In 1841, the members of the Wilkes expedition gave the name "Mount Diablo" to this lofty peak; its massive bulk, rising high above the surrounding hills and valleys, dominates the view from much of the East Bay. From its summit, (3,849 ft.) on a clear day, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, up to 200 miles in distance, can be seen. The pioneers of the 19th Century, crossing the Sierra by wagon and foot, were aware of the mountain, and looked for it as confirmation that they were on the right track. In 1851, the summit of the mountain was selected by the State of California, as the base point for land surveying of northern California.

I have always enjoyed and respected this magnificant mountain. Since the late 1970's I have run, bicycled and hiked up Mount Diablo. This hike took place on 8 May 2002. The temperature was warm, and the air was calm. I started the hike from the little used Mitchell Canyon trailhead, (elv. 580 ft.) on the northeast side of the mountain. I hiked Mitchel Canyon Trail to Deer Flat. (elv 2,120 ft.) I then went from Deer Flat to the Bald Ridge Trail; I hiked up the Bald Ridge Trail to Prospectors Gap. (elv. 2,940 ft.) I descended via the Meridian Ridge Fire Trail to my starting point at Mitchell Canyon. 5 hrs 45 min hike, 2,960 ft. climb.

Thanks to Margot Cunningham for helping with the identification of most of the plants.

All Images and Text Copyright © by Neil Mishalov

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Mount Diablo from Mitchell Canyon Road	Beginning of the Mitchell Canyon Trail	Hillside	Monkeyflower
Buckeye Tree	Ithuriel's Spear	Wild Hyacinth	Hillside
Cow Parsnip	Unknown Beetle	Cow Parsnip	Unknown
Unknown insect on unknown plant	Pale Swallowtail butterfly flitting amongst Sage and Yerba Santa	Pale Swallowtail butterfly ... again	California Live Oak
Indian Paintbrush	Rock Formation	Unknown	Clematis Iigusticifolia
Indian Paintbrush	Clematis ligusticifolia	Wild Cucumber	Wind Poppy
Wind Poppy	A pair of Lady Bugs procreating on Yarrow	Mitchell Canyon.	Coreopsis
City of Concord from the Mitchell Canyon Trail	Thistle	Clematis lasiantha	Deer Flat
I believe that is Mount Saint Helena in the distance, which is located in the northern part of the Napa Valley	Downtown Walnut Creek	Clayton	Coreopsis
Poppies	North Peak from Bald Ridge Trail	Prospectors Gap from Bald Ridge Trail	The Summit
Beautiful orange Lichen	Clayton, Concord and part of Walnut Creek. Suisun Bay in the distance.	Scarlet Larkspur	The view looking southeast from Prospectors Gap
Resting at Prospectors Gap	Summit from Prospectors Gap	Poppies	Summit (3,849 ft.)
North Peak, with microwave transmission towers (3,557 ft)	Prospectors Gap	Meridian Ridge Trail. Village of Clayton below.	Black Canyon Ridge
On the Meridian Ridge Trail	Box Canyon	Indian Paintbrush	Clematis ligusticifolia
Prospectors Gap	Rock quarry near Mitchell Canyon Trail Head	California Live Oak

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This page created, and all photographs copyright 2002, by Neil Mishalov neil@mishalov.com on 8 May 2002.