After changing plans and doing a short hike at Magee Preserve the previous day I could have just been a couch potato for the rest of the weekend, but instead I managed to get up and head to Mt Diablo to do the hike I had originally thought to do.

As part of my quest to finish hiking every trail at Mt Diablo State Park, I decided to hike along Wall Point Road. It’s a road that runs along the top of Pine Ridge. I’ve done a bit at the start and end of this old wagon road, but never had the the chance of going along the full stretch of road.

That turned out to be a great hike. Great views of Mt Diablo and the San Ramon Valley all along the ridge. I also managed to snag Secret Trail (not so secret, since they had a trail sign clearly visible) and a small part of the Rock City Trial that I had not had a chance to hike (usually I went through that area vertically on my way to the summit, so never explored the entire area).

While in that area, I took the opportunity to hike along Madrone Canyon and then the East Fossil Ridge Road. Two more trials off my to do list. Did Artist Point and the West Fossil Ridge Road while I was at it (I had hiked those trails a couple of times before).

To get back to my Jeep, I could take a couple different ways, but I decided to go back along the Green Valley Trail. I had never hiked that trail, plus it was a nice hike with lovely views that would put me very close to where I started my hike that morning.

So 14 miles altogether in six and a half hours. A long day, but very satisfying. And bagged a lot of trials I had never hiked before.

And after 29 days of *ZERO* rain in February for the Bay Area, I felt several sprinkles on Fossil Ridge. Not enough to matter, but at least it was SOMETHING. More rain in the forecast for the next Saturday, but it may be too late to save the snow pack this year.

The next Saturday we FINALLY got some real rainfall. Lots of downpours throughout the afternoon. I doubt it’ll be enough to catch up to normal snow/rail fall for the Winter season, but anything is better than nothing.

Since I had been a couch potato during the rain, I decided to redeem myself by climbing up to Mt Diablo’s summit. Even If I’ve hiked to the summit dozens and dozens of times, it’s always a enjoyable (if tiring) hike.

On the way down, I decided to cross some of the trails I hadn’t hiked at Mt Diablo State Park off my list. Mostly Oak Knoll Trail, but I got a couple short connector trails in as well.

It was overcast the whole day and I even had some light sprinkles a few times in the afternoon, but overall a nice hike.

The following weekend was rainy, so I didn’t get out for a long hike.

And then the world ended…

Well, not really, but with California going on lockdown, it was a challenge to decide on where to take a long hike.

I decided on Mt Diablo State Park, since I knew it pretty well and thought I knew which trails would be the most deserted allowing me to keep my distance from other hikers.

I decided on going up Mt Olympia from Morgan Territory Road. Starting early in the morning, I would usually only see 2-3 people on the east side of this mountain all day.

Going over to North Peak or even the main Summit was also possible, but with me trying to keep away from other people those would be more tricky to hike to.

I even could get in a few new trails in my quest to hike all of Mt Diablo’s many trails.

My attempts to keep away from people failed within the first half hour in the lower part of the trail, but we greeted each other and kept our distance as we passed.

On the way up, there were two more people I had to pass (and one of them I had to pass twice as he passed me on the way up and then on his way down). Again, we did the right thing and kept at least 6 feet apart as we passed.

On the way down, I realized that a lot of other people had the same idea as me: The east side of My Olympia was usually very lightly traveled.

Unfortunately, at least a dozen people had that same thought. It was rare that I’d pass more than 3-4 on this trail, but I imagine the other parts of Mt Diablo might have been even more crowded.

But in the end, I kept my distance when passing and got to hike on several new trails in the area. Eight miles in about four and half hours. A good long hike for the weekend.

I might do a longish bike ride on Sunday, since I also no longer take my bike to BART to get to work.

The next 3 to 4 weeks are going to be strange, hard, and a challenge to stay active.