Diablo Lake Trail: Nature Mixed with Dams

Diablo Lake Trail: Nature Mixed with Dams

Diablo Lake Trail is one of the nicest trails I have been on in some time. I was asked along the trail if I liked it, and I really did love the scenic turns in this easy climb. What I didn't care for, was the power lines and even the dams themselves. I guess my opinions on nature over man made scenery might differ from others. 

We loved the big trees and small streams that make up the first part of the trail, as well as all of the plant life. My kids left their kids backpacks at home on this longer hike. 

The first lookout of the trail was overrun by ground bees, but we looked back at Diablo Dam where we had crossed over to find the parking lot. It shows just how far hikers have gone so far.

The mountains are out for most of the remaining miles of the hike. This time of year is perfect for seeing them with a bunch of snow on them! We saw a ferry boat of sorts hauling two dump trucks up towards the next dam. It was neat to see the lake from the opposite side of Highway 20, which was also visible at times.

Finally the trail lost some elevation to a vista below some power lines, viewing the Ross Lake Dam from a nice perspective. We had our lunch here and this seemed to be the spot that most other hikers were there to see. I carried Reggie most of the way back to the car. Raichels highlight of the trip was a hiker that recognized her from pictures that I post of them! She told my wife that she is famous now.

There were a few downed trees along the way, one of which I was able to throw off to the side. One of the rock slide sections of the hike had a few big boulders in the trail that we needed to climb over and around.

Overall, the beauty around each bend and the opposite viewpoint of Diablo Lake makes this a great hike! We enjoyed it more than Pyramid Lake, which is just down Highway 20 from this hike. Driving over the dam itself is quite a highlight too.

 

 

 

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