Monday, January 3, 2011

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The club’s annual trek up Mt Diablo for New Year’s Day was rained out 2 days in a row. I decide to lead an impromptu variation of the ride up North Gate Rd to the summit and back. The group meets up at Heather Farms in Walnut Creek. Water and restrooms are available along with ample parking.

We exit the park and continue on San Carlos Dr to Los Lomas and Walnut Ave.

The climb up North Gate Rd quickly warms us up. The fog cleared after we reached the 2000 feet level. Water and restrooms are available at the junction.

The group breaks up at this point; some of us decide to head up to the summit while others commit to turning around at Juniper; the remaining opt to head back down at the junction.

The chill factor picked up quite rapidly as we made our way to Juniper. The last few miles up to the summit was totally socked in with fog. It was pretty DARN COLD at the top! .Water and restrooms are available.

The descent is taken slowly and I stop to take some pics of the surrounding views; it’s spectacular! I can feel my fingers getting a bit numb and wiggle them around all the way down North Gate.

The post ride stop at Peet’s is a warm welcome to us all!

Thanks to everyone for joining me on the climb up Diablo; what a wonderful way to start the New Year!

15 people in attendance

30 miles with 3919′ of elevation gain

Weather: Overcast skies, COLD and FOGGY! Starting temp of 46, dropping down to 39 at the summit and reaching a high of 51 at the finish. Breezy with thick fog from Juniper all the way to the summit.

**Some photos are courtesy of Stan G. “Thanks” to Stan for sharing!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>KEEP WARM-KEEP MOVING!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>