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Make a Donation Today! Make a donation to support the general operations of MDIA. Your gift can be recurring annually, or monthly. Diablo and North Peak by Stephen Smith All donations directly benefit Mount Diablo State Park Mount Diablo Interpretive Association is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to supporting Mount Diablo State Park. We are a 501(c)(3) organization, and our Tax ID# is 23-7444529 Donate Now If you prefer, you may download our pledge form and send it with your gift to: MDIA PO Box 346 Walnut Creek, CA 94597-0346

Get Involved Mount Diablo Interpretive Association and Mount Diablo State Park Volunteer Programs Volunteering allows members to commit to as little as a couple of hours a week and still provide vital assistance to the association and park. If you are interested in any of these opportunities and would like more information, please email us. Dan Cook Canyon bridge crew Information & Sales volunteers Volunteer leading hike Dan Cook Canyon bridge crew 1/4 MDIA and Mount Diablo State Park offer MDIA members and the public volunteer opportunities in the park and in MDIA operations. The association encourages all its members to become involved in MDIA's growth and in park activities. The State Department of Parks and Recreation sponsors the Volunteers In The Parks Program (VIPP) to provide organized and effective use of volunteers, including recognition for their contributions to state parks. The work of volunteers is highly appreciated and is necessary to maintain the parks in California. All volunteers in the park are required to complete several hours of training given at the park by park staff. For more information about the VIPP program, contact VIPPMountDiablo@parks.ca.gov Volunteer opportunities available Docent at the Summit Visitor Center or Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center. MDIA and Mount Diablo State Park are recruiting for volunteers to serve as Park Docents. Park Docents staff the Summit and Mitchell Canyon Visitor Centers and hike trails as roving docents. Docents provide information to park visitors and sell merchandise on behalf of MDIA. Docents usually work 3 to 4 hour shifts. Guide scheduled hikes for visitors. MDIA schedules public hikes throughout the year. We are always looking for interested individuals to lead or assist with these hikes. Back Country Patrol. Volunteers hike, bike, or ride horseback on trails in the park, reporting any issues and helping to interpret the park. Note that special training is required to assist with visitor emergencies. Trail Crew. Interested individuals are invited to join the Mount Diablo Volunteer Trail Crew program to assist in maintaining park trails. MDIA committee member. MDIA has many active committees, including outreach/publicity, publications, merchandising, trail adoption, and trash removal. These committees often sponsor activities and are always looking for volunteers to help. MDIA board member. Periodically, MDIA recruits board members. Board members commit to meeting once a month as well as serving as committee leads and participating in MDIA activities. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme Pieridae Whites, Sulfurs Flies All year Host Plant Legumes, Vetches Nectar Plant Daniel Fitzgerald Female Underwing Daniel Fitzgerald Female Underwing Michael Marchiano Male Michael Marchiano White Female

Mount Diablo Day Flying Moths Some Day Flying Moths at Mount Diablo, California, Contra Costa County Compiled by J. A. Powell February 2015 The following list of species no doubt is incomplete because State Park policy prevented collecting of insects for many decades. The preliminary list includes some specimen records in the Essig Museum, U. California, Berkeley (EME), and others I suspect will be found when a more comprehensive survey is carried out. Most of the confirmed specimen records to date originate from Russelmann Park and Mitchell Canyon, which were operated as commercial parks in the 1950s-1960s, and from several sites listed only by elevation (1800’, 2000’ etc. presumably along the paved road), collected by C. I. Smith in the late 1940s, prior to his untimely death in 1950. Probably numerous other diurnal Mount Diablo moths have been deposited in the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) or have been observed but not collected. I have not searched Kelly’s CA Moths counties list, which may be a source for additional records on Mount Diablo.

Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrus Nymphalidae Brushfoots Flies All year Host Plant Nettle Nectar Plant Daniel Fitzgerald Liam O'Brien

Mount Diablo State Park Weather and Air Quality Weather Mount Diablo Summit Weather The information is available courtesy of San Jose State University and the talented staff in their Department of Meteorology and Climate Science . Mount Diablo Summit Rainfall (CA.gov) Summit Webcam (CalFire) Rock City Weather (Wunderground) Mitchell Canyon Weather (Wunderground) Junction Weather (Wunderground) Air Quality Mount Diablo Summit AQI Junction Ranger Station AQI Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center AQI

Native Plant Garden - Additional Resources General Information California Native Plant Society California Native Plant Society, East Bay Chapter Plant Selection For Your Area California Native Plant Society Calscape identifies plants that are suited to very specific areas. Watersmart Gardener Planting Guide (EBMUD) offers a simple landscaping layout with suggested plants that can be adapted to your needs. A UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden California Native Planting Plan offers a template for a simple layout that includes plant selection. Where To Get California Native Plants If you know what you want, your local nursery most likely will be able to order it for you. A great local resource is Native Here Nursery . Las Pilitas Nursery offers online ordering and carries many native plants from all parts of California. Books California Native Plants for the Garden by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien Plants and Landscapes for Summer-dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Region edited by Nora Harlow and published by the East Bay Municipal Utility District Mariposa Lily

