My back is still recovering. That does not stop my wife from committing me to another hike this weekend.
Our planning relies more on weather.com app than looking outside our window.
When I woke up at 5AM to get ready for the hike, I nudged her and said "it is pouring outside! are we still going?" and she says "yes we are" and goes back to doze off.
Comes out after 30 minutes and says "it is not supposed to rain today. so we should go".. I have never seen anyone who thinks the sky should obey the weather app. That kind of faith in anything is hard to see these days.
So off we went. The trail was not hikeable for the first mile. It was pure slush.. and a few people who tried to go ahead of us just came back as they were not in right shoes and were skidding down. We being us... just went ahead and crossed this area. Even though it was still drizzling, foggy and windy, we made it to the top and back. On the way back we probably saw 10 people total making their way up, when we were almost back down. By then the sun also came out, but the trail was still very slippery and muddy.
The "lone cow"
a hilarious video snippet of our morning..
Chai never tasted this good...
Just happy to have made it back without any accident like last week. Usually we do this in 2 1/2 hours. Took us close to 4 1/2 hours today because of the weather and the muddy and slippery path!
We decided to go to India on a last minute decision. We covered a lot of ground in 11 days. Also it has been some time since we went to India and jet lag hit us hard. After 6 days we finally got over jet lag, thanks to Maha Shivrathri.
This weekend we decided to start hiking up hills again.. baby hikes.. 5 miles on Saturday and 8+ miles today..
Some pictures to commemorate our getting back to the usual. Our sincere thanks to the hiking group leader, who is becoming an expert at taking our bench photos.... At this point our "bench photo" collection from local parks has crossed a 100..
The weather was amazing this weekend and that also helped!
we also saw some deer, coyote, turkeys and jack rabbits ..not everything made it to the photos..
There are a lot more benches in bay area trails that we are yet to visit..
Wife is already getting tired of this tradition!
The india trip was interesting. Hopefully I get to blog a small piece of it everyday and will be done before Christmas!
My wife, by default can convince me that everything she asks me to do, is going to be good for me.. and fun!
Usually she is right. It just takes me some time after I have done what she has asked me to do.. to realize that it was good and fun.
This weekend has witnessed yet another such event.
We hiked Rose Peak on what was supposed to be a cold cloudy Saturday. We usually hear horror stories from people who have tried this hike. Exhaustion, dehydration, injuries, folks being air lifted by helicoper etc. etc.
It is a very difficult hike with lots of ups and downs and paths where the trail has been cut through by running water (easy to twist ankle or fall) and 90% of it is open with no trees or cover. Doing this in summer would be really tough. That was one reason for jumping at the chance. There are the cows in the early part of the trail. The land has been leased for grazing. Invariably you have to hike around the cows, especially if there is a bull on the path. We encountered two and walked around.
We have been postponing this hike for some time now, trying to wait for right conditions. Our friends wanted to do this hike with us and the weather report suggested a near perfect day for this hike, and before we knew it, there we were packing the hiking backpacks.
When we parked our cars at the trailhead, it started drizzling. Showing me the weather forecast saying "see, there is no rain in the forecast", doesn't make it better when it is actually raining! The forecast was shown as proof that the rain at the start was some kind of anomaly. The rain gods however didn't seem to have gotten the memo from the Weather app folks.
Initially you walk along the creek. We did not see much water but what appeared to be ice or salt on the rocks in the middle of where the creek would be. Being curious, we went down to the middle of the dry creek to check it out. Turns out, this is wood debris that has been mushed to a pulp. This settles and wraps on the rocks like a mesh cloth. Guess this must be how the Egyptians discovered Papyrus!
The early part of this trail we have already been through.. on our way back from the Little Yosemite trail. We got to see the "W" tree again!
This should have been an under 8 hour hike by our usual standards.
Cloudy conditions are always good. We took 2 1/2 liters of water each and drank only a liter or liter and a half. Please note, there is no drinking water available on the trail anywhere!
However, we took 10 1/2 hours!
The big reason was that it was raining for a good hour on our way up. I was wearing cotton track pants (most synthetics give me allergic reaction) and the wet pants made it very difficult.
For the most part we walked the Ohlone Wilderness trail. We have passed by Hawk's nest on our previous way back on Little Yosemite but could not get a "bench photo" because an old couple were having their lunch on the bench. At least that is what I remember... this time we got the photo.
The 32 degrees inshirt from Costco may keep you warm, but is not waterproof either..
Then the rain stopped, but we walked up through the rain clouds and ended up above the clouds. As we walked through the clouds, the visibility was very poor, so we had to walk as a group so no one takes a wrong turn. During this time moisture kept condensing on our face and running into our clothes which was also an interesting challenge.
If you do this hike on a cloudy rainy day, wear all waterproof gear! We saw only two people on the 18+ mile trip. A guy who caught up with us 4 miles in and decided to turn back. He asked us "why would you want to go to the peak in this weather?".. we answered "so we can say we hiked it!'.. He shook his head in disbelief. When we reached the top, a girl ran in. She had come up in half the time and was planning to go down in half the time as well.
