On my birthday, I tackle Mt. Diablo 2x

The Wind Caves

June 28, 2007 Thursday
Greg gave me a a couple boxes of Scharffen Berger chocolates from a factory in Berkeley. Great chocolates! But what was really great, was that he purchased a ticket for Kai and me to fly out for a week to Chicago to see my family and my niece Hope's baptismal. YEAH! I am excited!!!

But for the moment, I wanted to do something to very much remember my 39th birthday. (That's still young!) I refused to go shopping or to be around a lot of people...so I chose to go to Mt. Diablo and to immerse myself in nature. Plus Kai is such an outdoors kid- he's at his best when outdoors. Greg left for work.

We visited Rock City and I had Kai clambor in some wind caves. Not really an environment condusive to children his age, we stayed just a short while for pictures and then headed for the summit.



At the summit, it was so windy I had to hold unto my hat and bundle Kai up. Even Kai was a bit disturbed by the winds. So we headed indoors.



We stepped into the observation tower to get out of the wind. I saw the pole there and began to pole dance, twirling my body around it- Kai got such a kick out of it, he tried also. Not bad for an amateur. (psst...no one else was there to watch me)


Video: Kai pole-dancing.



Underneath the observation deck we stood on the actual Mt. Diablo summit, ironically under cover.

Afterwards, Kai and I got geared up and hiked the Mary Bowerman trail around the summit.

Mary Bowerman Trail- The city of Danville side.

Kai was captivated by these fat lizards that were almost too slow to keep ahead of us on the trail. Obviously life has been good to them as their tails were extremely long, which indicated they had not been chased by predators.

New view decks as part of the trail.

I had not remembered this part of the trail from 10 years ago when I first hiked it. Everything was paved, well marked, and there was this deck. Huh?

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I then realized I was on the wrong trail when I popped out from the trees to see my car in the distance. I had finished this trail in 20-minutes! Oh shoot! Now I have to find where the other trail I ventured on years ago.

So I took a picture of a posted map. The red trail is the Mary Bowerman trail. This trail is great for anyone who could walk some minor inclines, declines, and dirt and rocky trails. Great panoramic views in the 15-20 minute tour.

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The yellow trail was what I had done a decade ago that took me 5 hours to complete back then. I confirmed this with a ranger who thought I could possibly complete it in 3 hours with baby on my back. The yellow trail was what I set foot on.

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Heavily covered in sunscreen with extra clothing and food in the backpack; cell phone, wallet, and knife in my pocket- we hit the trail. We hiked through many changes in the climate and terrain. It would swing from hot to cool, from windy to no wind, fire roads to narrow passes, bare areas to ground covered by poison oak.

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Kai stands near a ledge with a drop-off. Even he would not get that close to the edge!

We would have great panoramic views to that obscured by trees, rocks, and overgrown bush- or simply with a mountain in your way. We would go downhill for several minutes, that my quads became so fatigued. I feared I would not be able to prevent myself from accelerating downhill to quickly- so I would walk backwards for a bit until the fatigue passed. Other times the ground was so loose it required my full concentration so that Kai and I wouldn't go tumbling into rocks or into a ravine. (How exciting! sarcastic tone)

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Video: West side of Mt. Diablo.

By the time we were 1- hour into our hike my feet were aching as were my back. 23-pounds of baby on my back with food, water, clothing, and pack, makes about 30-pounds- I was hurting when 2.5 hours had passed. I was afraid to sit and rest- but I had to feed Kai and check his diaper, which by the way was quite heavy. That break made me hurt more.

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Video: South side of Mt. Diablo

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When 3 hours had passed, my feet were killing me and my bum right ankle was beginning to make me limp. I had slipped earlier on loose rock and turned my ankle a bit despite the metal plate and screws still in there. You'd think I'd have more support.

After 3.5 hours I kept looking for the observation deck (on the summit) calculating how much closer I was- and cursing while going downhill on the trail when I thought we should be going uphill instead. This was work!

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(That darn tower always seemed so far away- taunting me...)

300 feet from the last trail marker, only one person passed me going in the opposite direction. I was excited to make the finish, I couldn't wait to pull these boots off. I kept telling Kai to hang on.

To my pleasant surprise, Kai was a trooper. He did not cry or complain or fight to get out of the backpack. He didn't even complain of his soiled diaper. He fell asleep in the backpack once but when awake would point at birds, planes, lizards, and indicate when he was hungry or needed a drink. So for almost 4.5 hours he was happy checking things out!

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Greg was waiting for us at home to take me out for dinner. I asked for a raincheck. It was already 7pm and my body hurt- my pelvis felt like it was splitting in two (feels exactly as if I was in my 3rd trimester), my right ankle needed ice, and I smelled like I really, really, needed a shower. I stunk!