Sometimes you have to wait..

I have lived in the bay area for decades and there are a lot of firsts in the last few months, thanks to a small virus that has turned our lives..

Went up to Mission Peak in Fremont for the first time a few weeks ago. This morning got to go up to Mount Umunhum for the first time. Have heard a lot about this peak and the views from so many of my friends, and finally my wife pushed me join her walking buddies.

It took close to an hour for us to get to this parking lot which was already at 2300 feet elevation and from there we hiked 9 miles to go up the summit, walk around and come back. 

It was extremely foggy and windy when we went up and there was no visibility when we were up there, but it was nice talking to friends and walking. 

The fog started clearing as we were on our way back. 

Two of us slow walkers were engrossed in our discussion of south Indian classical music that we missed a turn and ended up walking an extra kilometer till we realized we were on a different path. We were sure the rest of the group would be mad at us for being late but looks like they forgave us. 

There were amazing views on the way back down.. (especially on that wrong path where the two of us got lost!)

Stongly recommend it. The slope was not as steep as the final stretch of misison peak, but this one is also unrelenting.. you are constantly walking up a slope without much flat terrain to catch a break. Very doable in foggy weather!

There is a Tamil saying "poovodu serndhu naarum manakkum".. "the string with which you tie the flowers into a garland, also gets to smell good because of its closeness".. 

My wife has become an avid hiker and thanks to her push and encouragement I am also seeing a few places that would have otherwise stayed on the "one day I will also go there" list..