If hot days are getting you down, take a break to learn about the Bay Area's "refrigerator tree," Arbutus menziesii. From a tour of Mount Diablo's Rock City. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Featuring Ken Lavin; Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton.
It's tarantula season around Mount Diablo, and naturalist Ken Lavin has tales to tell and myths to bust. If you should be lucky enough to encounter one of these hairy beasts on the mountain, enjoy the thrill. But please don't touch! This podcast is part of the Audible Mount Diablo series, sponsored by Save Mount Diablo and the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association.
One of the tallest mountains in the Bay Area—MOUNT DIABLO—is still growing! Learn how and when the mountain emerged and when the Mount Diablo Thrust Fault is due for a quake. Featuring naturalist Ken Lavin. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Part of the Audible Mount Diablo series.
Dancing with OTTERS! A new film by Wally De Young that will help you spot this adorable mammal on your next East Bay hike.
WILD RIDE Take a 6-minute breeze through Bay Area geologic history, from the Age of Dinosaurs to the Age of Mammals. Featuring Ken Lavin. Adapted from Audible Mount Diablo's "Mary Bowerman Geology Tour." Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
Need to cool off? Enjoy a 360-degree vista from the top of Mount Diablo while watching its resident TURKEY VULTURES soar. The species has some fascinating (creepy?) habits as well as a superpower revealed almost a century ago by a team of geologists. From a A Geology Tour on the Mary Bowerman Trail . Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. Photos by Scott Hein and Derek Love. Music by Phil Heywood. Production and narration by Joan Hamilton....
Everyone loves our state flower, the California poppy. But few know the story about its scientific name. It starts with a Russian ship sailing into San Francisco Bay with a German poet on board . . . and the rest is (strange) history. Featuring Ken Lavin. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Joan Hamilton. Photos and video by Kendall Oei and Joan Hamilton. With help from other members of the Wild Mount Diablo team, Wally De Young and Staci Hobbet.
Beautiful and fascinating, BOBCATS put the wild in a new nature series called Wild Mount Diablo. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. Produced by Kendall Paul Oei, with help from team members Wally De Young, Joan Hamilton, and Staci Hobbet.
Learn about wood, polypody, goldenback, and maidenhair FERNS. In springtime you might also see two impressive early-blooming flowers: warrior's plume and mission bells. Each has an interesting story. This tour of Mount Diablo's ROCK CITY is presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. First published in 2015, updated in 2018. Featuring Ken Lavin, Rich McDrew, David Mackesey, and Mike Woodring; Music: Phil Heywood; Production, Narration: Joan Hamilton; Photos: Seth Adams, Contra Costa Hist...
This episode of Wild Mount Diablo features America's smallest falcon and efforts to help them thrive, which may be having a positive effect on local populations.
SUMMIT STORIES Spring is a great time to visit Mount Diablo State Park. If you go to the top, have a look at the rocks used to build the summit visitor center. You can easily see fossils of oysters and clams—and, in the sand in between, clues to geologic history of the entire Bay Area. From a tour of the Mary Bowerman Loop presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.
MERCURY MINING A mine near Clayton opened in 1875 and was long gone a century later. But it and subsequent mines nearby are still causing problems.
CANYON CLOWN Continuing our tour of the east side of Mount Diablo State Park, we hear tales of William Ryder "Doc" Powell, a circus clown/mercury miner who hoped to hit it rich in these hills. From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.
READING THE ROCKS Crossing Perkins Creek, we see a colorful combination of rocks—green serpentine, red chert, and gray dacite—that offer clues to the mountain's tumultuous past. From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.
Mount Diablo is not a volcano, but has volcanic "domes." Geologist Jean Hetherington helps us see those mushroom-shaped hills as clues to our landscape's dynamic history. From a tour of Perkins Canyon presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.
NORTH PEAK Learn about the lofty backdrop to this quiet entrance to Mount Diablo State Park: 3,557-foot North Peak. You can scramble up the peak from here—with difficulty!—or just gaze in admiration. Presented by Save Mount Diablo. Featuring Seth Adams, Jean Hetherington, and Ken Lavin. Music by Phil Heywood. Photographs by Scott Hein and others. Production by Joan Hamilton.
