Two days in April; two hikes to see some wildflowers and get some exercise. Mount Diablo can be seen from most places around the San Francisco Bay Area. It is at about 3850 foot elevation and has one road that crosses the park from north to south. Sunol Park, further south along Calaveras Road, is less known, but has some great places to explore.
Here are some pictures of the trails and wildflowers.

I drove the Z up the north side of Mount Diablo.
I figured it was the best way to see poppies against the steep mountain slopes.

The road starts in some meadow areas and quickly climbs as it winds its way up the mountain. Especially on weekends the road is a favorite place for bicyclist, so I have to keep the reigns in on my car. It loves curves, but not here.

 

 
 

 


At about two thousand foot elevation I encountered the first fields of poppies. So I parked the car and climbed through a field to a trail above. It was still early and the flowers had not opened up completely. Too bad, it would have been a sea of orange along here. But as the morning hours waned, the colors became more intense.


 

 

The poppy, or Eschscholzia Californica if you prefer, is the state flower. It is also the only word that I know of that has two sets of 'sch' in its name. Other very common flowers are the bright yellow mustard and the wild radish. The latter can be white, yellow or various shades of pink. Yet another one is the lupine with its bluish purple cluster of flowers. Lupine can sometimes be found in other colors such as yellow and white.

   

 
Blue dicks grow in semi shady spots. The plant has a long stem that can be as much as two feet long. The thin leaves sprout out off the ground from little tubers. I understand that the Indians, who lived here, used to gather the peanut size bulbs and roast them for food.
Another interesting flower is the fiddle neck. I think that is an appropriate name, don't you? Notice the little bugs hanging from the bottom.
 

The day that I went to Sunol Park, a 'Spring Wildflower Festival' was being held near the entrance. There were several stalls with literature and fun things to do for kids, and an all-female band provided some entertainment.




But I came to do some hiking. There is a trail called 'Indian Joe' that goes up a steep slope to a series of caves where Indian Joe used to live. I took only part of the trail and veered off to the south for some nice views. That is also the way to the canyon referred to as Little Yosemite.

 

 

On the steeper parts I would see the orange poppy and more lupine and some Mariposa tulips. In the shady areas were several types of buttercup and sprinkled in between some pale blue stickweeds.


   

   

   


Then I came to 'Little Yosemite'. It is really not that big, but there is a nice brook and lots of boulders. The roots of one tree were polished by the winter floods and even George Washington seemed to be in awe with the landscape.


 

 

 

 

Throughout this area I saw more wildflowers, including a cycladenia between the river rocks. This pretty blue flower was on a shrub, but I have no idea what is was.

Further on the trail I saw clusters of vetches, more lupine and some blue bells as bees were busy gathering their share of nectar.

Then finally there were some white yarrow and tritelias.
 

 

   


All and all it had been a couple nice hikes with great weather and some fun seeing more wildflowers. We'll do this again some time.

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