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!

A fantastic hike at Coyote Hill Regional park

This morning we started early and drove to Fremont to hike in the Coyote Hills regional park. This was a last minute decision, late last night. Was happy to go on a new hike. The day and location did not disappoint.

We saw turkeys, ducks, geese, a lot of different small birds, deer, rabbits.. there were also a ton of mosquitos, gnats, butterflies, caterpillars, and other insects that we did not know that made the hike interesting.

The scenery was great. We parked on the other side of the street from the entrance and walked. We did not have a day permit and the booth wasn’t open that early. It was flat terrain for the most part and then the ladies declared that a hike has a two hill minimum! we ended up through 4 or 5 before coming back.

Loved this hike! The pollen and. insects did make it challenging. Next time hat with nets, Deet and this will be even better. Going to grab the SLR with the zoom as well. The birds were colorful but the iPhone could only do so much.

Here are the pictures.. starting with “Mr. Dilwale and Ms. Dulhania”

More pics in portrait format..

A video highlights reel.

Definitely recommend this place for an early morning half day hike. Just beautiful!

A sunset to remember

We hiked Mission peak yesterday. We don’t have a count anymore for how many times we go to Mission peak or to PG&E and black mountain these days.

The hike was to start at 7AM but because outside temperatures dropped to almost freezing, it was postponed to 1:30PM start.

Given I did not get the memo from wife early enough, had done back to back hot yoga double on Friday evening to make up for missing Saturday.. When I found out the hike was in the afternoon, went back to yoga at 8AM in the morning.. why waste the opportunity?

After 3 classes in 18 hours, was still hydrating (do a decent job of it) when we did the hike. Took an extra 20 minutes given it was still very cold and windy but managed to do the usual “one step at a time” routine when things got tough. There was a huge crowd at the top and we did not wait to get pictures at the pole but as we came down, nature put on quite a show for us. The sunset and colors were just gorgeous!

Photos here..

A video highlight..

Came back with really tired legs, but all good now. Have done yoga again this morning and that helped.

Most Mission peaks are the usual affair.. this one was made special thanks to the sunset!