Curry Point

Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and California State Parks Foundation, 2012 This scenic 6.5-mile hike explores Mount Diablo’s less traveled south side--its birds, pines, wildflowers, water bugs, and more. Naturalist Seth Adams and biologist Malcolm Sproul lead the way.

The first of 16 short audio segments.
Music: “Home Range,” Local Joe, by Phil Heywood. Photos: opener, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; trillium; ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; green vista, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com, lupine, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
Where watersheds—and wildlife—converge.
Music: “Hoofin’ It,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: vista with people, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; Pacific horned lizard, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com: deer and lupine, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com: mountain lions, © iStockphoto.com/Tom Tietz; bobcat, ©iStockphoto.com/Brian Sak; hikers, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
Head down into the streamside forest.
Music: “Back in Big Horizons,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: opener, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; spotted towhee, ©Joe Oliver; orange-crowned warbler, Creative Commons, Dan Pancomo; Steller’s jay, ©naturespicsonline.com; mariposa lily, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
A bubbly fault zone where bigleaf maples reach for the sun.
Music: “Slippery Slope,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: wild rose, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
Watch for geologists on your right!
Music: “Backtrack,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: trillium, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; hikers on Diablo Trail (9), ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
How sycamores shape streams.
Music: “Year of the Rooster,” Local Joe, by Phil Heywood. Photos: opener, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; giant water bugs (3), ©Seabrooke Leckie.
A historic place, and a stunning side trip.
Music: “Slippery Slope,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: Blackhawk Ridge with lupine, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; Ansel Mills Easton, courtesy Burlingametrees.org; Easton residence Blackhawk, courtesy Save Mount Diablo; Blackhawk comic, courtesy Save Mount Diablo; two hikers on Blackhawk Ridge, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; downhill hikers, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; Mount Diablo sunflower, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com Alameda whipsnake, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; rocky pinnacles, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; lunch on the ridge, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
A California thrasher and a wrentit introduce themselves.

Music: “Mana from Kokomo,” Circle Tour, by Phil Heywood. Photos: birdwatchers, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; California thrasher, Creative Commons, Kevin Cole; wrentit (3) ©Larry Selman, mostlybirds.com.
In this bird’s-eye view of the chaparral, a Bewick’s wren comes calling!
Music: “Hoofin’ It,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: view from Knobcone Point Road, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; hikers on the road, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; spotted towhee, ©Joe Oliver; Bewick’s wren, Creative Commons, Minette Layne.
Have a seat (eat your lunch?) and learn about the unusual habits of the knobcone pine.
Music: “Osmotic Journey,” Some Summer Day, by Phil Heywood.
Porous, precariously perched sandstone.
Music: “Country Blues Picnic,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood. Photos: holding up the rock, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com; party in a wind cave, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
A “doghair” stand of knobcone pines with an interesting history. 
Music: “Back in Big Horizons,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood.
A high point with grand vistas of Alamo Creek and beyond.
Music: “Lazy Eights,” Banks of the River, by Phil Heywood.
Photos: juvenile golden eagle, USFS, Dave Herr; red-tailed hawk, ©Joe Oliver.
After Seth explains what the north-south Mount Diablo Meridian is all about, we head up the hill for home.
Music: “Home Range,” Local Joe, by Phil Heywood.
Photos: Mount Diablo sunflower (2), ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
Learn more about a rare snake that can slither across the top of the chaparral. 
Photo: Alameda whipsnake, ©Scott Hein, www.heinphoto.com.
Learn more about how this endangered bird was recently reintroduced to the slopes of Mount Diablo.
Photos: peregrine falcon, Creative Commons, 2010 greghume@cinci.rr.com.
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