Yay, no more blood guac!

A week ago I mentioned in passing that the US had imposed a ban on avocados from Mexico. The situation was/is that Mexican drug cartels have been getting into the avocado business. Cocaine, heroin, guacamole; they're so much alike! ...Actually, as this article from The New York Times on Saturday (19 Feb 2022) points out, competition between crime syndicates is pressuring them to diversify their criminal enterprises, and avocado exports are a $3B a year industry.

Around two weeks ago a USDA inspector working in Mexico was threatened by one of these gangs. The US responded with a temporary ban. Late last week the Mexican government improved its safety measures to the satisfaction of the USDA, and the US lifted the ban. This means no more scrutinizing labels on avocados we buy at the grocery store to ensure they're conflict-free and no more worrying every time we make guacamole that we might have blood on our hands. Yay, no more blood guac!

Driving to Mt. Diablo. Wrong Turn Serendipity.

Saturday afternoon we visited Mt. Diablo State Park for some hiking. Mt. Diablo, at elev. 3,849' (1,173 m), is one of the highest peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area. We did some hiking around the summit, enjoying the views in all directions, and then scrambled around atop some sandstone outcroppings at the Rock City area on the western flank.

Road Trip!

Mt. Diablo is about 40 miles away from us as the crow flies. We'd be able to see it even at that distance except there are lower mountain ridges in the way that block the line of site from the bottom of the valley. It's almost always visible in the distance when we climb any of the mountains in the area.

I mention as the crow flies because the driving distance to the summit is longer, at 55 miles. And the route we drove on Saturday was even longer than that, at 65 miles. Why? Because I made a wrong turn.

Hawk had the directions cued up on her phone as we drove. She fell asleep in the car, though, and I went on autopilot thinking I knew the route. In fact I was thinking of the route to any of various parks and trails around the north side of Mt. Diablo rather than the route to the summit itself. I blew right past the highway exit southwest of the park— to be fair, it is not labeled "Mt. Diablo Summit Next Exit ↗️"— and drove to the city of Walnut Creek northwest of it.

"There are no wrong turns"

I've quipped recently that there are no wrong turns when hiking. Diverging from the intended route can be made an opportunity to find something new and unexpected, something serendipitous. The serendipity here was entering the park via the North Gate Road.

In previous drives to Mt. Diablo's summit we've always come in via the park's south entrance. Along that route there aren't really great views of the park until the last few miles to the top. I'd noted on those drives that near the top there was a fork in from the North Gate road. I was a little curious about it but never drove it because it would have taken us well out of our way. Well, now it was our way. And what a way it was!



Unlike the south entrance which leads miles through well-shaded canyons, the north entrance breaks out from the quiet suburbs outside of Walnut Creek onto grass covered hills. From there there are views for miles in all directions— including the peak of Mt. Diablo a few thousand feet straight up. The road winds back and forth across open hillside, climbing one ridge after another, each higher than the one before it, and with the summit almost always in view. Approaching Diablo from this side felt like giving proper tribute to a queen or a sultan.

Update: the hiking begins! (Continued in next entry)

Hiking at Mt. Diablo

Saturday afternoon we hiked at Mt. Diablo. It was already mid-afternoon by the time we reached the trailhead just below the peak. The late-ish hour was a result of us not leaving home until after lunch and then driving to a more distant park entrance. The unexpected detour was totally worth it.

Although Mt. Diablo is one of the highest peaks in the Bay Area, 3,849' (1,173 m), a paved road goes all the way to the top. We stopped just short of the top, maybe 100-150 vertical feet below it, where there's a trail that loops around the summit. It's one of our favorite hikes in the park. "Favorite" is a relative term, though, as we've only hiked this trail twice before, and once was cut short due to snow. Our one previous full hike up here, we hiked this trail 5 years ago.



We set off going clockwise around the trail below the summit. Views to the north of Mt. Diablo open up almost right away. In the picture above you see Eagle Peak, elev. 2,369'. Beyond it, in the distance, the waterway you see is the Carquinez Straight. Further off to the left (west) it opens into the San Francisco Bay. Off screen to the right (east) is the Delta, where the waters of the mighty Sacramento River and San Joaquin River meet.



As we work our way clockwise around the summit the views shift to bring North Peak, elev. 3,557', into focus. North Peak is only a few hundred feet shorter than Mt. Diablo. Shorter is shorter, though. That's why North Peak has a dull name and no visit center atop it, just a bunch of commercial antennas.

The view here is to the northeast, out across the Delta. Geographically, this is where the Bay Area gives over to the Central Valley.



As nice as these views are they also constantly reminded us of the dirt and haze in the air. It was like this last weekend when we hiked in the area. Back then I thought it would blow out to sea as part of California's "breathe in, breathe out" weather pattern. Well, it's still here. And the impact is that from a viewpoint like the one above it's hard to see more than 10-15 miles before things get lost in the haze. On a clearer day, looking east and northeast across the Delta and the Central Valley, you can see 100+ miles from here.

In writing about various peak hikes I've lamented that the one big drawback to hiking to a summit is that you can't really see the mountain you're climbing. The iconic view is under your feet! That's why all the pictures I've shared so far have been views other than Mt. Diablo itself. But here's where taking the trail just below the summit really pays off: we can see the summit!



This is also where we chose to change direction a little bit from our previous visit. Five years ago we continued the loop trail around the summit. You can see it contouring around the left. This weekend we decided to go up over the top, following an unmarked but obvious foot trail up the steep remainder of the slope to the lookout tower at the top. Off in the distance, BTW, is the Tri-Valley Area, home to cities such as Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, and Danville.

Update: keep reading in part 2!