the ridge. Now it was apparent that I had gained a lot of elevation and there were lots of great views of the Blackhawk and Danville areas. The ridge, part of the Black Hills, is covered with chaparral with lots of big sandstone outcrops -- very scenic. Soon a little climbing brought me to a high point and I began to wonder where exactly was "Wall Point". Looking at the map later I found that it was at that high point. From there, the road goes up and down along the ridge, but mostly down, until the loop is done, and there is only the last small hill to cross.

Sometimes these days I remember hikes from long ago as not being too hard, but that was when I was young and in good shape. When I try them again I find them much harder than I remembered. That didn't happen so much today. I ended up tired, but not completely worn out, and it was an enjoyable afternoon.

6.2 miles, 1300 ft. climb