After visiting Maple falls and playing with some pictures, learned a new trick on the iPhone to get long exposure shots! Usually this needs my Canon 5D mark ii and the heavy tripod and a lot of post processing..
Now it is just a lot of post processing.
We went on a hike to Cataract Falls yesterday. I got exhausted from the climbing. It was the toughest trail we went on to date during COVID times.. but .. but.. it was a great experience. Will recover from that and post a blog..
In the meantime, here are some milky waterfall shots!
I tried to do a toe stand on that log and it was not a good idea. . .
This thing is going to come in handy on future waterfall trails as well as ripping ponds and lakes!
Last weekend I was given a surprisingly low estimate for an afternoon hike to a place called Dry creek.. the name was not a best seller. Was also told it was past Fremont and an hours ride away. No shade and mostly dry hills but with a nice view of the bay.
Was even given an option to bail out of this at first.. San then did what she usually does.. bat her eyelids and make a face about me being sore company and I thought, what the hell! We are going on a Sunday evening so it is not going to be hot by the time we start and we will come down watching the sunset!
It ended up being one of the best hikes in recent memory, thanks to a surprising bloom of yellow and orange flowers everywhere on the first hillside. Then we ended up crossing the place where all the local Afghanis fly kites and run a flea market of sorts from their suitcases... (we had read about it in Khalid Hosseni's book Kite Runner, but got to see it first hand!)
It didn't end there. We managed to go up all the way to the rim, catch a view of the rolling green hills, see all the way to SFO and Oakland and crossed a creek to get to a little lake that was beautiful.
The photo below is my attempt at some artistry, trying to catch a shadow of the four of us walking on the rim of a hill that was cast all the way on the other hill..
Then we walk down watching the sunset, while taking pictures!
Only downside was that the sun was on our face the entire time and my face became a bright orange the next day.. and as luck would have it, made it into the hot room the next day and flushed myself inside out with sweat. The Aloe Vera lotion was no longer required!
a shot of our friends as they came up the hill..
Green never looked this good..the sunset made everything so vibrant!
This was taken at a place called Gossip rock..
kept clicking every 5 minutes as we raced down.. we wanted to get at least close to the parking lot before it got dark. Sunset was 7:30! We had to make it down by 8. Used iPhone flashlights to practically run down the last mile and a half.
and my favorite shot for the evening..
Even for March this was not easy in the heat. We hiked form 5-8 in the evening and were way more tired than any of the previous hikes. So definitely wouldn't go again during the day unless it is in winter and on a cloudy day. The area is pretty barren. So no chance for shade anywhere! We didn't see any kids on the trail either. It was a pretty steep climb that reminded us of the climb to Mission peak.
Breathtaking views of the bay at sunset. On a cloudy day, it would be even more spectacular.
We keep finding these interesting places within an hour from our place, after living here for more than 2 decades! It took a pandemic for us to explore home!
Another weekend and another local hike. This is the first time I am going through this trail in Sanborn in Saratoga (San has visited it many times before).
It was a good day to hike. We did the 8.4 mile hike in 2 1/2 hours and still had enough stops for pictures and selfies!
Good thing was the vistas every 30 minutes or so!
There must have been some dust on the iPhone camera.. got these weird rays in most pictures that made them interesting!
as long as I keep walking, San keeps smiling! Should really make sure my knees, ankles and hips are in shape for as long as possible!
Loved the morning hike! We have slowly but steadily covered a lot of the trails in the Saratoga-Los Gatos area. More to come..
