MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK
It’s early in the morning of July 18th, 2015. I drive slowly up North Gate Road, curving across the ridges of Mount Diablo’s west flank. Wind blows through the car, and I crank up the music. After living without a car in San Francisco for several years, it’s a thrill to drive again. I sing along to whatever CDs my Dad left in his car and gradually motor my way towards Junction Campground, my home for the night.
I’ve come to Mount Diablo, one of the tallest peaks in the Bay Area, for two reasons: Tonight, the Moon, Venus, & Jupiter will align, and I want to make sure I have clear view of the night sky (San Francisco gets a lot of fog this time of year). Also, I’ve been itching to go solo camping lately to see what it’s like.
The campground is empty when I arrive, so I pick a choice site, set up camp, and set off hiking.
Leaving the campsite (2000ft elevation, roughly halfway up the mountain) in the midmorning, I make my way towards the summit along a trail that I’ve never explored during my previous hikes to the top. Along the way, little creatures and fantastic vistas flutter before me.
I let myself get sidetracked by a short .4 mile downhill detour along Moses Rock Ridge. Here the heat and the clarity of the day are especially apparent, as the ridge allows unobstructed views and sun.
Through the magnified perspective of my telephoto lens, heat and clarity are at odds. Heat waves rise from the dirt trail, warping the surprisingly bright summer colors of some far away trees into a flat impressionist scene.
After my short detour, I continue along one of several trails that leads to the summit. Atop the mountain is the usual summer crowd of bikers, hikers, and people who drove to the summit.
Hiking up the top half of the mountain in such toasty weather takes a lot out of me, so I head down from the summit (3849ft), back to camp. My stomach rumbles all the way down. Finally, the campsite appears idyllically through the trees. I get to work fixing enough food for two people and scarf it all down myself. Retreating to the shade of my tent, I settle down to read for awhile.
SUNSET, MOON, VENUS, JUPITER, & DARKNESS.
Around 6:45 PM, to give myself enough time to get there before sunset, I leave again for the summit. After getting constantly distracted by the colorful afternoon light that paints the mountainside, at 8 PM I realize that I need to run up the last eight hundred vertical feet to get to the summit by sunset at 8:28. It’s an exhausting, gorgeous run.
The Moon, Venus, & Jupiter
Just after sunset, the extraterrestrial lights begin their evening show. The crescent Moon and Venus (also a crescent) hug together tightly in the last lavender light of July 18th. Jupiter hangs nearby, a few degrees to the right.
The view from the top of Mount Diablo is an impressive one during the day, stretching from the Sierras in the east to beyond the Farallon Islands in the west. This is the first time I’ve seen it in the evening, and it is equally breathtaking, as colors fade and the city lights come up. The trio of the Moon, Venus, & Jupiter (the brightest night sky objects in the solar system) dominates the sky above San Francisco.
The starkness of the night hike back down to camp, glimpsed through the narrow beam of my headlamp, keeps me awake and aware as my mind cycles through the sights of the evening.
DAY 2
Early in the morning hours of July 19th, I’m awakened by an unexpected sensation. Why is there water on my face? I start to hear a gentle pitter patter, growing in volume. It’s raining on me! The forecast showed clear skies for the night when I checked it yesterday, so I didn’t put the rain fly on my tent for the night. Drowsily, I rise and toss the fly onto the tent, hastily secure it, and scurry back into my shelter.
Several hours later, I’m up to the summit again to watch the sunrise. There’s no one but me atop Mount Diablo; I savor the silence.
CLIFFS & CAVES
I’ve hiked Mount Diablo many times before, but almost always on the path that leads from the base to the summit. Most of the ~20,000 square miles of the state park I haven’t yet explored. Today, before I head back to the city, my plan is to explore a trail that I’ve never hiked on the southeast side of the park.
Over rolling hills, the trail leads to the edge of the park, where I find a fantastic group of sheer, cavernous rock formations. I set down my pack and scramble around the cliffs & caves.
These rocks feel familiar. They remind me of Castle Rock Regional Park, a similar collection of gigantic upturned slabs of sandstone on the northwest side of the park. Castle Rock is close to where I grew up, and it’s one of my favorite places in the world.
I feel at home, climbing and crawling my way around, searching for caves and vistas.
