Yosemite Nevada & Vernal Falls Hike, 8.74 miles, 2700 kcal, 6hrs

Kudos to the team especially the first time hikers to Yosemite.. The team that never rests and keeps going.. Well Done!!!

We had originally planned to hike the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point. But unfortunately, Glacier Point road was closed due to heavy snowfall on Thurs/Fri. We therefore quickly changed plans and decided to repeat a hike we had done a couple of years back. The one major difference this time was we had a much larger group. The road to Yosemite Village from the park entrance was like a winter wonderland with both sides of the forest covered with snow. The initial part of the hike till the Vernal footbridge was pretty crowded but quickly decreased as we ascended up the steps of the wet,slippery steps of Mist Trail. Beautiful rainbows accompanied us as we ascended up through the mist generated by the falls. Even though the flow was much lesser than in 2013, it was still an impressive sight. Once we reached Emerald pool at the top of the pools, we had our first snack break of the day.

We then continued the uphill trek to the the top of Nevada falls. This part of the trail had some steep stretches and required clambering over rocks. But in contrast to 2013, the cool weather this time allowed us to ascend pretty quickly. Once at the top of the falls, we rested by Merced river and dug into the rest of our snacks. After the obligatory photo session, we started the descent via Muir trail. It was perfect afternoon weather and we took advantage of it to increase our pace and reached the valley floor in one and half hours.  It was a perfect end to an incident free hike in gorgeous late spring weather. The caption of the hike was 'Living on the edge'. Guess what, everyone signed up for next year's hike. We enjoyed the rest of the evening with drinks and plenty of food to recover the lost calories :)


Route: Yosemite Nevada & Vernal Falls Hike
Time: 6.00 hr  
Difficulty: 7/10
Total Elevation:6,000 Ft

Mission Peak 7.1 miles, 2500 ft elevation, 1340 Kcal, 3 hr 40min

Time -3 hrs 40 minutes

Difficulty - 7/10

The passionate group of hikers decided to hike Mission Peak on April 26th as it rained in the Bay Area on the 25th.

Led by our fearless hiking leader, the group met at 7am at the Mission peak base camp (Ohlone College in Fremont. Despite the fact that Starbucks in the vicinity wasn't open, the team was motivated by the green juice that one of the hikers had prepared and marched ahead. 

For some of the hikers, this was the 2nd or 3rd time hiking this trail. For a couple of us, this particular hike was the first so there was a lot of anxious moments. The first 2 miles was strennous (all uphill) had to experience some manure smells. We also saw a pumpkin size rock roll down from the hill onto the hiking trail. Luckily no injuries.

The last 1/2 to 3/4th mile was steep, rocky, narrow and required some navigation skill to avoid slips and falls.

Along the trail, we saw cows, some spectacular views of the Bay Area, Tri Valley area and at the summit (2500 ft high) a long line of hikers waiting for a chance for a pic on the flagship pole. 

We took a short break at the summit and enjoyed (some of us) the healthy green juice and felt refreshed. The downhill hike was uneventful and we made it back to the base camp and dispersed. 

Ofcourse, we stopped at Starbucks as we deserved a treat!

Morgan Territory Regional Park, 6.3 miles, 1100 cal, 2:45min, 1720ft elevation

It was pretty cold at the start, but quickly warmed up. Lovely patches of purple wildflowers along the amongst the still green hills. We tried to set a fast pace and were pretty successful at it. We had some more friends from South Bay join us and hopefully the hike was worth the drive:). Also a shot of the green juice during the hike gave good boost to our energy levels.

Route: Old Finley Road, Sulphur Springs Road, BlackHills Trail, Crestview trail, Amphitheater trail and Old Finley Road

Difficulty: 4.5/10

Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve, Panoramic Hill - Chaparral Peak - Strawberry Canyon Loop Berkeley, 7 miles, 2200 Kcal, elevation 1800ft

We heard that Berkeley has some good hiking trails. On research we found quite a few but I was mostly interested in this trail as most of them said it's very steep and of course the panoramic views pay off. Anyway we are all excited to do this big hike before Yosemite hike. The first three miles involved continuous uphill sections, some with very steep gradients. The downhill was also very steep and loose soil made it even harder to climb down. We had gorgeous views of the Golden Gate, Bay bridge, SF downtown and of course UC Berkeley from various angles all along the trail. A big thank you to Duggirala couple, especially the birthday girl, for taking care of our food needs during and after the hike. We thoroughly enjoyed the hike from all aspects of the workout, including snacks and post hike lunch, although some of us missed the acrobatic adventure of Yarla (not very smart of him to take the risk!).



Route: Panoramic Hill - Chaparral Peak - Strawberry Canyon Loop 
Time: 4.00 hr  
Difficulty: 7/10
Total Elevation:1800 Ft

Pleasanton Ridge Trail, 5.43 Miles, 2.30 hrs, 1022K cal, 1322 Ft Elevation

It was a very chilly day and we weren't very much prepared for it. Throughout, the trail was very scenic and the wild flowers in full bloom added to the beauty . It also happened to be my birthday and my friends daughter made a yummy cake for me (so lovely of her!). After we finished the hike, we cut the cake and loaded up on sugars again! It was  very special for me since I was with friends in the wild to celebrate it. Simply superb way to start the day!!


Route: Pleasanton Ridge Trail
Time: 2.30 hr  
Difficulty: 5/10
Total Elevation:1322 Ft