Finally! Back in late September I made my second ever trek up Diablo, to the rangers station, and said blithely, "Next time I'll either try to improve [on my time] or try for the summit". Heh. Then there were the two attempts in November and one in December where I actually got pretty close but was turned back by the lousy conditions. So, fifth time's a charm.
Rather than starting at BART, I decided to drive and park in Danville, to reduce the pre-climbing mileage a bit. I parked at the newly renovated Oak Hill Park on Stone Valley Road, which has an amazing, brand-new public bathroom. We'll see how long that lasts.
The weather at the base of the mountain was overcast but relatively mild, probably low to mid-50s with very little wind. I broke through the cloud cover just past the ranger station, on my way up Summit Road. Above the inversion layer, the conditions were great. Sunny and deceptively warm. A cyclist in a short-sleeved jersey passed by as he was descending, fast, and a fellow climber said, "That guy is gonna freeze his nipples off!"
Summit Road is definitely steeper than the roads leading up to it, but there are only two sections, each about a mile long, where I struggled. I was going pretty slow, 3-4 miles an hour at most, but then about a mile from the top, there's a switchback and the road suddenly evens out a bit. What a relief. The final 400 foot approach to the observatory is a 16% grade, so I hoofed it up that part. But still, with the comfortable spring conditions, it really wasn't that bad.
That's two peaks down, and one to go. Mt Tam, here I come.
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