After freezing bits off the first weekend in January, I decided to do a simple hike to the top of Mt Diablo’s main summit along the summit trail. I even left pre-dawn to make sure I got back in time for the Packers-Seahawks game. Not a lot of great views of the sunrise from this trail, but did get some nice lighting effects over the hills.

The game may have been why I didn’t bother with a lot of rest stops. Only a few quick bathroom breaks and a 10 minute stop at the halfway junction picnic area and 10 minutes at the summit itself.

Which led me to blowing away my previous record on the summit trail by over a half hour: I did it in five and half hours!

That and the Tahoe overnight are a great way to start the new year and decade.

The next weekend, I went back to Mt Diablo State Park again, but this time I started from the other side of the Mountain.

Having woken up early and not being able to get back to sleep, I ended up heading out early again. If I had waited around home after eating breakfast, history has shown I sometimes grow roots and decide to skip hiking for the day.

So I ended up heading out before sunrise again. This time, from Marsh Creek Road up towards Mt Olympia. The view of the sunrise from this side was usually pretty good, but some clouds did obscure some of the views as I made my way up towards Mt Olympia’s summit. Still got some nice color and when the sun did peak out from the top of the clouds, it was very rewarding.

Then I headed towards the snow and ice covering the north slope of North Peak. We had gotten a big storm through the area a little over a day earlier, which dumped a bunch of snow at the tops of the 3,000+ foot peaks in the Bay Area. Some of it had melted the previous day, but there was enough to enjoy the sight.

Unfortunately, it also covered a big part of the trail up to the top of North Peak. Even in dry weather, the last 200 feet or so is a very steep climb over crumbling pavement, slick rock, and loose pebbles. With snow it was a very slow climb, but I made it up safely and enjoyed the views from the top.

I’m used to seeing a sea of clouds from on top of Mt Fuji in Japan and had enjoyed seeing it over Kenya from on top of Kilimanjaro, but seeing it from the tops of Mt Diablo’s summits is just as glorious.

It was very pretty and I could see the mountains surrounding the Bay Area over the clouds. It was even clear enough to see the snow topped mountains all the way in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

A very enjoyable view.

Then I had to get down from North Peak. Again, this is always a tricky decent down a very steep trail with lots of questionable footing. Add snow and ice and it becomes a challenge to not fall and slide down the trail instead of hiking down it. I wished I had thought to bring my micro-spikes, but they would probably not have been that much help in the less than 2 inches of snow and ice.

I made it safely down the worse part and then headed over to the main summit. Again, there were some small areas with ice and snow still on the trial, but this part of the mountain faced the south more so there wasn’t any really bad spots.

Success! I reached the summit of Mt Diablo for the second time in 6 days! Again, there were some spectacular views of the entire area. Having climbed this mountain dozens and dozens of times, you’d think I’d be bored of the views. Nope. 🙂

On my way back down, I had to decide if I should go over to Eagle Peak and Twin Peaks and take in all 5 peaks of Mt Diablo, or just go back down to my Jeep by retracing my steps over Mt Olympia.

I decided that 3 peaks was enough for this cold day. Well, I did get back to Mt Olympia again, so that’s kind of 4 peaks. 🙂 Even if the side trip up to the top of North Peak was only a quarter mile, there was no way I was going to traverse that steep, ice covered final climb towards North Peak again that day.

So I was 3 for 3 on long weekend hikes this new year. Great start for the new decade.

For the last weekend in January I just did a simple 8 mile hike along the paved Nimitz Trail in Wildcat Canyon. It’s my ‘go to’ trail when the weather is damp (as it was that Sunday). A nice little hike.