Las Trampas | Devil's Hole

November 24, 2013
San Ramon, Ca
Hikers: Cathy, Laura, Noreen
Distance: 7.92 miles
Elevation gain: 2,421 ft.

Fun hike - we had a devilishly good time. 

I thought that was a little house on the hillside - it turned out to be a water tower. 

That's the trail we will be taking back (Sycamore). 

Notice the hawk in the tree.

We always seem to come across some type of bones on our hikes. Another hiker asked if we had seen any bobcats or mountain lions, for they just passed some recent kill.  We were going the opposite direction and missed the "very fresh" remains of a calf. Probably a good thing.

This is it. Devil's Hole. Not much to it. Not sure what we were expecting, though we were expecting something more..

Having lunch at Devil's Hole.

Blimp.

We were there!

Trails:

Elderberry, Unmarked, Rocky Ridge, Devil's Hole, Sycamore

We strongly recommend taking Devil's Hole trail down into Devil's Hole and Sycamore back up, for Sycamore is quite steep in most places. 

Las Trampas Regional Wilderness

Black Diamond Mines

November 17, 2013
Antioch, CA
Hikers: Cathy, Laura, Noreen
Distance: 7.49 miles
Elevation gain: 1,677 ft.

 Fur-lined barbed wire.

 

 Zip-off pant legs make for arm warmers in a pinch!

 Whoa! Look at the size of this pinecone!

 Stovepipe hole of Jim's place (a little underground dwelling).

 Skylight.

 Me and my sis. :)

You probably can't tell what the weather was like, by looking at the photo.
Me all bundled up, and my sis in shorts and a tank.

 An old mine shaft made into a vistor's center.

Who are these people?! They walked around the corner just as I snapped the picture.

Trails: 

Manhattan Canyon, Black Diamond, Coal Canyon, Nortonville, plus a few side excursions on unnamed trails.

Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve