July 27th, 2013, Morgan Territory Regional Preserve Hike, Old Finley Road Loop, 6.9 Miles, 1200 K Cal, 2 Hr 38 minutes, 1657 ft

Who knew there was such a picturesque hike right in our backyard?!
This park, less than 10 min away, is a typical East Bay type with lots of brown hills broken by groves of oak, bay and chaparral. The loop was not exhausting but definitely had its steep moments. The best part of the loop was the amphitheater trail with its nearly 360 views of  East Bay hills. The bonus was getting to view Mt. Diablo from a completely different side.  The start of the trail was through a number of horse ranches and the horses ambled over to look at us inquisitively. We were able to attract  a very enthusiastic new member to join us (or more accurately, lead us!) on the hike! This park has a number of other more challenging trails that we definitely need to explore another time.

Old Finley Road - Sulphur Springs Trail - Black Hills Trail - Amphitheater Trail - Old Finley Road
Difficulty:05/10
Total Hike Time:2.38 hr

I like the downward slopes

Our new member much ahead of us &
cheering us to hike fast :)

View from Amphitheater trail

The horse skin glowing as if it got spa treatment
and we are sweating :)

Some of us decided to go extra 0.6 miles.
A deep decision moment

July 13th, Purisima Creek Hike, 1230 KCal, 7.03 Miles, Altitude 1542Ft, Time 3Hr

Finally, after couple of weeks of break , we all very much wanted to do a different hike, something we hadn't done before. All of us especially the ladies were tired of doing the same hikes multiple times. This has put pressure on our leader to look for a different location. We decided to go to Purisima Creek Redwood Hike near Half Moon Bay. It's around 50 miles from San Ramon, approx 1hr drive. Part of the drive was very scenic and since we started very early there was absolutely no traffic so we cruised through. We covered 4 Trails 7.03 miles and most of it shaded with tall redwood trees. There weren't that many people we came across in our hike but there were far too many Banana Slugs on the trails. The initial climb was a bit hard as usual but everyone appreciated the scenic beauty of the place.

Duration: 3hr
Difficulty: 5.5/10

Banana Slug

Early morning sun rays

The Trio

A big spider web, sun rays falling
on it making it shine

We were standing on a tree that  had fallen
and  connected to other side of the Trail.
Appx 15 ft above ground.

Tall redwood tress

June 22nd Las Trampas Park, Elderberry trail-Devils Hole-Sycamore trail-Cuesta trail loop, 1200Ft elevation, 1200 Kcal, 4 Miles

It's almost a month that we skipped hiking due to high temperatures and other activities. Also other reason is the mountains are no longer green & all dried up.I am glad that I guess we made the best out of the past few months when it was very scenic. Anyway it's time to keep aside all reasons for not hiking and start it again. Originally, the plan was to do a 6 mile hike but I was burnt out and constantly nagging to finish with 4 mile loop. I realized with in no time how one can get out of shape and lack of energy. It was a hot and no share through out the trail. We came across very few hikers here & there. My friend and myself took short cut and rested while the others continued the longer hike. Guess what, we did during that time? We practiced swimming drills on land.

Difficulty: 04/10
Total hike time: 2.30 hr

May 11th, Yosemite Mist Trail (Vernal & Nevada falls) & John Muir Trail, 3,300 K cal, 9.25 Miles, Elevation-6,060Ft

We are all excited to do Yosemite Mist Trail & John Muir trail hike. We have been thinking of doing this since last year. We rented a beautiful vacation home at Pine Mountain Lake. Well, even though it was a one day hike, we packed plenty of food as if we are going to a desert :).   We  left on Friday around 3.30 PM and reached around 5.50 PM. We refreshed and few of us biked and others walked to lake which is 1 mile away. We came across many Deer on our way. After that we played basket ball and revisited childhood activities swinging and climbing to arcade etc..

