Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite, 4000 K Cal,7.5 Miles, 7Hr, Elevation 2,640 ft from Trail head base, Base Elevation 4000 FT

It was time for our annual hike in Yosemite. We reached the park @8am. The weather forecast indicated pleasant temperatures around upper 60's but ended up being much higher than that. I have read about this hike on several sites. One thing that is commonly mentioned on every site is that it is a very difficult and strenuous hike and one that would increase one's heart rate to its peak. I was not worried about all this until I watched the YouTube video of the last few steps that takes you down to the observation deck.To tell the truth, I was very stressed about it and hoped that we wouldn't do those last few steps.We started the hike with lot of enthusiasm which evaporated with in the first quarter mile of hike. It's a constant climb over granite rocks, pebbles and gravel rocks through innumerable switchbacks and in the first mile we gained over 1000 ft elevation. Columbia Rock at around 5000 ft gave us our first views of the falls. We had glorious views of Half Dome, the valley and the falls itself. It was at it's peak and the spray allowed us to cool down a little. The next part of the hike was the most stressful, exposing us to direct sunlight that seemed to be amplified by the granite walls surrounding us. We had to watch every step we took to prevent twisting our ankle or worse. We started to feel dehydrated and had to take frequent stops. We took a snack break at around 12 noon. We slowly climbed our way to the top but celebrations were premature. We had to climb down to the observation deck on steep narrow steps, clinging on to rails one side with a sheer drop on the other side. The wind generated by the tremendous force of the falling water added to the danger. But we finally made it. We spent around 15 min there and then went back up and had our lunch and relaxed for an our. We then hiked down another half a mile to a wooden bridge that crossed over to the other side of the river.  We  finally started on our way back, making frequent stops to pour cold mountain water on our heads & face to cool us down. Two of the team members took a spur trail at Columbia Rock to the Oh My Gosh! point from where they saw all the three sections of the fall - upper, middle and lower section. The final set of switchbacks was very frustrating, especially since the mosquitoes would not allow us to sit for even a minute. We reach the valley floor at 4:30 pm and rewarded ourselves with  an ice cream. While the sense of satisfaction on completing the hike was great, I doubt I would want to repeat it again!


Route: Upper Yosemite Falls Trail
Time: 7 hr 
Difficulty: 8.5/10
Total Elevation:6,640Ft

At the start of Trail. Soon the smiles
vanish away

At Columbia rock, beautiful views

Yosemite Valley from top

Everyone at their own pace

At the observation deck

Narrow steps to observation deck

At the summit after taking lunch,
resting for few min.
 Feels so good even on the rock

top of Yosemite falls

On our way down.We had to watch every step

From OMG point beautiful view of Falls

On our return home deer greeted us

Last year fire that damaged 2057 Acres
 in Yosemite park

View of Upper Yosemite Falls

Dreadful climb

Sunol-Camp Ohlone Road,McCorkle Trail, 6.1 Miles, 1150Kcal, 2hr 30 min

After yesterday's down pour until late night the chances of going to hike was very bleak. Also we returned late from the Friday party which is another reason to skip hike this week, but we finally decided to go ahead. I tried to persuade few new members to join us for this week's hike. We reached the park by 7.30 A.M. but unfortunately park gates opened only at 8:00 A.M. It was a bit chilly and very cloudy. We were expecting to hike on wet muddy trails but it wasn't bad at all. Actually this trail is ideal during rainy season as you can see Little Yosemite falls and few creeks next to trail. It was very scenic all around. Some sections of the trail was covered with  Poppy flowers. Throughout the hike we didn't  get a glimpse of the sun. Kudos to new member on burning 1150 Kcal who deserves a 3 course lunch :)

Route: McCorkle Trail, Camp Ohlone Rd
Time: 2.30 hr 
Difficulty: 5.5/10

Clouds at very low level

Young hiker at W tree

One of the climb

2nd climb

On our descent

Las Trampas Regional Park, Chamise, Trail, Sulphur Springs Trail, Del Amigo Trail and back, 5.16 Miles, 1478 Kcal

It was windy and cold when we started the climb up. Mahogany trail took us down into a ravine and back up and was pretty slippery in stretches. But wildflowers were in full bloom and the views were great. We lost our way a little due to poor trail markings on the route, but finally blundered our way into the right trail. The trail took us through numerous uphill and downhill stretches and slowed our progress a lot. It is always a pleasure to hike in Las Trampas when the hills are green and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Count down starts 2 weeks away from Yosemite hike... We did miss the company of one enthusiastic hiker who traveled to India.

Route: Mahogany trail
Time: 3 hr 
Difficulty: 7/10

Mahogany Trail

 Wildflowers in bloom with Mt. Diablo in the background

Committee meeting to discuss the route

Meadow with wildflowers

Black Mountain Trail, Los Altos, CA, 11 Miles, 2,850 ft, 2,296 KCal, 5 hrs

This was a much awaited hike we wanted to do for a few weeks. But we kept postponing due to rains and other obstacles.  With few weeks away from Yosemite hike we wanted to finish this preparatory hike. Finally the day has come. We were very thrilled as we had new members, our friends, join us for the hike. Reading through the blogs of previous hikers, we were all a bit skeptical whether we could do this hike or not. The first one mile had a very steep gradient and  was pretty strenuous. The next three miles were pretty tame, with beautiful views of the the bay and peninsula. Wildflowers had already started to appear and the fern garden was along the way was very pretty. But soon we came to the last one and half miles of the hike, which were grueling and we made it to the summit exhausted. But the views at the summit were worth it and we relaxed and took a few snaps. The descent was pretty rapid and we rewarded ourselves with a good lunch afterwards.

Route: Black Mountain Trail
Time: 5 hr 
Difficulty: 7.5/10

Pleasanton Ridge Trail, 5 miles, 878 Kcal, 1hr 45min

After 2-3 weeks of no hiking due to recent rains and other tasks we were all eagerly waiting to rejoin and get back on track. At this point the goal to cross last years target is becoming bleak week by week. We still want to do Mt Diablo & Yosemite this year in next  2 months. But the trail hikes were not going too well :(.
It was too foggy when we started the hike. We could barely see the surrounding mountains & highway next to the trail.


Route: Pleasanton Ridge
Time: 1hr 45 min
Difficulty: 5/10

Beautiful foggy day

First signs of spring

             

Downhill so ladies ahead