After several days of rain and freezing temperatures, an impressive amount of snow had built up on the mountains around our house. Because Marshall had to work and I was kind of bored (I didn’t want to clean the house) I decided to take a drive out to Del Valle with Sierra. I figured we’d see how close we could get to the snow and I’d get in some relaxation by driving the Jetta and enjoying a super strong coffee and spinach and mushroom piadini from Starbucks.
After stopping at Starbucks I cranked up my newly acquired Crystal Castles album and headed out in the direction of Del Valle. Once we got to Del Valle I decided to purchase a backpackers permit (good for a year) so I could get the map that shows distances to Rose Peak on the Ohlone Wilderness trail. Apparently it is 10 miles from the Del Valle starting point. I’m game, anyone else?
After entering the park I decided to head to the west end of the reservoir and park so I could eat my food and check out the map. Sierra was happy to curl up in the passenger seat and with the heater turned up and my music playing I too melted into the seat and became lost in thought as I watched the rain come down. After about 15 minutes I figured it was time to move on to the next thing but I wasn’t ready to go home yet so on a whim I decided to drive to Mt. Diablo and see if we could get to snow from there.
Upon entering the park I learned that dogs are actually allowed in, they just have to be on leash and can’t go on the trails. Sweet! So even though I hadn’t intended on doing any hiking and it was totally pouring, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hike to the summit with Sierra. Fortunately I had my tennis shoes and extra layers of clothes in my gym bag so I was reasonably dressed for the ascent. Did I mention it was POURING!? 😉
Sierra looks to the summit with slight apprehension. It was a lot rainy and windier than makes for a good hike but we were going to go for it. =)
We're getting closer. Look there's a lot more snow here.
Almost there! This is the sign at the "Y" below the summit.
We did it!! And managed not to get blown off the side of the mountain. It was crazy windy!
So we did it. It was super cold, super wet, and super windy but we made it despite all that. I was so glad that I actually followed through on this impulse and did the hike. It was totally worth it. I think Sierra enjoyed herself too although I think she was starting to get really tired of all the pictures. Look, she wouldn’t even look at the camera. 😉
Best buddies Sierra and me at the summit of Mt. Diablo. =)
For the rest of the pictures check out my Picasa album. Until next time…
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