Story:
Something else that I've been meaning to do for a long time: a hike from the base of Mount Diablo to the summit. While cleaning the house few months ago, I found an old brochure I got from a past visit, listing the "demanding hikes in Mt Diablo State Park". The "Summit from Mitchell Canyon" one caught my attention. It is featured as "the definitive Mt Diablo hike". Definitively appealing.
Most of the usual suspects met at the paved end of Mitchell Canyon Road in Clayton and were ready for the adventure. Antony described it pretty well in his trip report (569676) and I don't have anything to add.
We took Mitchell Canyon Road, which ended after a few switchbacks at Deer Flat, where we took a snack break. We then climbed, in the strong wind and rolling fog to Juniper Campground. Good place for lunch.
The climb from Juniper Campground to the summit was quite a healthy climb.
We spent a little bit of time inside the summit Visitor Center and the observation deck. There was not much of a view, and it was cold so we moved on. We took the North Peak Trail down to Prospectors Gap, and then opted for the Bald Ridge Trail, as suggested in the brochure. This was a beautiful trail with many flowers (including numerous checkered lilies) but there was quite a fair amount of poison oak. This trail also had a bit of uphill since it didn't follow the contours (like Prospectors Road seemed to do).
We continued down on Back Creek trail, Bruce Lee trail (yes, Bruce Lee) and Coulter Pine trail down to the car.
Tags:
Mount Diablo, Eagle Peak, Mitchell Canyon
Mount Diablo, Eagle Peak, Mitchell Canyon
Comments (7)
I did this hike yesterday in 9 hours with good deal of time on the summit. We also must have spent about 30 to 40 mins wondering at the end of canyon road trail trying to look for the next trail as the trail post was hidden. The trail conditions were very dry. I have done most big hikes in Yosemite, and this is definitely in par. The trail is definitely definitive! Particularly the loose dust and small gravel on narrow trails, very slippery even with good hiking shoes. Quite dangerous at few places. Be careful, but definitely worth it.
by pratic on Jun 04, 2012
I did this hike again yesterday, but in reverse and wow, this is the hardest hike I have done in Northern Cal. It took me four hours to get to the summit. I didn't think I would ever reach it. But took 2.5 hours to get down via Juniper/Deer Flat and Mitchell Canyon. Awesome hike.
by Sandman23 on Apr 15, 2012
This is a great hike although I did the up and back rather then the loop. Great pics here.
by Sandman23 on Mar 03, 2012
Another really awesome and fun hike. I love the B/W + Color mode on that new camera :-)
by antonyw on Apr 11, 2010
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