Even though I've lived in the Bay Area for a few years, I've never been up Mt. Diablo (3849 feet; 1166 metres). Considering that I was finally leaving (to accept a professorship at the University of Washington in Seattle), I decided to pay a visit to Mt. Diablo State Park. We drove up to the Juniper campground and from there, it was a short hike (about five miles round trip) to the top. It was definitely an amazing sight, featuring some breathtaking views of the whole bay area and the area around Walnut Creek and Contra Costa county. This is possible because there's very little to block the view around the mountain. Apparently, when conditions are good, visitors can see over 40,000 square miles in at least 35 of California's 58 counties. I could see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco, but the smog did make it hard to discern where Yosemite National Park or Mt. Lassen were: