Little Yosemite & Mt Diablo
After our eventful time in Yosemite National Park the previous day (which you can read about here) we kept with the name theme and headed towards a place called Little Yosemite. The drive to our destination reminded me of what I used to hear about California and its rolling hills, especially once we got to the parking lot and embarked on our walk. We were surrounded by grass covered hills as far as you could see with cattle crossing the small dirt path in front of you from time to time. The sun was shining and there were few clouds in the sky.
We didn’t exactly know where we were going or what it was we were looking for, but eventually we came across a river and concluded that it must have been it. Adventuring along the river, downstream the rocks we were climbing around on turned to boulders. It was a fun place to sit in the middle of the river and soak up the sun before moving on. There are two trails to get here – the high road and the more direct path which we took on the way out. Overall, the hike is about 4.5 miles and relatively easy.
As we were leaving the lot we saw some kids messing around with their car that they managed to get stuck on a rock. We offered some help and after a few minutes of Michael hooking up a chain we pulled them out (off?) Back in the van and we were on our way. Our friend Eli had told Michael about a few places in Cali to check out, Little Yosemite being one of them, and Mount Diablo being another.
Located in the San Fransisco Bay Area, Mount Diablo State Park is definitely a place I’d go back to. Whats neat about this place is that Mt Diablo sits higher than anything surrounding it. Although it only sits at an elevation of roughly 3,800 ft, the height difference makes it seem much higher. It’s also rich in Native history, being a natural landmark for many tribes. We saw a bunch of bikers along the road heading up and down the mountain as we drove to and from the summit. There’s an observation deck that we were able to walk up on that gave us panoramic views for miles around us. On our way back down we even met a little guy off the side of the road (pictured below!)
Leaving the park is when our “plan” changed direction a bit. There was another place on our list called Grizzly Peak that we thought would be good to catch for sunset, but Michael’s mom had gotten in touch with one of her friends who lived in the area that we ended up staying the night with instead. Ironically come to find out that we were all in the same area earlier that day! We were able to get a nice (probably much needed) shower in, tried some Armenian bread, and after pulling out a nice big map of Cali, got a few pointers on what places we should check out. Although we were offered a bed in the house, we went back out to our humble abode for the night and the next day we were off.
Where We Roam 