Last weekend we had a break in the rain and decided to get out of the house. So we loaded up in the van and drove up Mt. Diablo (we've never been up before). And then hiked around the top.
From the observation deck, which appears to be almost brand new. The view is pretty spectacular, especially when everything is green.
I let Heather use my binoculars and she thought it was pretty great to look at anything and everything through them--even if it was only 3 feet away.
Out hiking the summit-loop trail:
Corinne thought climbing rocks and walking the paths was pretty awesome, but that wasn't going to be feasible once we got on the actual trail around the summit. She wasn't enthused about the backpack at first, but once we got moving she was fairly pleased.
It was nice to get out and about, even if it took almost an hour to get up the mountain. There was a line at the entrance gate that was moving incredibly slowly. And then while we were waiting an ambulance and fire truck came up and passed us. I'm sure taking the firetruck up the mountain with all the switchbacks and narrow lanes must have been fun. I'm not sure what the correct protocol would have been if you had met the firetruck while coming down as the firetruck was coming up on the wrong side while passing all of the cars stopped waiting for the gate. There wasn't room to go anywhere except in reverse.
The firetruck came down shortly thereafter, but we never saw the ambulance again. So it must have gone down the northern entrance.