Elain on the summit
We'd been planning an overnight trip for the weekend, but as the forecast for Sunday started to turn poor for our original destination, we decided to do a day hike on Saturday. One of our guidebooks suggested Sourdough Mountain as a good workout with great views, so we settled on it. We passed through storm clouds and rain on the drive up I-5 so were a bit apprehensive about the weather. However, the skies cleared as we headed east on Hwy 20 to Diablo. The drive went quickly, and we arrived at the trailhead by the dome covered pool at around 10 AM. The trail was well-maintained and took us through forest and then wildflower meadows. We had all the ingredients of a great hike - sun, comfortable temperatures, nice views (once out of the forest) and in stark contrast to the previous weekend, very few bugs. We reached the summit around 1 PM and took a lunch break by the lookout tower (all to overselves for most of lunch). We didn't have a map so weren't able to pick out very many peaks, but we were able to identify lovely Mount Buckner and Mount Goode. We then walked over to the north side and admired a couple of dramatic looking peaks to the northwest. We started down at around 1:30 PM and arrived at the car at 4:30 PM. The elevation gain was 5100' and the RT distance was 11 miles.
Elain on the summit
Steve in front of the summit lookout
Diablo Lake
Colonial and Pyramid Peaks
Davis Peak