05/12th- We started hike at 8 AM. The weather was just perfect when we set off from the Happy Isles trailhead. We quickly reached the bridge and had our first glimpse of Vernal Falls. Form thereon the trail quickly climbed and we felt the first hint of the mist from the falls on our faces. We wore our ponchos, and slowly climbed up the so wet, slippery steps to the top of Vernal Falls. The early morning sun filtering trough the mist created many beautiful rainbows.  We spent a few minutes admiring Vernal Falls from the top and then resumed our climb up to Nevada Falls. The route was pretty tricky, involving climbing over granite steps that could be barely seen. Along the way, we stopped many times to admire Nevada Falls which was in full flow. We reached the top at around 11:30 am and found ourselves a nice shady spot next to the Merced river to have a leisurely lunch. The views from the top of Nevada Falls were magnificent and awe inspiring. We then started the loop back on John Muir trail, which was pretty wet, muddy and slippery. Just after Clarks point, we found ourselves looking at a trail that had been wiped out by a rockslide the previous night. We nervously climbed over broken rocks, trees and foliage. It was pretty nerve racking, since we could still see rocks rolling down the hillside. In fact, after we had navigated through the rockslide, we came across a ranger who was on his way up to close the trail to all hikers. It was 3 pm by the time we finished the hike of 9.25 miles.  Well done Team!!

Difficulty: 07/10
Total hike time: 5.00 hr

Early morning sun rays falling on trees
with Vernal Falls in the Background

On Mist Trail,getting ready for the waterfall spray

Vernal Falls

In spite of ponchos we were fully soaked

                             

Nevada falls with Half Dome in the background

Taking one of the many snack breaks

Rainbow formation

Rock slide happened on previous day
swept  approx a mile of John Muir Trail

Fallen tress all over

Mother's day horse riding  through Chapparal forest:)

Nevada Falls from the top

May 4th, Pleasanton Ridge Trail, 4.56 Miles, 845 Kcal, 1.42 Hrs, 1344 ft

 We couldn't hike last week as we had to travel to San Diego. With our big hike approaching, we had to hike even though high temperatures were predicted. We started early at 6.30 AM and it was already getting warm. The trail was very dry & dusty and many of us had severe allergies and had tough time with the dust.
The olive trees were in full bloom. On our way down we met quite a few hikers trudging up in the heat.

Difficulty: 4/10

Apr 21st, Redwood Regional Park 4 Miles, 850 K cal, 1365 ft Altitude, 1hr 50min

It was expected to be a hot Sunday, so we decided to go to Redwood Regional Park. This was our first time and the park was not open by the time we reached. We had to wait for 15 mins to enter but it was worth it. Except for the uphill hike to the ridge, it was pretty easy.  The redwood trees were gorgeous and it was very quiet, except for a few bikers, hikers and dogs... It ended up being a pretty short hike but we intend to go back another day for a larger loop.

Canyon Meadow staging area- Orchard Trail - West Ridge Trail - Fern Trail, French Loop trail - Briddle trail
Total hike time: 1 hr 50 Min
Difficulty: 4.0/10

Redwood trees all around

 

Banana Slug

Eucalyptus trees shedding bark

beautiful when sun rays stream through the foliage

Apr 15th, Mission Peak, 6.45 miles, 3 hr, 1400 K cal, Elevation 2,507 ft

We gave rest to our feet for the past 2-3 weeks either because of weather not permitting or due to other activities that we were engaged in. You know what I am talking about :). We had hiked exactly a year back to Mission peak  from the Ohlone side, which was less steeper but distance was longer. This time we wanted to experience the hike from the shorter but much steeper Stanford Ave entrance. Well, we paid for the 2 weeks rest we took. It was a little bit difficult and there was absolutely no shade throughout the hike. This route is probably one of the most popular hikes in East Bay, so there were hundreds of hikers though out. One would never feel left out or feel as if we were going too slow. You can always find someone who is behind you taking a break or struggling to hike. Since we have the upcoming Yosemite hike, we decided not to take break for the next few weeks to prepare for it. We also have a new member in our team who did very well while the old timers were gasping for breath. Well done everyone!!

Total hike time: 3 hr
Difficulty: 7.0/10

Before the last 0.5 mile to reach peak

Time to FB check-in @summit

Crew taking rest for few minutes@summit

Greeenery all around

San Ramon cows give way to hiker but Fremont cows
don't seem to care