CONNOLLY RANCH We came to this 9,000-acre ranch to report on the effects of the 400,000-acre SCU Lightning Complex Fire. But as we toured the blackened hillsides, an even more dramatic story emerged: about the remarkable family that's been tending and defending this land for five generations.

Presented by Save Mount Diablo, 2021.

Featuring Mark Connolly, Celeste Garamendi, Ted Clement. Photos by Scott Hein, Connolly Ranch. Video: Connolly Ranch, Cooper Ogden. Music: Phil Heywood. Narration, Production: Joan Hamilton. Maps: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Sahoko Yui. Special thanks to Bay Nature Institute, Connolly Ranch, Friends of Tesla Park, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

We're re-publishing this episode of our "Plants of Twin Peaks" series in honor of Frank Valle-Riestra, who passed away in April at age 95. Frank loved Mount Diablo State Park and helped found the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association. In this 2013 recording, he discusses Eagle Peak, Aeolian harps, and the charm of chaparral.

Presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

Learn about two MOUNT DIABLO PINES—and the men who studied them by shooting down their cones with rifles. It's the last installment of our guide to MITCHELL CANYON, presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.

THE GREAT FIRE OF 1977 After the flames died down, people took up a collection to replant the blackened slopes with Monterey pines. Only one problem: Monterey pines don't grow on Mount Diablo! Learn about the fight that ensued, in the 12th segment of our guide to Mitchell Canyon, presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.

TWO TREES AND AN INSECT

Quiz time: 1. Can you name a common California tree that has a huge, poisonous seed that looks like a deer's eye? 2. How about a tree that contains a painkilling chemical and attracts North America's longest-lived butterfly? The answers lie in the 11th installment of our MITCHELL CANYON guide, presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.

PRIZED PLANTS It's time to search for a nodding yellow MOUNT DIABLO FAIRY LANTERN, as well as the wavy-leaved SOAP PLANT, with so many uses it's called "the grocery store plant." It's the next segment in our MITCHELL CANYON guide, presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.

SCENTED SHRUBS Ah the smells of spring! Learn to enjoy them in shrubs like PITCHER SAGE and CALIFORNIA SAGEBRUSH. It's part of our MITCHELL CANYON guide, presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.

WHEN GRIZZLIES RULED Amid today's cool breezes, think about the harsh winter of 1826–27, when a mountain man named JEDEDIAH SMITH stopped off at Mount Diablo's Mitchell Canyon.

This MITCHELL CANYON guide is presented by Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

MINING In the 1860s, men who had been "bit by the mining tarantula" searched for copper on the north side of MOUNT DIABLO. Learn what they took and what they left behind in this installment of our MITCHELL CANYON guide, presented by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, in partnership with Save Mount Diablo.

Meet a COAST LIVE OAK that sprouted around the time the U.S. constitution was signed in 1787. Then learn about the park's kissing MISTLETOE and nuisance TURKEYS.

It's the latest installment of the MITCHELL CANYON tour, presented by the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association in partnership with Save Mount Diablo. First published in 2012, revised in 2017. Music from Banks of the River by Phil Heywood. Photos by Scott Hein (and others mentioned in closing credits) Narration and production by Joan Hamilton.