Feb 23rd, Mt. Diablo State Park, Elevation 1760 Ft, 7.16 Miles, 2.32 Hrs, 1137 Kcal

This year our target is to hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo.  As part of that goal, we decided to tackle a moderate hike on Mt. Diablo. The drive to Mt. Diablo is very scenic. With the rains over the last few days, the hills had turned full lush green all around making it extremely beautiful. There were a few areas along the trail that were still wet and slushy to walk. For most part of our hike we didn't see a single hiker and nor any animals as we usually come across in other hikes. Although, we were compensated on the way back by a bald eagle and a baby green snake. We had decided that whenever we hike more than 7 miles, we would treat ourselves with a grand lunch & we kept our promise :). 4-5 weeks from now our goal is to reach the summit of Mt. Diablo. Stay tuned..

South Gate Rd- Curry point- Curry Canyon Trail- Frog Pond Trail and the same way back.
Difficulty: 6/10

A small  pond along the way

Long shot view of the summit

scenic view from one point

Valley view

 

on our way back

this creek had cut through the trail

Feb 16th, Del Valle Regional Park, Elevation 2050 Ft, 4.11 Miles, 1.40Hrs, 745Kcal,

It was a perfect day for a good hike and we didn't want to miss the opportunity. Some of my team members had prior commitments and early morning mishaps. In spite of that, we gathered after the dance class and drove to Del Valle Regional Park. The drive was beautiful with vineyards on either side of the road.  There were already several folks with their fishing rods around the lake. Even though distance wise it was not much there were some steep climbs that we had to do which exhausted us due to lack of any breeze and some of the highest temperatures we have seen this winter.

Del Valle Marina - Squirrel Gulch Trail  - Ridgeview Trail  - Eagle Crest Trail - Hetch Hetchey Trail - Del Valle Marina

Difficulty: 6/10

Lake view from above

Wild purple flowers

Trying to practice just learnt dance step

One of the steep climb.

Feb 10th, Mount Tamalpais State Park, total elevation 4,400Ft, 7.6Miles, 3Hr 27Min, 1400Kcal

What a Team!!! We started on our drive to Mount Tamalpais right after we finished our dance class. It was  our long held desire to hike the Stinson beach trails as we have heard from our wing leader that it's one of the most beautiful hikes. Some of us were sick for the past few days, still our persistence to do this on Sunday should definitely be applauded. This hike was a pretty strenuous as we did around 4.5 miles downhill first and then 3 mile uphill. The uphill was even more beautiful with the pleasant background music of waterfalls through out the redwood forest. There is no doubt that this trail used pretty much every muscle of our body.
While coming back we stopped at Viks at Berkeley and had a late lunch. After this hike should we still consider ourselves amateurs or pro's? I leave the decision to the readers!!

View from Dipsea Trail. Start of uphill hike

                                                     

This ladder is designed different.The steps are just 3 in wide. 

Several places we had to watch our head

Matt Davis trail scenic view

           









Pantoll Ranger station - Matt Davis trail (4.5mi) - Stinson beach - Dipsea trail - Steep Ravine trail (3.0mi) loop
Difficulty level: 7/10