Originally made plans to hike Mt Tamalpais with my son and due to the light rains the week before our planned hike, decided to go to Mt Diablo instead. After about an hour drive, reached the trailhead at Mitchell Creek entrance around 8:00am. After some dynamic stretches, started our climb. The trail was quite wide and I felt it was a bit steeper but after couple of miles my legs got warmed up and it became easier. Also walking backwards in steeper sections (watch your step!) helped to some extent. It wasn't crowded as much and the weather was too good and felt perfect for this winter/spring hike. After about 3 hours of constant uphill climb and passing peaks, reached Juniper campground which had good restrooms and water supply. Decided to have the lunch in the nicely laid out picnic tables instead of at the summit. Once we sat down, it started getting chilly and we were thankful we packed an extra layer of jacket. From there on, the summit was about a mile and the trail started getting narrow and quite gravely. In about thirty minutes we breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the communication towers and cars passing by to and from the summit where it was quite crowded with families enjoying the long weekend. At about 4000ft elevation, we felt as if we were at the top of the world with such vast expanse of green mountains all around us for miles. A passerby commented this peak ranks second in the world in providing such views and one has to see it to believe what he said. Also read that on a clear day, some 30+ out of the 58 counties in California can be seen from the summit.

After spending about an hour at the summit and finishing up the remaining lunch, started our hike down the rocky trails along the ridge. Though it felt crowded the first mile, soon it was like we were the only ones in the whole spread out mountain. Enjoying breathtaking views and using the hiking poles for support, watched our step down which at places were somewhat steep among the thick vegetation. Though downhill, due to the uneven terrain, it took about the same time as it took for the hike up. Only after starting the hike we realized it is not just one single mountain but it is a range with quite a few peaks and on our hike down we went down and climbed up Eagle Peak and Twin Peaks. Finally, after hiking for about four hours including water and snack breaks and some to enjoy the view of the valley down below, reached our starting point at Mitchell Creek trailhead right in time when it started to get dark.

It was the second hike in a month that I did with my son and we had a good time chatting all the way while enjoying the beauty of the majestic mountain that brought back memories of camping there when he was young. With a sense of accomplishment started our drive back home as the summit of Mt Diablo faded in the background.