Pinnacles National Park

Last time we visited the Pinnacles National monument turned National park, was in 2013 and it was in May. We promised that if we ever return, it will be in cooler time of the year! 

Our hiking group has been planning this for a long time and given my new penchant for singing, the trip was interesting for me. I was in a live singing class (more on that later) from 4:30-6 AM and we left Cupertino at 6:30AM and came back at 4PM. The place is almost an hour and 45 minutes away. We climbed 2200 feet and walked for 3 hours with almost an hour for photo breaks and lunch! 

It was beautiful.. clear skies, cool weather and just before it got really hot we were on the way down. 

As a bonus, we got to see three California condors, one at close range.. wish I had lugged my camera bag to capture close ups of the Condor.. these days I am just going with the iPhone.. the conversation and the laughs on the hike are the star attractions as are the views from the top..

Got some artistic shots, thanks to a crappy work phone which has some lens defect!! Still, the laughs were the highlight!

We did get to see the sun rise through the fog as we drove to Pinnacles.. it was amazing.. it was like we were driving into a fire!

the rock formations here are amazing! 

beautiful views from the top..

and we kept going..

we saw three of the condors.. one came within 200 feet and sat on this tree.. Thinking of going to a personal iPhone 13 and have separation of work and home numbers.. if you use your phone for more than work, it makes sense to have one with a better camera!

The condors are amazing to watch in close range! Majestic birds! The way they take off effortlessly and cover distances is a treat to watch!

we were debating the logic of using pinnacles in plural.. maybe it is pinnacles because the top has four or five little humps?! that is still being debated within the group!

giving the finger to everyone in the park... this rock sticks out!

One thing that is not obvious on the zoomed out nature shots is that when you walk on the trail, every rock is very colorful.. it is like walking through fall colors on rocks.. 

The "we were here!" photo..

My cap was wet.. had to make a bandana out of my handkerchief to avoid sweat from going to my eyes! It was reasonably strenous at places because we were stop and go.. to make up for photo break times, we had to walk faster.

Once we get to the scout lookout, it is all downhill from there..

walked past more scenic points..

and to the reservoir trail.. we saw what was possibly the largest natural ganesha in rock on the way down.. pullaiyaar rock rocks!!

the place is popular for mountain climbing.. we watched folks climb.. you can see one in the right on the top in this photo..

after a brief break at the reservoir, we continued down through the bat caves.. 

it was nice and cool in the caves! no bats, but saw nicely camouflaged lizards.

We came out, had a nice lunch at a picnic table and drove back. It was a day well spent! 

A few panoramic views..

and a video of the trip..

Strongly recommend this park for a day trip in fall. If you start early enough, you can have a fun time and be back down by lunch time! Kids can make it too if you go at a steady pace!

Loved it!

Back on trail

It has been almost two months since I hiked.. It was good to get back on the trails with a short hike to Villa Montalvo.. I have never been to this one but the group I hike with has done this many times. 

Apparently the draw is to watch all the big mansions on the way to the trails. So we parked in downtown Saratoga and walked an extra mile watching all the mansions. Interesting to know that there is a place like this right in our area. 

People say Cupertino homes are large. Ours looks like a small Kudisai compared to any house on this hike. 

we did get a great view from the top. The whole thing was 90 minutes in 5 miles and a steady climb. 

But like I said, good to be back on a trail!

Hope to get back into the weekend morning hiking routine, now that I am back!

Bear creek trail

It has been a gruelling weekend and I am exhausted. Sometimes, I write to get things off my chest. Writing about recent events while they are fresh in memory, seems to be a way of letting it get out of my head and on to the screen and gives me a feeling of having transferred the event out of working memory! It is cathartic in its own way.

The easy post first.. our hike this morning to Bear Creek and Madrone Knoll.  Our friends have done this (as has San) multiple times apparently on days I skipped in the past. So today was my day to visit this trail. It was a steady gradient and I did stop a few times to catch my breath. Took us 3 hours and we did almost 8 miles with a few stops for me to catch up. It also started raining when we went to the top. Most of the places, the rain was up in the canopy, but there were a few spots where we got to walk in rain. 

It was beautiful, even though there were no lakes or active creeks in this trail. The weather was pleasant after it started raining, but I was already sweating profusely prior to that and it made for a tropical feeling!

The trees in the trail are amazing. Some of the tallest redwoods we have seen in local parks.

We did not take selfies.. San was mostly ahead of me. Had got 3 hours sleep last night and not much the night before. Was going to back out of the hike this morning, but decided to sleep walk through the first part of the hike and that is pretty much what I did!

A quick clip to capture the essense of this trail today!

Now that I have started typing, can write the rest of the posts..

Skyline ridge trail on a smoky day

Now that San is back to her usual self, hiking program has restarted. This morning the group went to Skyline ridge and went throught the Ipiwa trail after walking along the horseshoe trail. We went to Russian ridge from Skyline ridge and were about to go to the view point, but turned back as the smoke from the north east got to the hills we were walking on. At one point the air quality was making it difficult for us to breathe and we turned back after going half mile from the Russian ridge trail starting point. 

It was still a good 2 1/2 hours of hiking and we had fun chatting all the way..

Here are some pictures, starting with the usual selfies with my girl! 

That is not fog. It is smoke from local fires setting down. Air quality was an issue today!

The best part of this trail was not the lake. It was the view point from the trail where the hillsides were almost 8 different colors with the different plants..

Thank you Gene Sheehan for making this trail! Absolutely gorgeous!

The entire hill side was colorful on both sides of the trail. A great picture spot!

"Suvaru irundhaa dhan chittiram ezhudha mudiyum" is a Tamizh saying which means "without a canvas there is no painting". My neighbor took this shot and she composed it perfectly. All I had to do was crop it and brighten the foreground! 

Almost bald is an inbetween look. I am just waiting for the few hairs to drop off naturally. It is not very far away.

We will probably go to this place from a different parking lot and go through Russian Ridge. We have hit one trail after another on this path over the last year.. Quarry creek, Sanborn, Saratoga Gap, Castle rock, Long Ridge, Skyline Ridge, Russian Ridge.. just a few more left to cover in this area.

The group is trying to get me ready to go to Black Mountain which is a 14 mile hike. Let us see if I can get back to hiking more and make it on that hike!

Back with a small pop?

No big BANG! 

Wife's ankle is slowly healing and we went on the inaugural walk with friends. It was not exactly a hike by old standards. It was the Zinfandel trail at the local Pichetti winery. Maybe this trail is called Zinfandel because it is the wine people are given who are trying wine for the first time... "almost grape juice" type stuff? That was what was going through my mind while we walked the trail.

It is 4 miles up and down and only steep for a 5-10 minute stretch. We went early in the morning and were down by morning tea time!

We got a decent view and came back without any further event. Uneventful hikes are good for starters!

We are back.. that is all that matters!