Camping on Mt. Diablo

Tricia gazes out on the valley below at sunset. OK, I asked her to sit there. The light was too perfect to not shoot this.

I've wanted to camp on Mt. Diablo for many many years, but it just never worked out. But at last, thanks to retirement and a desire to try out new sleeping bags we made it. 

We stayed at Juniper campground, around the 3000 level, and 800 feet or so shy of the summit. Yep, we drove. We didn't want to try hauling so much stuff up the mountain on a test outing. But we did take our "gravel bikes" and rode to the summit from our campground. We felt a little guilty about driving our bikes up the mountain, and know we got strange looks from cyclists who were riding that day. But we can report "The Wall" (the last few hundred feet to the summit parking lot) is still steep, even if you haven't done the whole mountain first.

The new bags worked. We didn't need the liners as it didn't get that cold. Our tent is so cozy we both got more sleep than we do at home. Maybe the lack of freeway sounds and general noise helped. Maybe that we were in a shadow when the sun came up. Or maybe our NeoAir mattresses are just that comfortable.

Tricia rode her Vaya and not her usual Ruby.

We've been promised that the bright colors of our sleeping bags, pads and tent render us bear proof.

We are so ready to camp now we even have these cute little ultra lightweight chairs suitable for hauling around on bikes. Yes, I know this photo looks like I'm dead and Tricia is remembering me, but really it's her waiting for me to stop making photos and come sit down.