Hi newcomer Friday Hikers,
Today we hiked a 2 hour loop at Black Diamond Mines. The weather was cool and crisp but the uphill hike to the old cemetery warmed us up fast. The weather quickly warmed up into the mid 70’s.
Today’s hikers were new members Kathy I. and Chris T. plus Shirley A., Jacky H., Lois T., Cathy K., April R., and Sharon K It was wonderful to see both the old and new faces with us today.
We hiked up a new (to us) trail - Manhattan Canyon, which overlooked the trail we usually return on and the old mine shaft. With a little good map reading we made it to the footbridge where we started our ascent up through the red barked Madrones.
As we climbed higher we were able to look back on the cemetery in the distance. We had a clear view of Mt. Diablo when we reached the intersection of the Ridge Trail. We noted the textures and shadows, the bright mistletoe handing from the trees, and the subtle fall colors. We didn’t see much in the way of wild life, perhaps because of the very dry conditions. All the ponds we observed were dry. We did see a small gopher snake with quickly slithered off of the trail.
It felt so good to hike after being off a couple of weeks that I am planning an extra hike for next Friday, November 9th. We will be hiking at Las Trampas. Be on the lookout for an e-mail next week. We will still be hiking on Nov. 16th as planned.
Thank you for driving today, Lois.
The hike was followed by lunch at the Bagel Street Cafe.
Happy Trails, Sharon
