A Sunny Day with el Diablo
3.18.01
 A glittering
bay and tiny cities lie beneath your gaze when you stand at the top of
Mount Diablo. At 3,849 feet, a clear day is the only requirement to see
it all. The Sierras, the Farallon islands out to sea, the twisting Delta
making its way to Sacramento. On a clear day, you can understand why the
Miwok indians thought that Mount Diablo was the point of their creation
and therefore sacred.
It being clear and lovely and truly pretty, Karen and I went to look
at wild flowers on Mount Diablo.
After a false start (too many roads named Oak something or other), Karen
and I headed up the North Gate Entrance Road, wended our way to the top
and took deep breaths from a new perspective.
 Then
we visited the gift shop, where happily they divide their trail maps into:
easy, moderate, and difficult.
We chose to go on a moderate hike from Curry Point on the South Gate
Road to Chase Pond because the map promised us flowers.
 And flowers
we got. Well first, we walked down a lane through a California Oak grove,
tiny spring flowers hidden under the trees. Then the trail split and headed
up through foot hill meadows. There were California poppies, lupine, and
a whole lot of other flowers that I couldn't begin to name.
Chase Pond itself isn't much to talk about, but whatever. We made our
way back via a lovely creek and then off to a well deserved lunch.
|
