A combination of it being high, hot, and distant had kept me from Mount Diablo State Park until last weekend when I discovered you could drive all the way to the top. We’d already reserved a Zipcar for an unplanned excursion, so I figured we could drive up as far as we wanted in order to adjust the hike to our liking.

I love the contrast in this photo. The dry yellow grass so typical of summer in California, the dark green trees somehow manage to stay alive with little or no rainfall. In a landscape like this you might think it was 100°F out, but actually it was quite pleasant, probably in the high 80s with a breeze.

I think we parked at the Mount Diablo Valley overlook, a little over a mile from the summit via the Juniper trail. It felt so good to be outside in the sun, surrounded by great views towards the bay. Just beyond the small lump in the center of this photo is the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco’s to the left and Mount Tam to the right. Note the white wisps of summer fog.

Just when we thought we were almost done, it turned out we were only at the “lower summit”—but with a great view of the upper summit. Notice the winding road on the right poking through the trees.

Finally, here’s the view from the top, looking east towards California’s central valley.

For your viewing pleasure, here’s me and Stephanie, posing at the top.