Hike to Diablo

It was Saturday morning and I woke up at the first ring of my alarm at 6.00 AM and quickly started  getting ready. The recent previous hike to mission peak had accelerated my enthusiasm levels to take up the day’s hike to Mount Diablo Grand Loop Trail, one of the highest peaks in bay area. Karthik and I had planned for this hike almost a week back and Pramod and Priya also wished to tag along. As discussed the previous night they were supposed to pick us at our home at 7.00 AM. The morning chores dragged a little long for us and when Pramod and Priya reached our home we were still on the verge of completing our cereals. We invited them inside while we finished the breakfast and got our shoes on. The four of us left home at 7.30 AM and reached the venue by 8.30 AM. The route included even driving up the hill till we reached the start of our intended hike trail. However we did not have clarity on the exact parking location and also the exact location from where our hike was supposed to begin. After rambling around for a while with the help of a local sheriff we found the parking spot.

View from the start of the hike

The gust of fresh chilled air, as soon as we opened our car doors, welcomed us to the serenity. With a very few cars seen parked around us we discussed on the lesser crowd the hills could have that day. Priya and I had our bags stuffed with water bottles and crunchy nut bars. With much energy and interest levels, we started our hike at 8.45 AM from the Juniper Campground. We relied on a blog from eastbaytrials.com for the directions to be followed. As we started walking, looking out for our first trail – Deer Flat Road, we passed along few sheriff cars and as well as few visitors camping in the sites.  I noticed few arrow marks marked on the path in chalk powder, but at that point of time I wasn’t sure about its purpose. After walking for nearly 200 meters we came across a board that indicated the direction to be taken for 50K runners. It was then I realized the purpose of those arrow marks. As the name says the Deer Flat Road trail was mostly flat all the while along and we walked through it with much ease. The trail next continued towards Meridian Ridge road. this part of the hike had decent ascents and descents and our pace of walking slightly reduced. On our way here we were thrilled to hear the sound of flow of water and when we tried to follow the sound we were directed to a narrow stream of water rush. The same stream of water extended further and at certain point in our route we had to jump across the water to continue. We knew from the reference blog that the next turn to consider was Prospectors Road, which we almost missed if it wasn’t for the fellow trekkers who voluntarily guided us towards the summit. Although we trusted them initially and took a few steps in that direction guided, we had our own reservations in continuing. We climbed back to the same point, walked a few steps further in the previous route to check on the directions board☺. Meanwhile, Karthik and Priya referred to the map the fellow trekkers had and then we all were sure to take the path which they had actually suggested. This stretch had steep ascents and a very narrow path in between the trees.  The nostalgic feel of climbing the Chamundi Hills filled me and Karthik. We took our first break at 10.55 AM at one of the viewpoints where we munched on the nutty bars, chit-chatted and captured more pictures and selfies.

Narrow paths

Steep ascents

Continuing further on the route, the trail snakes its way along ridgebacks and hillsides. By now we had reached greater heights of the hill from where the views around took our breaths away. With good rains in the recent past the region was filled with lush green and this extended to as far as our visions could extend. What a marvelous beauty Mother Nature holds! With every descent that we walked, Priya and I were constantly reminded about the ascent that we had to expect further :D. In most part of the route Priya and I were together and Karthik and Pramod were together, it was only at certain stretches that all four of us walked with each other. Even though the guys were pretty faster than us, they were courteous to wait till we girls reached them and again the trend continued. We took our next break an hour later at one of the other viewpoints. It offered a bird’s eye-view of the bay area, an amazing spot for photos which we utilized to the fullest. The rock where we sat on was the perfect place to savour this view. Karthik and I were much more excited for photo shoot than the other two and they were more than patient to click our pictures at all different poses :P. Karthik amused me by going down on his knees and doing the proposing kind of thing by giving me a flower (a wild flower!) and he bothered Priya to take this picture from a right location :D. Walking further we met another group of people who asked if any of us could take their group picture and that they would return the favor for us (Yes, those exactly were the words!). Accordingly we favored them and they favored us☺. And this picture happens to be one of my favorites in this whole hike. Hearing us talking to each other one lady in that group asked us if we were speaking Kannada and then she also told that she happens to be a Tamilian. All the while, the other people we came across were mostly from the 50K running event. Other than those, other trekkers like us were in a small number. As a courteous act, each time there was a runner who had to pass us, we either stopped walking or slightly detoured and made the way for him/her. What Pramod and I noticed and felt incredible was that each one of them acknowledged us with a Thank-You in spite of their sprints.

When we reached the lower summit we took a small break for snacks and water and then continued our route towards the summit which was 0.46 miles away. The views of roads running up the mountains, cars driving along with cycles tied to its back, cyclists’ hard pedaling, stretch of bay on one side and the ample shades of green on the other side stick in our memories forever. We strolled through the last part of the hike to reach the summit at an elevation of 3849 ft. The jubilant feeling in all of us was surely at its zenith. All I could think of was how incredibly tiny we people are in this massive nature. Human species is certainly a dwarf when compared to the mountains. We climbed the watch tower and returned soon being unable to tolerate the innumerable flies. Watch tower also featured an indoor museum like thing recording the history of the mountain along with details on flora and fauna it comprises of. Also it has marked the actual summit with a bedrock and features an adjacent indication board.

Following the route guidelines we headed back in search of the Juniper Trail board at the lower summit. While Pramod went in search of the exact direction, the rest of us relaxed on a bench enjoying the other groups enjoying their snacks! (Priya and Karthik reckons that a troupe of sedis there will be actually relishing chitranna and mosranna :D). Following the directions to Juniper campground we took our route back. Fortunately the whole of this stretch was a downhill and we almost ran through it to finish it with joy and ecstasy. It was quarter to two o’ clock when we reached back to the parking spot. The whole of 5 hours was pure bliss☺. And finally on the way back home Naan and Paratha at Chaat Bhavan evened out the complete hike workout :P