Updated with a second Mt Diablo hike…

So after a February that was almost nothing but rain, the skies finally cleared for a weekend in March and the temperature spiked to late spring levels.

Yes, this meant I have to go climb something.

I decided Mt Diablo deserved some attention and headed up from Marsh Creek Road towards Mt Olympia. A steep, yet pleasant trail climbed up a ridge to the top of Mt Olympia (2,946 feet). After taking a well deserved break at the top, I headed over to North Peak.

A pretty easy traverse over, but the last 200 feet is a grueling climb up a steep and rough road that isn’t much of a road. Lots of loose pebbles make going up or down this slope a challenge.

The top of North Peak (3,557 feet) is unfortunately covered by a microwave tower, but is still a nice peak to visit.

I could have gone over to the main summit of Mt Diablo (3,849 feet) from here, but that meant a 600 foot decent and climbing 900 feet and at least 3 to 4 miles of hiking.

I decided the two peaks were enough for that day, so after enjoying the view from nearby rock outcroppings, I made my way down the east side of the North Peak.

There is no official trail down this side, but a well used use trail is fairly easy to follow. This is actually the first chance I’ve had to try this trail and except for a area around a rocky ridge that was tricky to make my way around, the rest was a pretty enjoyable hike back to my Jeep.

A fun day to enjoy the first real spring weekend of the year.

The following weekend, I hiked up to Diablo’s Main Summit via the Summit Trail. Yeah, I could have just done it the last weekend, but where would the fun be in that? 🙂

I also saw my first California Poppy of the year. Only a few individual poppies scattered around, so the big bloom is yet to come. If they come next weekend, I may have to decide if I’ll hike in Mt Diablo State Park for the third weekend in a row.