Bay area meet, Mt. Diablo or Clear lake or both separately?

I am going to be in the S.F. area on the weekend of the 26th of may to the 26th and want to know if Mount Diablo , Clear Lake or both separately would worl for a meet that weekend . I am available on the 27th and 28th and would be willing to do both myself .

OOps , it should say 26th to 28 th, my bad . I should probably get to bed .:o

Well , five so far for Mount Diablo . I am the one who voted for both or seperately , only because I will be in both areas that weekend and I want to be accomodating to all , but I do love that mountain . I grew up with it and had always wanted to walk to the top, I finally did , when I was 19 I walked over the hills from black diamond mines in Pittsburg to Clayton to Walnut drive in Concord or Walnut Creek and to the top and back home . It took me 9 1/2 hours round trip and 27 miles , but it fullfilled a dream since I was a little kid :D . Some one suggested coyote point in SFO , but I think I have my heart set on Mt. Diablo.

I am just posting to bring this back up to page 1 again , it stands at 6 of us at Mount Diablo , now do we have it on the 27th or the 28th , I am there the whole weekend so either or works for me .

I would love to meet with all you Ridge owners, but that is a bad weekend for me. Hopefully, there will be another meet some time later....

I am just bringing this back to the surface so that we can see how many are going to make this meet at Mount Diablo this May and if the 27th or the 28th is good . I am there till monday the 29th when I will be heading back north to home . Seven of us so far .

I am just bringing this back to the surface so that we can see how many are going to make this meet at Mount Diablo this May and if the 27th or the 28th is good . I am there till monday the 29th when I will be heading back north to home . Seven of us so far .

I'm there, either date is good for me.

PS. here's a map for those who don't know either North or South Gate entrances to the park:
http://www.mdia.org/parkmap.htm

Mt Diablo on the 27th sounds good to me, but I ain't walking. ;)
Will you post a final, uh, commitment Dragonslayer?
exA4

I'm there, either date is good for me.

PS. here's a map for those who don't know either North or South Gate entrances to the park:
http://www.mdia.org/parkmap.htm
Thanks a bunch for the map and info.
I've lived here for 30 years and have never been to Mt Diablo. Here's my chance.
I have been to Mt Tam, and that's pretty cool.

On a clear day you can see Mount Shasta and Half dome in Yosemite too also the Farralon Islands off S.F. agaus that is on a clear day .

I am commited for the 27th for the meet, how does anyone else feel, I am even willing to camp out on the 27th and meet anyone who can't make it on the 28th . I remember as a kid that they allowed overnight camping and dogs too, they need to have their tags current , I am bringing my dog Chelsea along, it's really her truck, at least that is what she tries to tell me:D

It's my #1 priority for the 27th. I'm looking forward to it.
A dog? Too cool. I hope she's friendly.

Chelsea is a very sweet dog, she is a mix of Jack Russel and Mcnab , which is a type of herd dog . She weighs around 50 pounds . No herd instinct, but she is a great mouser , she thinks she is 15 pounds not 50:D

The 27th at Mt. Diablo works great for me. I'll bring my daughter along for the ride. :)

Any idea what time we might meet up?

27th good for me. As for time I vote earlier the better but I'm flexible, I'll throw out 11am for starters.

The gates open at 8:00 am and that is when I plan on heading up . One of my hobbies is photography so I will be taking lots of pictures . My dog Chelsea is ready I updated her rabies shots and her license too . Dogs have to be on a 6 foot lead and are not allowed on the trails .

11:00 a.m. sounds like a good time to me! (on the 27th)

9am is about the earliest I can get there. Are we going to meet somewhere in Danville/Alamo and then drive up as a group?

I'm going to aim for pretty early, but I think our arrival times will be too varied to meet somewhere else. Personally, I'd prefer to wait around at the park. We do need a meeting place up there, though. At least a general area.

We should meet at the 'lower' parking lot at the top. The lower lot is a few hundred yards below the top parking lot. It will be on the right and a little easy to miss but if you miss it you can drive back down and circle around again.

The lower lot is better because it's much bigger and the top lot is always quite full on the weekends. So then, I propose meeting at 11am at the lower lot.

Anyone know if there's a good place to have breakfast close to the area? Or should I bring my last MRE? ;)

I know of a place to eat breakfast over there, but I wouldn't exactly call it "good", nor would I recommend the place. :D There aren't too many choices in Danville/Diablo/Alamo area though. San Ramon is near by; I wonder what breakfast could be found there.

If all else fails, I'll find an IHOP in the area.
But I was hoping for a decent local eatery. Nothing fancy, just good.

I will be coming from Pittsburg that morning over Kirker pass through Walnut Creek . I have not been through there in 25 years , but I think after checking out google that I wont have any problems finding my way . I am heading up early and will probably have breakfast at my younger brothers house in Pittsburg or will stop in concord, clayton or walnut creek . I will check google to see what is available .

If all else fails, I'll find an IHOP in the area.
But I was hoping for a decent local eatery. Nothing fancy, just good.

I usually don't go out for breakfast but the few places I've been to in the area are:

ButterCup:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/BvjUwzfxngmb3VGxV7uvSw
This is probably the easist one as it's right on Ygnacio Blvd about a mile after you exit from 24.

Country Waffles:
http://www.gusto.com/california/clayton/restaurants/countrywaffles-R218721.html

Nations:
Concord
4600 Clayton Rd.
(925) 685-8001

Cool! As long as I have an address, my trusty tomtom will get me there.

So then, I propose meeting at 11am at the lower lot.
Just checking in -- are we all still planning on this? 11 a.m., this Saturday, at the lower lot?

Weather guys are muttering about rain again, by the way... but maybe the forecast will change as the week progresses.

