DATE: Thursday, May 14, 2020
DISTANCE: 13.98km / 8.69 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 532m / 1746 feet
TIME TAKEN: 7:01 hours
SUMMIT: Wall Point 488+ m / 1600+ ft
MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CA
DISTANCE: 13.98km / 8.69 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 532m / 1746 feet
TIME TAKEN: 7:01 hours
SUMMIT: Wall Point 488+ m / 1600+ ft
MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CA
Mount Diablo State Park is still closed to vehicle access, so here is another one for my "Seven Gates Of Diablo" project. Trying out many different ways to park outside somwhere and walk in. My research led me to this hike, another good option for approaching the Rock City area.
Unusually, Amber came to visit me in Oakland, instead of me going to San Jose to visit her, so I took her on a hike in my neck of the woods. Mount Diablo! Am I getting sick of it yet? No! Honestly going to different parts of Mount Diablo is going to different landscapes, different microclimates, almost like going to different worlds. With the Macedo Rancho Staging Area parking lot closed, I would have to implement one of my park and hike and bike schemes to gain this entrance to the park. We drove out to the affluent suburb of Alamo, and first, scouted out the Green Valley Trailhead by car, which is in a semi "private" residential enclave, parking along the roadside limited and restricted, and I don't know how seriously they take that. Not wanting to risk a ticket or tow, I proceeded with the original park and bike and hike plan. I dropped Amber off at the trailhead, and drove back to park on Stone Valley Road by Monte Vista High School, the closest unregulated parking that I had found in my research. I pulled my bicycle from the cargo hold, sped down the road, and was back at the trailhead in about five minutes. I locked the bike to something, and we proceeded east along the Green Valley Trail, an improbably slice of public access through a very private area. I wondered aloud how it even came to exist.
The trail wasted no time in crossing two excellent footbridges, which I duly documented. Past the final suburban cul-de-sac, we burst out into the fields and oak meadows, the green grass of spring beginning to crisp golden by this time of year. The trail was never far from the colony of luxury homes at the edge of Alamo, and it brought us within sight of one of the most preposterous Xanadu mansion I have ever seen. I actually recalled reading about this notorious house the news. After this, there was another strange moment when the trail went right through the garden of another wealthy estate. They could have easily made the trail go around it, but they for some reason directed through the garden, with two gates, and improbably tolerate hikers crossing the property. It wasn't too long after this that we Mount Diablo State Park boundary, and turned up the Summit Trail, up Dan Cook Canyon. Here, the luxury estates were finally left behind, replaced by increasingly large rock outcrops. The Summit Trail (a fire road, actually) was a steadily incline that eventually fed us right into Live Oak Campground, where we admired some of the campsites. Then I gave Amber a tour of Rock City, which was still fairly fresh in my mind from last time. We walked around through the various rock features, which as a fan of Pinnacles National Park, I though she would enjoy. (Mini-ccles?)
It was pretty quiet out there, people-wise, but not abandoned, and we claimed out own rock to have a little picnic on top of. The rain teased a bit, but did not follow through. After lunch, we went up to Sentinel Rock, which was her favorite. We didn't have all day, so then we headed out, down Wall Point Road, which was new to me, and provided a different view of Sentinel Rock. Wall Point is a fire road that slopes gently downhill, and carried us west, back to the edge of the park. I made sure to stop off and tag the summit feature, yet another oak and rock studded East Bay hilltop, Wall Point. The rocky outcrop features typical of the area continued as we descended, giving us something to look at. We took a left turn at Emmons Canyon Road, which led south to the Mount Diablo State Park boundary, back into the "private" neighborhoods. The rest was just a street walk, through a neighborhood, back to Green Valley Trail, bike back to the van, van back to the trailhead, pick up Amber, van back to Oakland, Amber back to San Jose, and a good day to you all.
FURTHER READING
•Alltrails: This is almost exactly what we did
•Redwood Hikes: Another account of basically the same loop. Great big photos.
Unusually, Amber came to visit me in Oakland, instead of me going to San Jose to visit her, so I took her on a hike in my neck of the woods. Mount Diablo! Am I getting sick of it yet? No! Honestly going to different parts of Mount Diablo is going to different landscapes, different microclimates, almost like going to different worlds. With the Macedo Rancho Staging Area parking lot closed, I would have to implement one of my park and hike and bike schemes to gain this entrance to the park. We drove out to the affluent suburb of Alamo, and first, scouted out the Green Valley Trailhead by car, which is in a semi "private" residential enclave, parking along the roadside limited and restricted, and I don't know how seriously they take that. Not wanting to risk a ticket or tow, I proceeded with the original park and bike and hike plan. I dropped Amber off at the trailhead, and drove back to park on Stone Valley Road by Monte Vista High School, the closest unregulated parking that I had found in my research. I pulled my bicycle from the cargo hold, sped down the road, and was back at the trailhead in about five minutes. I locked the bike to something, and we proceeded east along the Green Valley Trail, an improbably slice of public access through a very private area. I wondered aloud how it even came to exist.
The trail wasted no time in crossing two excellent footbridges, which I duly documented. Past the final suburban cul-de-sac, we burst out into the fields and oak meadows, the green grass of spring beginning to crisp golden by this time of year. The trail was never far from the colony of luxury homes at the edge of Alamo, and it brought us within sight of one of the most preposterous Xanadu mansion I have ever seen. I actually recalled reading about this notorious house the news. After this, there was another strange moment when the trail went right through the garden of another wealthy estate. They could have easily made the trail go around it, but they for some reason directed through the garden, with two gates, and improbably tolerate hikers crossing the property. It wasn't too long after this that we Mount Diablo State Park boundary, and turned up the Summit Trail, up Dan Cook Canyon. Here, the luxury estates were finally left behind, replaced by increasingly large rock outcrops. The Summit Trail (a fire road, actually) was a steadily incline that eventually fed us right into Live Oak Campground, where we admired some of the campsites. Then I gave Amber a tour of Rock City, which was still fairly fresh in my mind from last time. We walked around through the various rock features, which as a fan of Pinnacles National Park, I though she would enjoy. (Mini-ccles?)
It was pretty quiet out there, people-wise, but not abandoned, and we claimed out own rock to have a little picnic on top of. The rain teased a bit, but did not follow through. After lunch, we went up to Sentinel Rock, which was her favorite. We didn't have all day, so then we headed out, down Wall Point Road, which was new to me, and provided a different view of Sentinel Rock. Wall Point is a fire road that slopes gently downhill, and carried us west, back to the edge of the park. I made sure to stop off and tag the summit feature, yet another oak and rock studded East Bay hilltop, Wall Point. The rocky outcrop features typical of the area continued as we descended, giving us something to look at. We took a left turn at Emmons Canyon Road, which led south to the Mount Diablo State Park boundary, back into the "private" neighborhoods. The rest was just a street walk, through a neighborhood, back to Green Valley Trail, bike back to the van, van back to the trailhead, pick up Amber, van back to Oakland, Amber back to San Jose, and a good day to you all.
FURTHER READING
•Alltrails: This is almost exactly what we did
•Redwood Hikes: Another account of basically the same loop. Great big photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment