It was just supposed to be a short hike, a 3.5-mile jaunt called the sycamore Canyon Loop at Mount Diablo State Park. But one thing led to another and before you know it my hiking partner Alice DeLaurier-O'Neil and I were in the middle of 14 mile or so hike along Curry Point as we warmed up for next months climb to the summit.
We had expected the many colors of fall to be on the trees but we think we missed the seasonal change. We did find some of the red and yellow hues as we hike along the canyon.
The hike was a study of the different ecosystems Mount Diablo has to offer. From dry grasslands to groves of live oak trees we headed up along the path capturing the sites on our climb.
Near the end of the climb was the dry Frog Pond. Guarding the dry pond bed was dead tree that I swear resembled an angry scorpion.
One final push up the steep dirt trail and we headed along the last trail for our return march along the road to starting point parking lot. The summit building was tantalizingly close but with darkness approaching we turned for home.
The next hike will likely be the last of the year and the most challenging as we make that march from bottom to top and back.
2 comments:
Good luck to you, Glenn & Alice. You'd be carryin' me down that summit trek ~ way too much hoofin'.
I'd rather be biking but then I hear the Diablo biking trail is a heck of a climb up and then streaks down in 1/2 the time. Scary!!! And come to think of it, there's no bike trail per se, just sharing the road with cars. Right? I better stick with the praire plains of eastern SD.
Favorite Paparazzi ~ Would you check out the murch blog at macmurchy.blogspot.com?
I gave you credit for the lovely photo I lifted but am wondering what type of tree it is? Beautiful, that's all I know! It's the picture of the buds bursting & it personally rang in the holiday season for me.
thanx, Glenn.
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