Cherry blossom dream come true at Mt. Fuji shrine

The previous post in this series is here..

Our second stop in the Mt. Fuji area was to climb up a bill to the Arakurayama shrine and see views of the valley and Mt. Fuji from this hill top shrine.

We were told that it was a pretty hard hike. My friends son was not feeling well that morning and he braved it to this point but needed rest. So four of us went up. We promised to do our best to go as fast as we could and come back. There was a short drive from Lake Kawaguchiko to a parking lot for this shrine. We crossed a road and were faced with a bunch of steps that keep coming.

The beauty was that there were cherry blossoms everywhere at this high altitude. We thought Kyoto was our last interaction. This was mind boggling. We enjoyed the hike to the top, got to soak in some amazing views and came back down.

Here are the photos..

and a video highlight reel..

Every stop on this day was one upping the previous stop.. that in the next post..

Bear Creek (கரடி சிற்றோடை) trail hike

There are no bears .. or creeks for that matter at Bear Creek trail. There are no view points that go as far as the eye can see either. Giant redwoods everywhere, the sunlight filtering through those trees, moss, ferns and lichens, paths that curve around to add to the mystique, a final loop that has the clouds condensing and making rain on one half of the loop and you walk into nice and bright sunshine on the other half !

A lavender meadow being created by the park authorities on the knoll high up.

We spent this morning doing an 8 mile+ hike in this beautiful place. It is our second visit.

As usual, we did have chai and biscuits after starting our way back.

Here are the photos..

and a video highlights reel..

A morning well spent!

Dragon Mountain hike

In what seems to be an eternity ago (in reality exactly two weeks), a bunch of us hiked Dragon Mountain aka Thien Long Song in Milpitas. We never knew about this place till some recent facebook posts. It is not a tough hike or a long hike, but an amazing hike. All said and done we walked or hiked 2+ miles from a parking lot at the base of the hill instead of driving up all the way.

It was peak allergy season and I had a 102 fever the previous day and had actually come home from work early to lie down after taking Tylenol. I was sold on “prayer” on a mountain. When we got to the base and started walking (mask on) I was not exactly sure what the prayer was for.. my cold to pass or for me to pass on to the next world with the Buddha.

The sunset did not disappoint though. After huffing and puffing through the mask, somehow I felt better on the way back. It was either that or the maggi noodles I made to cheer myself up after reaching home. Maybe it was my wife and her happy smiling face. Either way, a win-win.

Here are the pictures. San was very happy that I did not protest too much and went with the flow.

More photos..

A very short video highlights reel

Definitely recommend this place for a sunset view.. It is not that far away. So if you expect a lot of clouds and a glorious sunset, drive up and start hiking..