From afar, Mount Diablo stares you right in the face.That’s looking westward from practically any point in the Central Valley.Actually, Mount Diablo is located in Contra Costa County just south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. At 3,864 feet, its double-pyramid shape stands alone and worth a day hike just to get a different perspective from up close.At least that was my reasoning a few years ago when I finally came face-to-face sort of speak with Mount Diablo during a group hike.It was this time of year – California poppy was aplenty, as I recall – as the weather later warmed up that day. Unfortunately, the trails in Mount Diablo offer very little shade.My goal was to make it to the summit, where a native stone building serves as an observation deck with a tower housing an aircraft beacon equipped with high-powered binoculars that allows you to see the 209 from the reverse angle.The other part of this structure is used as a historical and cultural museum.Our group took the Mitchell Canyon-Eagle Peak trail – one of four such hikes for Mount Diablo – that’s a creek-to-peak 7.8-mile loop consisting of fire roads to the Murchio Gap.