A fall at a waterfall : Mt. Diablo

Last weekend saw us resume hiking on a serious note.. not the jujube local hikes but a solid long hike in Mt. Diablo to see the waterfalls.  We had already hiked to the top as part of covering the bay area hiking grandslam three years ago and this time we wanted to cover the waterfalls. 

It was all great till I decided to go to the center of the creek to get pictures of the falls.. and fell into the creek. My head missed hitting the rocks, thanks to the backpack. I am very lucky to be writing this post now. Did bruise my elbows and palms badly and there were a few blood clots that showed up within a few minutes. 

San and my friends cheered me up, told me all is well and thanks to adrenalin and waterproof shoes, made it through the rest of the hike. We did slow down a lot because of my fall but made it back in one piece.

Always, always go easy when trying to go over slippery rocks!  There was a discussion on how I am not the same young guy anymore who can deftly go over rocks like a mountain goat, and how I should be more careful etc.. Will be more careful, but hopefully will stay carefree. 

We did get great pictures.. and as San says, even some cheesy ones. 

There is a visitor center where the trail head starts. There is a 6$ parking fee. If you have the app, you can pay from your phone.

We started on the Mitchell canyon road trail head and decided to go counter clockwise to do the hard part of the hike first. 

This was the place where I fell into the creek.. 

After recovering, had to take a picture on the creek side.. 

There are a lot of small and large waterfalls on this trail. They were all beautiful

we covereted Bruce Lee road, Back creek Trail, Meridian point, Donner Trail and Muricho Road as part of the hike.

The sun made the falls light up!

We got to sit and have tea on a rock with a view of the falls.. 

The ladies did some dancing here (which I thought was as risky as me clambering on top of rocks to get a photo).. sadly there is no permission for that masterpiece to be shared in this blog!

the long expsoure mode in iPhone comes in handy, given I did not take the SLR with me on this trip. Usually I do when waterfalls are involved.. given I was taking 2 1/2 liters of water and change of clothes, decided to keep SLR at home. The change of clothes was there in case I sweat too much.. luckily it helped after falling into the creek! In case you are wondering "I don't see different clothes?"... I switched one Bikram Yoga shirt for another.. when your wardrobe is full of the same T-shirt.. changes will not be obvious!

we were talking about seeing god in nature and we saw this "black dog" on the mountain side

Zooming in, saw it was a shadow of a rock outcrop that looks just like a god.. sorry.. dog!

Guess it takes ~ 25 years of marriage before the wife decides some PDA is okay. This seems to be a trend among desi women I see in bay area.. either they turn 50 or have a 25th anniversary party and suddenly they decide enough is enough and start wearing tank tops for their jogs and bikinis to the beach and even start holding hands with their husbands in public! If the stats are any indication of what is to come.. I need to mentally prepare myself. You cannot suddenly ask a domesticated dog to go run wild in the forest.. 

This photo was Photoshopped with two versions of the same photo.. one with Long exposure for the falls and one regular to capture us..

all said and done I am a happy camper..

talking of seeing god everywhere.. there was a "govindaa goooovindaa" moment..

Pay before you start hiking.. or you get a ticket!

A video of all of us crossing the creek 20 times over the hike..

It would have been even better if I had not fallen... but it is what it is. Next time we will go when there is more water and I will be safer walking on rocks!

Yosemite in pictures

The Firefall experience was the highlight.. but the entire day, we were treated to some amazing nature scenes. 

Yosemite is amazing in February! The colors are so vidid and there is a lot of water everywhere and the snow adds enough contrast to the lightshow.

here are two slideshows of all the nature photos from the day..

and the portrait format photos..

Not sure when we will visit the place again.. maybe next year or even later this summer! 

Would love to go back in a time where the roads are not slippery and we can hike all the way to the top of the falls!

A last minute trip to round up 2021 hiking

The skies opened and we got a chance to do a last minute trip to enjoy the day. The plan was to drive all the way to Limekiln State Park (which is almost near San Simeon, 3 hours away), spend time at the falls, see the stacked stones and stop at McWay falls on the way back. 

Have to always put a picture up front in the blog so it gets picked up for the preview in other media! Really wanted this to be the pic for this post and possibly a summary for the entire year! Our friend Priya took this shot.. watching the waves even if for a few minutes and just enjoying the moment is what life is about!

We didn't know that all trails in Limekiln were closed and the falls were inaccessible. It was a bummer.. so we just took a photo at the entrance and turned back.

There was also a landslide which we had to cross. We waited for a good 15 minutes for the area to clear and started back. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the vista points on scenic Route 1 on the way back. You can see some of the pano's. 

There is this private beach between McWay and Limekiln that also has a waterfall going into the ocean. We were told there are only 4 falls that go to the sea in the continental US and two of them were in CA and they were McWay and Alamere.. guess that is not true! 

The view of the bridges and Route 1 itself as it bends around the mountain side is in itself a treat to watch!

We stopped at Mcway falls, ate a packed lunch and found that here too landslides had made the path restricted. we could only go so far on the trail. Luckily we could get a view of the falls.

We walked through this tunnel to see McWay falls and I got a rush of old memories.. of taking a picture of Jr. with her cousin as they walked through the same tunnel many many years ago! 

The photo and smiling faces is the trip highlight..

We decided to stop by Paddington Cove on the way back. It was a really good trek down and we enjoyed the little waterfalls, the coves and the water going into the sea! The photo below is from the creek that goes to McWay falls.. we were a crisp red after being in the sun for an hour..

The walk to the cove is along the creek and there are many little falls that make it beautiful! 

Then I tried to do Yoga on the edge.. 

and almost slipped trying a toe stand

and the group let out a shriek.. I promptly balanced myself and said "that is my last try" .. and the group was happy again..

It was six plus hours of driving between 7:30AM-4PM and some hiking but was worth it all!

These days the kids don't show up for hiking trips and that is that..

2021 has taught me to accept a lot of things.. Hope 2022 is a better year!

Here is to a healthy and happy new year to all of you!