Decided last night that today was my best shot at Diablo for a couple of months. Sooooo… I went for it.  Really struggled with it today though.  Legs felt like lead for the first few miles. I had to talk myself into continuing several times. Finally decided to go for the summit when the visitor center was close enough that I would have felt like an idiot turning back then.  The 13.5 miles is manageable. But that 3700 vertical ft was almost more than I could deal with today.
It wasn't too hot and there was a light breeze. Good thing because of the minimal shade on several parts of the trail. There were the usual slippery dry gravel spots near Eagle Peak to contend with, bot overall the trail was in good condition. There was one spot on Bald Ridge Trail where the Poison Oak was looking pretty healthy. And a bit more hugging the edges of the road near the end of the loop.