I just checked the weather online for Pittsburg and they are clear and warm right through the weekend . I am going to still get to the park early and will be at the lower parking lot . See you all there .

I am currently in Ohio but I will be back on Thursday night and hope to come up there with my daughter on Saturday.

Doug

I regret that we will not be able to make this meet. We'll be up by Cobb Mountain at a family campout, north of Clear Lake.

Hope you all have a great time! RO3

I will be passing Cobb mountain on friday and will stop in at Clear Lake too . Look for the green rl with a dragon on the hood .

I plan to make it. I'll probably have breakfast at the Buttercup (suggested above), then drive on up. I should be there at the lot before 11am.
This'll be my first meet and my first visit to Mt Diablo.
George

Did anyone post a map of where in the park you will be? I'd like to drive by and at least say hi. (yes I'm a retired ranger but I never worked at Diablo only in the Santa Cruz area). :o

Did anyone post a map of where in the park you will be? I'd like to drive by and at least say hi. (yes I'm a retired ranger but I never worked at Diablo only in the Santa Cruz area). :o
Here's a link to a Web site with maps -- I've never been there, either, so I'm not at all sure where to find the "lower parking lot" -- help, anyone?
http://www.mdia.org/parkmap.htm

Well, if I remember from my child hood correctly , the lower parking lot is just below the upper parking lot .:D :rolleyes: . The views from up there are amazing , on a clear day one can see Mt. Lassen and Yosemite too .

Well, if I remember from my child hood correctly , the lower parking lot is just below the upper parking lot .:D :rolleyes: . The views from up there are amazing , on a clear day one can see Mt. Lassen and Yosemite too .
Sounds great! Now if I only knew which road into the park takes you to the upper parking lot, I could figure out where the lower parking lot is....:confused:

I looked this up with google earth , now most of you know your way around the bay area now . I knew the concord/clayton /Pittsburg area well and visisted the mountain often , even walked there from Pittsburg once . I put in the from here to here area when I brought up the thumbtack for Mount Diable on google earth , these are for 680 coming from the north and east bay ; Take 680 exit at Treat blvd./Geary and turn left on N. Main st. go .2 miles, turn left on Treat blvd. go 1.1 miles, bear right and go 191 feet on Bancroft rd. bear right at Bancroft rd. go .7 miles, continue on Walnut , go 1.6 miles . At traffic circle, take 1st exit onto Grove rd. bear right at Castle rock rd, go 2.3 miles and you are there , at least by google . I think I still know my way around , I always came from Kirker Pass or via the short cut from Antioch through the back hills and Morgan Territory road and through Clayton . Probably the best way for Princess or Jay if they should make it . Try google earth and put in you city and your destination and it will show you the best route to take . My one way will be 343 miles .

Thanks, Dragon, but I'm not worried about how to get to the park, I'm just curious about where the parking lots are IN the park.

I guess we'll come in from the south gate, and keep driving toward the summit until we start seeing parking lots, and stop in the first one we see another Ridgeline in!

Here's a pic of the lower & top lots.

So far the weather is going to be great and it looks like eight of us are definates and maybe we will be lucky with a show out of the maybe group . We will be " Nick, vertrkr, exA4, moneymaker, UglyTruckling, dsowell, psango and myself; Dragonslayer . There were maybes from Jay, regulardude, RidgelineOwner3, kayaker and princess . That would be fantastic if we all make it . I think I am going to try and get a site friday evening and camp over night , something I always wanted to do .

Looks like we have 3 different threads on this so maybe someone can merge these?
Had a great time. Thanks to Vertrkr for the lunch! He has a nice family.
Here are some of my pictures.

More Pics.
Just cannot capture Vertrkr's awesome rims in a picture. They look better in person.:cool:

Two more.

Doug

It was a nice day, and it was really cool to see all those Ridges together at one time. Mine is the red at the end of the line in Doug's pics.
Unfortunately I had to pass on the lunch. I'd just had breakfast, plus I had to go take care of a problem at work. Oh well. Next time.
I saw Dragonslayer's dragon decal on his green truck. Toyally cool :cool: !
exA4

Here are two pictures of the Mount Diablo summit observatory; a right side and a left side , one of my rl at the parking lot before anyone else had shown up and one of a jay .

I'm glad it went well. I'm so sorry that I couldn't make it.....

There was a death in the family (my uncle), then my my oldest grand daughter was sent to stay with us over the Summer. She's 12 & fighting with her mom. A few health issues...

I feel awful about missing it. Sorry. :o

I'm glad it went well. I'm so sorry that I couldn't make it.....

There was a death in the family (my uncle), then my my oldest grand daughter was sent to stay with us over the Summer. She's 12 & fighting with her mom. A few health issues...

I feel awful about missing it. Sorry. :o
Sheesh!
No worry. Sorry you couldn't make it. Hope everything straightens out with your family. So far my grandkids are doing okay, but my oldest granddaughter is 17 (shivver). :eek:
Next time, eh? :) By then we'll have some new goodies on our trucks.
BTW; USA just kicked Italy's butts, 1-1. Soccer, that is.
exA4

Things WILL be OK..... we were concerned about my prince's innerds....appendix, liver, or intestines.....turned out to be "only" kidney stones. They're hurting in the front, not the back, so they had everyone fooled.

So now we're focusing on the grand daughter. She's starting to show signs of her mom's bi-polar. I am thankful that in some ways she's pretty immature. In many ways that's a plus right now!!

I loved seeing the pictures. Although I didn't until today! I looks like it was a really pretty day up there! I haven't been up there for years. I remember as a kid you could sometimes see Mt. Shasta & Mt. Lassen! One of these days.......