Mount Diablo shoot
Today, we revisited Mount Diablo for a photo shoot. The temperatures got to 85 degrees F in Livermore. I am not sure what the temperature was at the 3849-foot summit of Mount Diablo! Mount Diablo is a sacred mountain to some Native American tribes – it is the point of creation. I mentioned in the blog entry linked above that one of my favorite places on the mountain is Rock City (1, 2, 3). We parked at Rock City, which is about 1/2 mile past the station where you pay admission ($6/car), when you enter from the South Gate, as we did.
(Update May 18, 2008: I uploaded higher resolution photos of the Mount Diablo shoot to the Flowers, Other Places, and Outdoor Recreation albums of the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™. I have also added some links to low-resolution photos to this blog entry.) I started with some shots of wildflowers (1, 2, 3) and of a scenic overlook (Artist’s Point 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Lupine (1) were in bloom. The air was fairly clear, with increasing haziness from the west. All in all, it was an utterly gorgeous day on the mountain. I managed to find a rock shelter (wind cave, actually: 1, 2, 3) where I had photographed the family of my brother-in-law years ago and sent them the photo. I remember calling the photo “rock monkeys,” with his wife and two girls in the rock shelter. Surprisingly, one of the girls sent back the photo with baboons and chimpanzees “Photoshop®ped” into the rock shelter and seated next to them… talented kid!
After Rock City, we drove to the summit (1). We chose to park at the lower parking lot and walk the short trail (1, 2, 3) to the top. Today, the weather was the best that I have experienced at the summit for quite some time. There was no wind, and the temperature was pleasant. I have been to the summit on days when we almost needed to “weigh down” the lighter members of our party to keep them from blowing off the top! I have also been there when the top of Mount Diablo was an island in a “sea” of fog, with only a few “holes” in the fog through which you could see the valleys below. On exceptionally clear days, usually in winter, you can see the Farallon Islands off the coast and the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra from the summit of Mount Diablo. The haze prevented views of both today. However, the Golden Gate Bridge was clearly visible today. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
There was a wonderful quiet at the top of Mount Diablo. All of the sounds were nature’s own. On the way back down the mountain, my son pointed out two male wild turkey in a meadow, and later, a couple of quail darted across the road in front of us.
The RAW photos from today are downloading from my camera as I write this. I will add links to photos when they have been processed and uploaded. (Done)
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. Apparel and other gifts decorated with some of our most popular photos can be ordered from the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Store on CafePress®.
