Photos of Towhee and Wildflowers at Mount Diablo Mitchell Creek

Spotted Towhee at Mount Diablo on the Mitchell Creek hiking trail, by Adam Weintraub

When we left our house in Land Park on Sunday with the intent of viewing wildflowers at Mount Diablo, I considered bringing my Canon PowerShot but then thought, oh, my cellphone will work just as well for flowers. Duh. It did not occur to me that we might find a spotted towhee singing away at the top of his lungs in the brush. Fortunately my husband had his Nikon and zoom lens. What a lovely buzzing sound. At first I thought of a rattlesnake because there are snakes there, but no, it was a bird.

We decided to go hiking at the north end of the park to see the early bloom of wildflowers at Mount Diablo after we met up last week with an interesting couple from Georgia / South Carolina. During a dinner conversation, I had invited ourselves to go along on a mission to dump a person’s ashes, but nobody took me up on that idea. Can’t say I blame them. It was a personal trip and these people were pretty much strangers to us, but that’s just how I am. Sometimes people say yes to such spur-of-the-moment self-invitations.

For example, a friend last week mentioned she planned to get her eyebrows tattooed. So I invited myself along since I’ve never witnessed such a thing, and let me tell you, as an old fart with hardly any eyebrows myself (they vanish when you get old), now I think I will do the same.  Not to mention, I was present at the salon with my cellphone to record her entire experience. My attendance actually came in handy.

I can’t believe that we’ve lived in Sacramento for 15 years and have never been to Mount Diablo. This is what selling Sacramento real estate will do to you. Keep you too focused on work. Some people say it’s just always there and they don’t think about it because the mountain is simply part of their horizon. One cannot really see Mount Diablo from most places in Sacramento but is is very visible from the hills, like from El Dorado Hills.

We never made it to the summit, which offers splendid panoramic views, I hear, all the way to San Francisco Bay in one direction and the Delta in the other. That’s because I had to make it back to my home office in time to deal with a flood of offers from the results of two open houses in Sacramento. Both are pending today. Next time, though. I will definitely go back. If you go, take the back way on 160. Very scenic. About 90 minutes.

Below are photos of our hike to see the wildflowers at Mount Diablo along the Mitchell Creek hiking trail from yesterday:

Elizabeth Weintraub below Mitchell Rock (from Jurassic period) at Mount Diablo, by Adam Weintraub

Fairy lanterns, a kind of yellow tulip, endemic to Mount Diablo, along the Mitchell Creek trail.

Ithuriel’s Spear is a triplet lily found along the Mitchell Creek trail at Mount Diablo.

California Gilia found along the Mitchell Creek trail at Mount Diablo

View of the entrance to Mitchell Creek hiking trail at Mount Diablo, basalt and red chert rocks.

The pine cones from the Coulter pine trees are enormous at Mount Diablo, by Adam Weintraub

Tiger Moth caterpillar found along the Mitchell Creek trail at Mount Diablo

Mystery flowers emerging from a green flying saucer at Mitchell Creek Trail on Mount Diablo

California golden poppies hug the banks of Mitchell Creek on Mount Diablo

Native grape vines wind through coyote bush along Mitchell Creek trail at Mount Diablo

This look like a mint to me but I cannot identify the white flower.

View of Mount Diablo during lunch at La Veranda Cafe in Clayton, before our hike.

Photos of wildflowers at Mount Diablo by Sacramento Realtor, Elizabeth Weintraub, iPhone7, unless otherwise noted.