penitent, turbulent, multiplex!

After spending a day standing around in the sun at Ozzfest, Nathan and I somehow thought it would be a good idea to follow it up with a 14-mile hike of Mount Diablo with a few of his physics buddies from the area. We took the hike pretty slow, but it was still grueling in parts because of the heat, the lack of shade, and the fact that the guys with the map kept disappearing.

Here’s the story of the hike, told mostly through pictures:

A quarry that captivated me for the first mile or so of the hike.

I took this picture of the town behind us within the first hour or so of the walk.

About one-third of the way to the summit, we approached this peak. It was starting to get really hot at this point.

Almost there… however, at this point the trail forked, and the folks with map had run ahead while we stayed behind to help out some of the stragglers. Somehow I lost track of everyone and was left alone, so I was left to make the choice on my own. I decided to turn right, since the goal (the little outpost on the summit that you can see here) was to my right.

This ended up being a tactical error; I was forced to do some “bouldering” to get to the summit, which is a fancy word that means “scrabbling over hot rocks covered with gravel without any equipment and trying not to slide off of a cliff”. It was a lot of fun. I busted a cute young couple that had perched themselves up on a crag; they were just about to start making out when I ungracefully slid past the base of their “nest”. As I continued on my way I promised them that I wouldn’t look back and that they could resume if they wished, but I don’t think they believed me.

So unconventional was my route that I arrived at the summit center from behind the foundation of the building, here.

We stopped at the center to rest, look around, fill our bottles, and quote King’s Quest V.

The lookout tower. Myst, anyone?

A few views from the lookout tower.

The summit center was a cool little place; here’s a piece of art that was mounted by the stairs that caught my eye.

The peak of the mountain is contained within the building and has for some reason been outlined with reflective tape, which I didn’t discover until after I took the picture with the flash on.

After ensuring that none of our party members were going to expire, we headed back down the mountain after a long rest. I detest walking downhill because it always makes my left knee lock up, and this time was no different. Here’s a shot I took just as we started down the fire road.

In true California style, even the pinecones here are oversized.

The scenery on the way down didn’t vary all that much until we reached the bottom and were walking the last few miles to the parking lot. The walk through the valley was a great way to end the trip, as it afforded some gorgeous views.

Like this one!

In a striking parallel to my Black Mountain hike, I caught sight of some of wildlife right as the walk was coming to an end. While not quite as spectacular as the herd of deer I saw last time, these wild turkeys were a nice surprise.

We ended the night at some family restaurant where I ate the biggest salad that I’ve ever been served in my entire life, and then we took a leisurely drive through Walnut Creek, which is a cute little town. I think I was asleep within a half-hour of arriving home.