CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
Mt Diablo Hike 7 Miles Deer Flat Exercise Energy Strength Vigor Reco
0503 -
0503 - ..
0504 - Summary/Objective
0505 -
050501 - Follow up ref SDS 5 0000, ref SDS 4 0000.
050502 -
050503 -
050504 -
050505 -
050507 - ..
0506 -
0507 -
0508 - Progress
0509 -
050901 - Training regimen preparing to hike Half Dome scheduled for 130918,
050902 - reported on 121024 0855, ref SDS 9 YY8O, included...
050903 -
050904 - 1. Reverse order hiking Concord route a few times to prepare
050905 - for longer hikes uphill, as will be encountered doing
050906 - Half-Dome.
050908 - ..
050909 - 2. Lafayette Reservoire rim trail, which much closer to hills
050910 - climing Half-Dome.
050912 - ..
050913 - 3. Mt Diablo hike that is more difficult than Half-Dome,
050914 - according to Pam, reported on 080919 0111. ref SDS 7 UP3P
050916 - ..
050917 - So far have not done Concord route in reverse nor done rim trail at
050918 - Lafayette Reservoir.
050920 - ..
050921 - For some reason got up today and decided to try Mt Diablo, as an
050922 - exercise to guage training to hike Half Dome, reported in case study
050923 - on 120101 0900. ref SDS 8 H55F
050924 -
050925 - [On 130918 0620 successful hike to top of Half Dome
050926 - attributed to training that included doing Mt Diablo.
050927 - ref SDS 11 QE4L
050929 - ..
050930 - Hiking total miles per week has fallen from 70+ miles down to about 40
050931 - miles per week, but distance has increased. Did 14 miles in Nipomo on
050932 - 130601 0739. ref SDS 10 K23L This route had more hills with greater
050933 - difficulty than Lafayette Reservoir and the 11 mile Concord route,
050934 - reported in the case study on 120101 0900. ref SDS 8 7G6K Few weeks
050935 - later did 18 miles in Sacramento, along the American River trail.
050936 - This route is essentially all flat, and does not relate to hiking up
050937 - the mountain at Half Dome. In any case, this sudden seeming increase
050938 - in fitness for hiking distance encourage trying Mt Diable today.
050940 - ..
050941 - Kathy drove me to the Mitchell Canyon road entrance to Mt Diable park.
050942 - The gave was still locked at 0700. A sign said the park doesn't open
050943 - until 0800. So, got out of the car and hiked into the park, and...
050945 - ..
050946 - Mt Diablo hike started at 0700.
050948 - ..
050949 - Hiked this route previously with Millie on 080616 0900. ref SDS 5 IZ5I
050951 - ..
050952 - Today, the hike to Deer Flat was equally or more difficult. Expected
050953 - to see Cougar's cave and a sign saying Deer Flat 2 miles, but missed
050954 - seeing the sign. Turns out there is no sign, and Cougar's cave is
050955 - barely visible. This first 1.5 miles is relatively flat, and so easy
050956 - to hike.
050958 - ..
050959 - There were no other hikers encountered on this route. One runner
050960 - passed, and 3 or 4 bikers passed before reaching Cougar's Cave. They
050961 - all returned before I reached Cougar's cave. Don't know how many
050962 - went up to Deer Flat.
050964 - ..
050965 - Suddenly was hiking in very steep terraine. Eventually, had to stop
050966 - and rest. Wound up stopping about 10 - 15 times hiking the 2 miles to
050967 - Deer Flat from Cougar's Cave. This was part of the hike was very,
050968 - very difficult - just constant uphill grade that varied from steep to
050969 - steeper. Footing was poor - loose rock, dirt, gravel and uneven with
050970 - severe slippage. This required concentrating on every step to avoid
050971 - twisting an ankle and falling.
050973 - ..
050974 - [On 140101 0600 case study reporting on 160501 fell trying
050975 - to step on stones crossing creeks hiking Castle Rock park
050976 - trails with terraine similar to Mount Diablo. ref SDS 12
050977 - ZZ7L
050979 - ..
050980 - There are great views along the route of the valley and adjacent hills
050981 - and mountains.
050983 - ..
