Briones (Reliez Valley Staging Area)

February 23, 2013
Lafayette, Contra Costa County
Hikers: Cathy, Laura
Distance: 5.2 miles
Elevation gain: 1,624 ft.





Short but sweet, and a bit grueling at times. Found new (to us) singles tracks. :)
 


 













 








 

 Hi Dad!! Hi Bob & Mary-Alice!!
(Dad resides at Oakmont Cemetary at top, and Bob and Mary-Alice at Queen of Heaven Cemetary below.)

Trails:

 Blue Oak (some), Blue Oak Shortcut, Spengler (a bit) to Table Top, handful of un-named single tracks. 



Mt. Diablo Anew ~ After the Morgan Fire

February 16, 2014
Contra Costa County
Hikers: Cathy, Laura, Noreen
Distance: 8.53 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,708 ft.





Our beloved Mt. Diablo suffered major fire damage back in September from the Morgan fire. Today, we found beginnings of new life.



We were greeted by this lovely hawk as we got out of the car.


Critter print! ;)

The buckeye tree - one of our favorite.

A little muddy in the beginning.





Coyote.. mountian lion (?) prints tracking deer prints.



Wild pig trap filled with corn.

Caught one apparently..

Yep. That is a pool of blood..

Interesting scat.











































More scat.








































The "Green Ranch" ruins. This was not destroyed by the Morgan fire. The property was demolished back in 1993. For information about the Green Ranch, click here.


Broken bits of porcelain - possibly a toilet?

Olympic size pool.










This is a hole where there once stood a tree. You can even see the tunneling roots burned away.

Such beauty amongst the devastation.














Rock City in the middle.

Close-up of Rock City.



Trails:
Curry Canyon Road, Frog Pond Road, Green Ranch Road, Oak Knoll, Summit.

Mt. Diablo State Park