North Peak — Local services in Clayton

January /17/2021 was colder weather and great day for hiking up to Mount Olympia and North Peak of Mount Diablo. My hike was 9 miles out & back, and 2,700 feet of elevation gain. I was using Clayton parking, no parking fee, not many parking spaces at the trailhead. 95 percent of the trails are single track so not ability to social distance. Lot of exposed sections and gravel, some overgrown spots on trail. Hiking up,up ... up made my heart pumping very hard, and super challenging when I hiking down but I survived and managed. Views from anywhere could be magnificent. I can see the city, San Rafael Bridge, windmill, and the snow covered Sierra Nevada. The 360 degrees views from the top are truly spectacular. Don’t under estimate our backyard. Hiking poles highly recommend for coming down. This is exactly the hike you looking for... meaning you are going for good workout as much as take some pictures and...

Best trail in the Bay for mountain training (Rainier, Whitney, Shasta) given the steep profile. Worth waking up for an early (6am at the trailhead off Marsh Creek Road) start to beat the summer heat. Always see 0-2 people on the trail, plus lizards, occasional snakes, and thirsty flies. Trail is 85-90% exposed so 2L water and sun protection are key. Trekking poles also highly recommended for the steep way down. There are 1-2 extremely steep sections for several meters that may involve some controlled slipping...

This was our fifth peak on 6 peak Mt Diablo loop, and I’ve lost the trail here 🤪😂 There’s an arrow showing ahead right in front of the rocks. I considered our previous experience with other peaks and decided that we definitely needed to climb up! Don’t do that, the road to the peak here is just a regular road, no need for extreme efforts 😂 Although the road goes steeply up (and when you’re going back - down), it’s still better than climbing the...