Mount Diablo - Mitchell Canyon to North Gate

I realized quickly enough that I was on the wrong bus, but returning to the BART station, was left with the choice to either wait an hour for the correct bus or just run the now five and a half miles to Clayton. I opted to run.

There's not much to say about this five mile stretch from Concord to Clayton. There are endless stoplight crossings and even a road halfway between the cities called "Claycord Avenue," which feels like the sort of direct portmanteau you go with when there's just nothing of substance to say about the area.

A fair amount of traffic near the Mitchell Canyon parking lot suggested I wasn't the only person seizing the opportunity to experience rare winter conditions in the Bay Area.

A rough start. Summer is often too warm for Mount Diablo, but winter carries the risk of glue-like mud which makes progress extremely slow.

Off of the main trail, the footing on the Mitchell Rock trail was quite good.

Dirt eventually gave way to snow, though the footing remained pretty good. Progress was pleasantly quick.

As conditions grew more wintry, I was amused to start seeing more skiers than hikers. I chatted with a skier as he crawled through ice-laden brush and fallen trees. I asked if I could snap a picture. He was in good spirits, but I think we both understood what a rough time he was having.

The direct trail to the summit of Mount Diablo is steep and difficult in the best of conditions. It wasn't quite postholing, but the snow was heavy and deep and my only company was a pair of ski tracks winding up the hill.

The summit was a nice little winter wonderland. The road was closed at Juniper Campground so that I was surprised how many people had hiked to the summit.

I was having so much fun running and glissading down the hill that I forgot to pay attention to where I was going. After a couple wrong turns, I got on the right trail and began the descent.

Recent storms significantly damaged the trail. I imagine we're only perhaps thirty or forty years into these trails receiving heavy foot traffic. I wonder what it will take to maintain them for even just another generation or two.

As often happens, I was tired enough at this point that a long descent didn't bring the sort of relief I'd hoped.

I knew there were were a number of creek crossings ahead, so I opted to take a different route that passed by the climbing area, but found the entire area closed for raptor nesting.

There were at least four crossings in short succession of the same creek. As I scrambled up a hillside out of the last crossing, I firmly grabbed what I realized was poison oak. We'll see how that goes in the next day or two.

Update: AHHHHHHHH it itches.

A series of lovely parks takes you most the distance back to downtown Walnut Creek without having to run along roads. Unfortunately, there are a few sections that are awful in the winter when the mud turns to glue. Feeling heavy enough already, I didn't need an actual few pounds extra on my feet.

Once past the mud, the trail hops along the ridge all the way back to downtown Walnut Creek. I kept looking back to catch one more glimpse of a a snow-covered Mount Diablo.