Geology FAQ Mount Diablo Geology Frequently Asked Questions Is Mount Diablo a volcano? No. Although basaltic lava rock can be found on the mountain, the lava was formed far at sea, upwelling from deep in the earth through fissures in the ocean crust. How high is the mountain? 3,849 feet. The summit is actually inside the museum. What kind of rock makes up the summit? The hard resistant rock on the summit is mostly greenstone (a slightly altered form of basalt, a common igneous rock that makes up much of the upper part of the ocean crust) and hard reddish chert with minor amounts of graywacke sandstone and shale. The exposed rock that you can stand on inside the summit museum is greenstone. Why does it stand up higher than the surrounding area? The rocks have been folded and lifted by compressional stresses in the earth’s crust. The greenstone and chert on the two main peaks are very resistant to erosion compared to many of the rocks in the surrounding areas and thus stand higher. Is Mt. Diablo still rising? The stresses that folded and raised the mountain are still at work and the mountain continues to slowly rise (about 0.1 inch a year) while the forces of weathering and erosion try to keep pace. How old is the mountain? The oldest rocks on the mountain are the greenstones in the mountain’s core formed about 190 million years old. But as a topographic feature, the mountain is relatively young, forming only during the past one million years or so. Is there any gold or silver here? Minor amounts of gold and silver associated with small copper deposits on the north side of the mountain were prospected, but production was not economical. Are the mercury mines still in operation? No. Mining operations stopped in the early 1970s after approximately $1,500,000 worth of mercury had been extracted. What are they quarrying on the north side? Diabase. Diabase is a dark igneous rock of fine crystalline texture. It is used primarily for building stones and crushed rock for roadbeds. Are there dinosaur bones in any of the rocks? Did they live here? No to both. The Mount Diablo region was under the ocean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The closest dinosaur bones to us were found near Pacheco Pass in central California. What about the bones at the Blackhawk Quarry? The quarry on the south side of the mountain is one of the richest mammal bone beds in the United States, second only to La Brea in Los Angeles. Bones from 9 million-year-old horses, camels, rhinos, and mastodons have been found here—but these are much younger than dinosaurs, which died out over 60 million years ago. The bones (only fragments are found, no complete skeletons) were preserved in stream deposits. How old are the fossils in the building blocks of the Summit Building? The clams, oysters, and other fossil shells in the building stones of the summit building came from the “Briones Formation” of Miocene age near Fossil Ridge and are about 12 million years old. How are the caves formed at Rock City? Although often called Wind Caves, they are only indirectly due to the wind. During the rainy season, water seeps into the rocks. The water is a very weak acid and slowly dissolves the cement that had been holding the sand grains together. The hot dry days of summer would draw the water to the surface of the rock where it evaporated and left behind the cement it had dissolved from deeper in the rock. After centuries of wet winters and dry summers, the inside of the rock had only a little cement, while the outside had a hard crust of sand grains tightly cemented. As wind and rain continued to beat on the faces of the rocks, holes developed in the crust. This exposed the loosely cemented grains underneath, which erode much faster than the surface, so that holes enlarged into little caves behind the hard crust. Very little of the hard crust remains on the surface of these rocks today. This text was reproduced from "Geology of Mount Diablo - A Training Manual" by Roi Peers

Monarch Danaus plexippus Nymphalidae Brushfoots Flies March to December Host Plant Milkweed Nectar Plant California buckeye, Bull thistle Daniel Fitzgerald Kevin Hinsta Underwing

Northern Checkerspot Chlosyne palla Nymphalidae Brushfoots Flies March to July Host Plant Aster Tribe Nectar Plant California buckeye Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Underwing

Peregrine Nesting Timeline The never-ending parenting checklist for a peregrine may surprise you. Check out what typically happens during the nesting season, and appreciate why it is important to protect these amazing creatures. March/April May May/June June/July Courtship and Mating Peregrine parents court, select a nest site, and mate Nesting The female lays the eggs, and both parents incubate the eggs for 4 to 4 ½ weeks. Chicks are hatched! The hatched chicks remain in the nest for 5 to 6 weeks, as they grow and strengthen their muscles in preparation for flight. During this time, both parents hunt and bring food to the nests for the chicks. Flight Training The adult-size youngsters leave the nest but remain in the area with their parents for approximately 6 weeks. They must learn and perfect flight and hunting skills, before ultimately leaving for new territory. Back to Peregrine Team Page

Margined White Pieris marginalis Pieridae Whites, Sulfurs Flies February to June Host Plant Milkmaids, Wintercress Nectar Plant Daniel Fitzgerald Male Daniel Fitzgerald Underwing