Mount Diablo

Yesterday morning we headed to the East Bay to Mount Diablo for a picnic and a hike.  It was so warm and beautiful all across the Bay Area yesterday.  Mount Diablo isn't too far from Walnut Creek, but you pretty much feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.  We took a scenic winding road up to the entrance to Mount Diablo State Park and then found a perfect picnic area at Rock City--named for all of the huge boulders scattered here and there.

The boulders are worn smooth by visitors and also bear decades and decades' worth of names.

We kind of hiked on a selection of trails before we found the Summit Trail, which took us pretty close to the top of the mountain.  It was a steep uphill climb under shady trees and it took us past this cool rock:

At one point, when we were pretty close to the top, we startled a huge deer on the trail.  Other wildlife sightings included a squirrel and a blue jay.  And tons of big spider webs .

It was a really nice afternoon, and very quiet on the trails, but I was extremely happy to cross the Bay Bridge and see San Francisco spread out before me.  Am I turning into a city girl or what?