Mount Diablo Bikepacking Trip

Mount Diablo is known among Bay Area cyclists for being a long, punishing, and oftentimes intensely hot climb. While the team here at Cycle Monkey knew the reputation the mountain had, we experienced the pain it can dish out firsthand on our recent weekend bikepacking trip on the fireroads and singletrack that wind up the mountain. While we got our fair share of the flowing singletrack, sweeping views, and triumphant peaks that we had come for, our ride was also marked by steep climbs, brutal heat, and bushwhacking through overgrown trails. Regardless, the mountain delivered a fun and adventurous weekend that lit a fire under us to go on an extended offroad tour.

After planning our ride for a few weeks – with plenty of Google Maps searches, weather forecast checks, and trips to REI – we were finally ready to set off last weekend. Tyler, Travis, and I joined in on the plan to spend two days traversing the side of Mount Diablo, exploring the vast Morgan Territory south of the mountain and returning north the way we had come. We mapped out a route that consisted of only dirt roads – mostly fireroads with some singletrack – that would take us near the mountain's peak. We knew the climb was challenging and that the weekend would be hot. The Amgen Tour of California had actually climbed the mountain a few days earlier in 90 degree heat and the images from the peloton looked excruciating. We were up for a challenge, but we were encouraged by the facts that it had cooled down by the weekend, we weren’t going to the top of the mountain, and we certainly weren’t riding at race pace.

Tyler and I rode our Rohloff-equipped Surly Krampuses, while Travis was on a classic steel Specialized Rockhopper. We loaded up our bikes with sleeping bags, hammocks, stoves, cooksets, water filters, warm clothes, and food. It was a lot of gear, but it was all equipment we would need. We realized that regardless of whether you are setting out for a long trek or just an overnighter, you need almost the same amount of camping gear (with the exception of food). However we tried to pack as compactly as we could, using framebags and saddlebags in lieu of panniers wherever possible to distribute the weight evenly on the bikes.

We began our ride by taking the Bay Area Rapid Transit – or BART – commuter train to the base of the mountain and riding through the town of Walnut Creek to the local fireroad trail network. As soon as we started pedaling on dirt roads, the grade of the trails began steepening. The entire trail was wide open and exposed on a sun-baked hillside. By our first rest break, we were pouring sweat. This was going to be hotter than we thought. With only a few trees spotted throughout the rolling hills, shady spots were few and far between. We adopted the strategy of riding to each shady spot, taking a quick water break, then continuing on to the next tree. That let us take in the amazing vistas and local wildlife, including a curious coyote that watched us from a hillside as we rode.

We kept on along the rolling hills for a few miles, with numerous gradual climbs and quick descents back to back. Because we were traversing the side of the mountain rather than heading straight up it, we had to go up and down plenty of valleys. Eventually, we started cutting up toward the top of the mountain and the climbs got much steeper as we gained elevation. A few miles further, the climbs got to a point where they seemed to be steeper than a 25 percent grade. Feeling the full weight of our camping gear, we decided to hike-a-bike up a few of the steepest pitches.

By the time the sun was starting to get lower in the sky, we had only gone about ten miles. We were in the middle of a steep trail, pushing our bikes up the hill, pouring sweat, hungry, and thirsty. With the weight of our bikes, the steepness of the trails, and the energy-zapping heat, we realized we had thoroughly exhausted ourselves. The trail was beginning to have a “one step forward, two steps back” feeling to it. 

We decided to take a break and look at the map. We still had plenty of ground to cover, yet the sun was setting and we were starting to get hungry for dinner. Although we had a permit for a backcountry campsite about ten miles further along the trail, there was a closer campground with more amenities just a few miles up the trail. It even had water spigots, meaning we would not have to find and filter our own water. We decided to make our way to that campground and cross our fingers that there was an open site for us.

Thankfully, we found an open spot and immediately got out our stoves and cooksets to eat dinner. Once we ate some food we had a bit more energy to set up our campsite. Tyler and Travis had brought hammocks with tarps over them to keep out the dew, while I brought a simple bivy sack that I set up in a tree clearing that let me look out at the stars. For a while after sunset, we talked and sipped the two cans of beer that Tyler had surprised us by lugging up the mountain. Soon enough though, tiredness crept in and we called it a night.

I was awoken in the middle of the night by a loud scratching sound over by our bikes. I eventually shined my headlamp in that direction and saw two bright eyes looking right back at me. I reluctantly got out of my sleeping bag, walked closer, and found a huge raccoon eating some of Tyler’s Cliff Bars. I shoed the raccoon off, cleaned up the mess, and zipped Tyler’s bag back shut. As soon as I zipped myself back into my sleeping bag, I heard the crinkling of Cliff Bar wrappers again. I shoed him off again, zipped all the bars as tightly as I could in the bag, and returned to my sleeping bag. By the time I heard the noise again, I admittedly was too tired and cold to get up again and just tried to ignore the noise and get some sleep. He had already gotten to all the bars he could reach but thankfully he left our breakfast untouched.

In the morning we cooked a quick breakfast, packed up, and set off onto the fun singletrack that made up most of the second day’s ride. We had decided to continue south through Morgan Territory and head to the BART train station further down in the town of Dublin, which would take us back to Berkeley. We could have returned to Walnut Creek the way we came, but we decided we wanted to explore the south side of the mountain.

As soon as we set out, we found ourselves flowing down a singletrack trail that weaved through the woods for a few miles. It was fast and exhilarating, but soon enough the climbing started again. Although the fast singletrack had gotten us excited, we realized miles and miles of steep ups and downs were all we would get while we kept traversing valleys along the side of the mountain. We made the most of it by taking our time pushing up the steep grades and enjoying the downhill singletrack.

The grade eventually mellowed out and we enjoyed more flowing trails for a few miles. Eventually we left the boundaries of Mount Diablo State Park and entered Morgan Territory. The south side of the mountain was as dry and dusty as the north side, but because it is not used by as many people, most of the trails were overgrown. The singletrack we rode for most of the rest of the day was lined with dead grass so dense that we struggled to find the trail and had to carefully pick our lines. Sometimes, we would be zipping down the trail on a relatively clear area and quickly come upon a section of thick, tall grass overtaking the narrow trail. We just hit the sections with speed and bushwhacked our way through. At the bottom, we stopped at a shady dry gulch and decided to check our legs for tics, surprisingly not finding any.

Soon the road got flatter and gave way to paved country roads. We pedaled along a wind-swept, fast moving highway for a few miles before finding ourselves on the outskirts of Dublin. Thankful to return to civilization, we found a barbque restaurant and ordered plenty of food and drinks, savoring the meal for a few hours while we gathered the energy to find the Dublin BART station and head home.

Although the ride was exhausting, the challenges we faced made our quick trip into a real adventure. We have now officially been bit by the bug to plan a longer bikepacking trip this summer. We’ll just have to get a more detailed topographic map next time.

Any and all bikepacking suggestions are welcomed! Let us now where you would choose to tour in the comments.

-Phil

We'd love to hear stories and see pictures of your Rohloff and Schlumpf equipped bikes in action! Send them to adventures@cyclemonkey.com