05/31 - Ring Mountain and Old St. Hilary's

Eleven of us made a two part Tiburon excursion on the first sunny day in ages.

Part one was Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve. One group headed off briskly for an extended walk not shown on the map as I was with the second group which was more intent on looking at the flowers. The shorter hike was just over a mile.

Part two was a visit to Old St. Hilary's in Tiburon proper. After lunch on the steps enjoying the view we wandered about looking for the rare Streptanthus glandulosus ssp. niger - Tiburon Jewel Flower. Luckily Phred knew where to look or we would have never noticed it.

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5/24 Pine Canyon from Castle Rock RP

There were 17 of us today. We all started together from the Castle Rock Park, but split into three groups by the big rock at Sulpher Spring. 5 stayed in the canyon; 7 made a loop via the Buckeye Ravine Tr; and 5 made the long loop up to the Briones Diablo Tr and down Little Yosemite Tr. We all met at the tables just before the Mt Diablo SP boundary. After lunch we all returned along the canyon. There were 4 stream crossings which required balancing on rocks. And there were plenty of flowers including a "first" for us: Salvia spathacea blooming on the slope to the west side of Stage Rd. Susan provided the following quote: The Bowerman/Ertter flora says: Subsequent to the 1944 edition, in which it was noted that “No exact record of the station is extant, It was (Bioletti’s) custom to climb the mountain from the north and to descend on the west side,” a hiker brought the Pine Canyon population to Bowerman’s attention. Several localized colonies have subsequently been verified in Pine Canyon. No other East Bay localities are currently known.   A lovely day!!!

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5/17 - Mt Diablo

There was a big group today - 18 to start. We walked from Juniper Camp out the Deer Flat Rd, then took Burma Rd down to the spring fed fish pond. Most of us went on the additional third of a mile to Moses Rock Spring and the second pond. After lunch we trudged back up the hill. Just under 4 miles, round trip.

The views were grand and the weather about perfect for that hike.

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5/10 Mt. Diablo

The before lunch walk was the flower rich trail to Devil's Elbow and on to Prospector's Gap. Ten of us started and were joined by Susan shortly after we turned along the east side of the mountain. The full out and back is roughly 2 miles; several turned back sooner. The trail is even more slippery than it was the last time we were there; lots of loose gravel. But it was well worth the effort!

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After lunch we made a counter-clockwise loop of the Mary Bowerman Trail for another mile...YES the Lewisia were in bloom!!!

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5/3 - Chabot Regional Park

Starting at the Clyde Woolridge Staging Area (where Skyline Blvd meets Grass Valley Rd) we followed the mostly shady Cascade Trail to the junction with Columbine Tr and then returned. About 2.75 miles was plenty on a hot, muggy day.

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