I woke up on the morning of November 27, 2022 with red in my ledger and a strong desire to wipe it out. For the third year in a row, I signed up for this challenge. In March I made it to the top of Mount Saint Helena. In May, I backpacked to the top of Rose Peak with my dad. In June, I circumambulated around and to the top of Mount Tamalpais. In July, I crawled up to the summit of Mount Sizer in near triple-digit temperatures. In August, I made it to the top of Mount Umunhum with friends. A Mount Diablo summit was all I needed to complete the challenge. With only four full weekends left in 2022, a packed schedule at work, and rain in the following week’s forecast, the hike seemed daunting. Summiting Mount Diablo is no easy feat even when everything is perfect, so I was really feeling the weight of the trail debt I had incurred.

In a last minute decision made shortly after waking up at dawn, I decided to cancel my 10K race plans for the day and head over to Mount Diablo State Park as soon as possible. I started at the Diablo Ranch Trailhead and took the trail to Angel Kerley Road. From there I took Mother’s Trail (someone really doesn’t like their mother—this trail was tough), Burma Road, Deer Flat Road, and finally Juniper Trail to the Summit. With the return trip I hiked over 10.4 miles and 3,346 feet of elevation in just under 4.5 hours. In all honesty, I pushed myself hard to make this happen (as I needed to reach the peak by 3:00pm to ensure I had enough time to get back to my car before the park closed) and am rather proud of my body in its current suboptimal shape for getting it done.

Although I finished and got out the park only minutes before sunset, I was very happy to have completed the challenge for the third time with another summit of this peak. 2022 Northern California Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge done!