As the title says, we peaked the devil mountain.

Group of 4, training for Mount Whitney. I had 25 lbs backpacking backpack. This is peak number 2 for us.

We started on the trailhead about 8:30am. We went clockwise from the Mitchell Canyon visitor center trailhead. Sun was shining and a intermittent gusts of winds. Trails were muddy because of recent storms, and there was a chance of rain from 10am to 11am. After going around some puddles, going through mud, crossing some streams, and enjoying the sun, the Rain started. So we put our rain gear on and continued hiking up. It seemed like it would rain when we were going up a steep uphill, probably about 20% incline.

There are multiple trail junctions and it was a little difficult to navigate which ones to take but we found our way.

The trail was going up had some long and steep inclines. Seem like they were neverending. As we came to the end of the steeper sections, the weather decided to get worse. Hail and snow started falling. Then the wind picked up as well, still we continued onward.

Reaching the road close to the peak, yes you can drive up there, the weather did not let up. But there were people that drove up playing in the snow. We finally reached the light house in top about 2:00pm. We went to the gift shop to see the actual peak and warm up before descending. We were on a time schedule because we didnt want to be hiking in the dark.

After leaving the the gift shop, the weather was the same, hail and snow and wind. But down we went.

The trail down was much easier. Some parts of the trail was blocked by downed trees. Rest of the descent was on a fire road that was gradually declining. As daylight started to disappear, we decided to pick up the pace. After crossing several more puddles and streams, we made it back to the car at 6:30pm. So 14.3 miles for 10 hours on that mountain carrying 25 lbs going through mud, puddles, streams, rain, wind, snow.

Hikers: 1

Mount Diablo: 0

Not this time Mount Diablo, aka Devil Mountain.