050984 - When finally reached Deer Flat, expected to get water. There is large
050985 - metal water trough. It was nearly full, but a sign on the water
050986 - spigot said the water is unsafe to drink.
050988 - ..
050989 - Decided to try the water anyway, but turning the spigot, no water came
050990 - out. So, there was no water to drink at Deer Flat.
050992 - ..
050993 - Remembered Millie saying there is water to drink at Junipor park
050994 - further up on the way to the summit.
050996 - ..
050997 - After about 5 minutes, took off for the top.
050999 - ..
051000 - Met another hiker coming the other way. He said the easiest route to
051001 - the top of Mt Diablo is to take a turn to the right and reach a paved
051002 - roadway. This is a longer route, but not as steep, and the footing
051003 - is better all the way.
051005 - ..
051006 - He said the shortest but steeper route is to take a very narrow trail
051007 - further up and off to the right.
051009 - ..
051010 - Took off. This next part of the hike seemed slightly easier than the
051011 - prior 2 miles from Cougar's cave to Deer Flat. There was a stretch
051012 - of downhill, which was dissapointing, because dropping elevation
051013 - requires climbing over again. Eventually, reached a fork in the
051014 - trail.
051016 - ..
051017 - Evidently, missed the right turn the other hiker explained.
051019 - ..
051020 - Another hiker was coming from the other direction. He said continuing
051021 - on the current path will not reach the paved roadway. Instead,
051022 - continuing on the wide route leads to a very steep and gravely path
051023 - that is very difficult to hike for about 300 yards, not sure about
051024 - this length.
051026 - ..
051027 - The hiker said the best and shortest route is to take a very narrow
051028 - path that looked like no more than 2' wide with high brush on both
051029 - sides. Somehow got the impression the rest of the route is only
051030 - another 1 - 2 miles.
051032 - ..
051033 - Decided not to do the steep gravel nor to the chance walking through
051034 - the narrow path covered with brush on both sides.
051036 - ..
051037 - Hiked back to the starting point. Passed a few hikers coming toward
051038 - Deer Flat, and there were several bikers, who were pushing their
051039 - bikes. Not sure why anyone would push a bike up the steep route to
051040 - Deer Flat.
051042 - ..
051043 - Slipped several times on the poor footing coming down from Deer Flat.
051045 - ..
051046 - Fell once or twice. Hit the deck hard on one fall, and slid a ways
051047 - down the path. Not sure how anyone maintains balance on this downhill
051048 - hike.
051049 -
051050 - [On 140101 0600 case study reporting on 160501 fell trying
051051 - to step on stones crossing creeks hiking Castle Rock park
051052 - trails with terraine similar to Mount Diablo. ref SDS 12
051053 - ZZ7L
051055 - ..
051056 - Finally, reached the starting point again at Mitchell Canyon Road.
051057 - Called Kathy several times with cell phone, and left messages for
051058 - pickup. She didn't answer, so kept hiking back toward the house.
051059 - Eventually, Kathy called. She was at the summit waiting for me to
051060 - arrive.
051062 - ..
051063 - Explained change in plans. Kathy said it would take an hour or more
051064 - to drive back to where she let me off this morning. Today, a lot of
051065 - bikers slowed her drive to the summit.
051067 - ..
051068 - Walked to Pine Hollow, and then to Ygnacio Vallye Road. Kathy finally
051069 - made it back and met just beyond Ayers/Campus Drive, so this amounted
051070 - to another 4 - 5 miles on the hike.
051072 - ..
051073 - Overall this Mount Diablo hike seems more difficult than I remember
051074 - for the Half Dome hikes, first and farthest on 940917 0742.
051075 - ref SDS 1 0001 Seem to recall Pam mentioning last year again that she
051076 - feels Mount Diable is harder than Half Dome, which she climbed in
051077 - August 2008, and cited in a letter to Ross on 080919 0111. ref SDS 7
051078 - UP3P
051080 - ..
051081 - After resting a few hours, we drove to Lafyette Reservoir and did a
051082 - warm down hike, so Kathy would get some exercise today, reported in
051083 - case study on 120101 0900. ref SDS 8 H55F
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051089 -
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051093 -