Friday, October 21, 2011

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It’s time for yet another climb up “Devil’s Mountain”. We meet at Heather Farm  Park and take North Gate Rd up to the Junction Ranger Station. The views are always spectacular no matter what the season.

Autumn is mating season for these giant hairy arachnids; the tarantulas. They are leaving their burrows in “search of love”. What a treat it is to see these gentle, fragile and docile creatures scurrying across the road; it’s quite fascinating! We saw this one just pass the 1000′ elevation sign.

We continue on towards the junction. The views along the ridge are wonderful! There is a thin layer of haze/smog hovering over the cities below.

This is another tarantula we spotted just past Diablo Ranch. It was skittering across the road just as a car was coming up; I motioned the car to take the opposite lane to avoid running it over.

There were other sightings of tarantulas as we continued up North Gate Rd.

The views from the summit are fabulous even under hazy skies!

Thanks to everyone for joining me on another climb up Diablo! The tarantula sightings were a special treat for us all!

9 people in attendance

48.8 miles with 4652′ of elevation gain

Weather: FANTASTIC! Sunny and warm with the temps ranging from the high 60’s to high 70’s.

>>>>>”…IF YOU WISH TO LIVE & THRIVE, LET THE SPIDER RUN ALIVE!”>>>>>