Experience the first signs of spring at Perkins Canyon, on the quiet eastern side of Mount Diablo State Park.
Biologist Malcolm Sproul explains how rare amphibians like the TIGER SALAMANDER and the RED-LEGGED FROG can survive on the dry east side of the Diablo Range.
EUROPEAN SETTLERS Rough and tough Basque settlers came here to raise cattle and sheep in the 1850s, but soon moved on to Nevada. A few decades later, more family-oriented immigrants from France and the Portuguese Azores raised sheep here, too. From a series featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Walker. Music by Phil Heywood. Pr...
ORDWAY BARN The valley in this part of Los Vaqueros is not only rich in plants and animals; it contains reminders of the humans who once lived here, including (going backwards in history) a rich, brash"cowgirl" from San Francisco named Edith Ordway, the three Mexican cowboys for whom the watershed is named, and many, many generations of Indigenous people.
GRASSLAND Seth Adams and Malcolm Sproul suggest what to look for in Los Vaqueros Watershed's sprawling grasslands. Golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, Say's phoebes, grasshopper sparrows, ferruginous hawks—it's got them all. From a series featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Walker. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamil...
OAKS Valley, coast, and blue—learn all about them! And discover what sort of oak was most beloved by wildlife expert Gary Bogue. From a series featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Walker. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton, Audible Mount Diablo.
WILDLIFE We've lost a lot. The region no longer hosts what was possibly the densest population of grizzlies in North America. But places like Los Vaqueros are still big and well-connected enough to host a rich array of wildlife, including eagles, pelicans, and osprey. From a series featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Walker. ...
BEFORE THE DAM A new story of the region's history emerged when archaeologists found human artifacts that were almost 10,000 years old. Featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Walker. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton, Audible Mount Diablo.
Tired of hiking the same old places? Head out to the rugged hills and glorious views of Los Vaqueros Watershed—where the Central Valley, the Delta, and the Coast Range come together. It's a reservoir of plants, animals, and history (as well as a source of water for Contra Costa County). Featuring Seth Adams, Mike Moran, Marguerite Patil, Adrian Praetzellis, Malcolm Sproul. Sponsored by Save Mount Diablo, Thomas J. Long Foundation, and Contra Costa Water District. Photos by Scott Hein and Bob Wal...
TESLA PARK A new law protecting a wildlife corridor near Livermore represents a BIG WIN for wildlife and climate. Presented by Save Mount Diablo. Photos by Al Johnson, Scott Hein, Joseph Belli, and Connolly Ranch. Music by Phil Heywood. Production by Joan Hamilton. Special thanks to Connolly Ranch and Rodrigue Molyneaux Estate Vineyard and Winery.
The BEACON on top of Mount Diablo began in the 1920s as part of a system of "lighthouses for aircraft." Charles Lindbergh was involved in turning them on for the first time. Diablo's beacon was turned off during World War II, and rendered obsolete by radar. But it was later re-ignited by Pacific Fleet Commander Chester Nimitz for ceremonial purposes and still burns brightly every year on December 7. This episode is part of a series featuring Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano...
Our centennial celebration continues, with the story of one of Mount Diablo's most eminent advocates. After earning a Ph.D. in botany at UC Berkeley in 1936, MARY BOWERMAN wrote the The Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo, a book that's still the bible for East Bay botanists. Decades later, she co-founded an organization called Save Mount Diablo. The rest is conservation history! This 8-part series features Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison...
In the late 1700s, when the Spanish came north along the coast of California, they brought food with them in the shape of CATTLE. That was the beginning of a slow, but revolutionary change in the mountain’s ecology. This is EPISODE 2 in an 8-part series featuring Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison. We'll air one episode each Thursday, leading up to a grand gathering (details to come!) on October 16. Join us on this inspiring journey back ...
Hey, it's Mount Diablo State Park's 100th birthday! To celebrate, we've put together a series of eight videos about the mountain's natural heritage and human history, featuring Ken Lavin, Seth Adams, Robert Doyle, Michael Marchiano, Vincent Medina, and Cameron Morrison. We'll air one episode each Thursday, leading up to a grand gathering (details to come!) on October 16. Join us on this inspiring journey through the lands that sustain us close to home. Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Asso...