At the top, we not find the geological survey marker to take a picture. There was very poor visibility as well. We did sign the six peaks book to show date and time we made it. Had chai and packed sandwiches standing up (no place to even sit as everything was wet and slushy) and started the hike back. Hot chai never tasted so good ! My fingers were freezing and were numb when we got to the top!
It was going to be a race against time as sunset was 4:45 PM and we started at 2PM. Our original plan was to be make it back by 5 latest. However given the ups and downs, we found it difficult enough to come down. We were doing 25 minute miles for the first 5 instead of 15 minute miles like we expected.
One of our friends had just bought new shoes in REI to check them out for a later hike. Turns out the shoe was too loose as well as heel heavy, and it ended up being very painful. She had to use all her will power to walk the last 5 miles. My clothes were still wet. Guess cotton takes a long time to dry, if at all. To top things off, twisted my ankle trying to speed up. Fortunately San had two advil's in her backpack. Took that and kept walking. Trying to compensate for hurting ankle, my hamstrings and ITB pulled up. When 2/4 people in the group can walk only slowly, we knew it was going to be a difficult few hours.
We were treated to a glorious sunset, but didn't stop to take too many pictures. We were really scared of walking downhill in slippery conditions in the dark. Walked as fast as we could.
There was some light till 5:10. The last hour and 20 minutes we walked 3 miles in the dark, with a flashlight and the light in my headband. We managed to avoid stepping on all the lizards and salamanders, as well as frogs and bats on the floor! That also slowed us down.
Did take video clips almost every mile on the way up and down. Here is the compilation..
We were just glad this hike was behind us!
That said, I would like to do this hike again, on a not a partly couldy, cool non rainy day so we can get the views and walk faster. Now that we know the terrain and what it takes, we might do a better job!
For now, I am taking advil regularly and resting to get back to the normal routine.
This post titled Mt. El Sombroso, captured our previous hike at the same place last year. It was the hardest local hike we had tried.
This year we went there again on a cooler day. The added bonus was the sun rays coming through the clouds. It was just a spectacular sunrise. We started hiking very early and were back after a chai break at the top by 1PM. It was still a hard hike even if the weather was better.
Here are some pictures.
Chaifie at the summit
These days I sweat so much that there is a change of clothing at the summit. Find it easier to walk back in fresh clothes!
Now the skies..
If you need a prep hike for any all day hikes in Yosemite, look no further.. this is the best option!
Something tells me we might even do this trail again in a few years!
Last year saw us do both Clouds rest and Half dome hikes in Yosemite. This year we had no plans. Two of our yoga teacher friends wanted to hike with us and also test out the RV they are building. So we made a quick plan to go with them to Upper Yosemite falls. After seeing posts and reports on the hike, they decided to bail out and do a shorter hike instead. In retrospect, they made a wise decision!
We were this close to canceling the hike but decided to make a day trip, thanks to other friends who decided to join us.
Woke up at 3:30 AM to make tea for the trip. There is no hiking without Chai! Started the drive before 5AM and we reached at 8:30 AM. After eating breakfast and drinking chai, we started hiking up at 9. The plan was to make it to the top by at least Noon or 12:30. It ended up being a hot day the sun was over us the entire time. We reached the top only at 1:15.
Most of the folks had a face washing session while I decided to take a dip in the very cold water. It was really refreshing. Also the change of clothes was much needed!
We ate the food that was packed. It was windy and scary but we did go down to the falls head view point using the railing.. (you can see it in the video).
Tried my hand at doing yoga poses before and after lunch. As usual San and friends were scared of me trying to balance on one leg on top of rocks.
San was so happy when we made it to the top. Even she found it hard.
Then we made our way back. Our downhill speeds were different. It is hard to pause on the return. The entire thing is rocky and you have to watch every step. The rocks are all slippery and dangerous. The good thing was it was windy and shaded on the way down. Given we all split up, some guy helped take this photo. Folks came down anywhere from 4:35 to 5:45 depending on their ability to go downhill or take breaks on the way.
There was a beautiful rainbow in the middle of the falls.
After practically hopping and running down without much of a break, all our legs were shaking uncontrollably for a good two hours!
Some more photos..
It was a very challenging hike even compared to Half dome because of the sun! The park service does classify this as a hard hike.
A mile into the hike we get to Columbia rock, a view point where we get to see half dome. it is a great spot to take a break and get some photos of the valley!
We started driving back at 6:30 PM after eating food we had packed and came home at 10:30 PM.
A short video of the hike..
Definitely recommend this as a day hike, ONLY if you have been hiking regularly and can handle a steady climb that keeps going for 3 hours straight. Not recommened for beginners or people who have difficulty coming down rocky terrain.
While we struggled through the hike, we enjoyed the company and had a sense of accomplishment after coming back to the parking lot. The hike is 7 miles from trailhead to top and back , but we walked 10+ miles in total. The elevation gain on this one is 3200 feet in 3 miles. So a steep challenging hike.
One more hike in the Yosemite National park checked out. Next year, we will find another interesting hike to do in YNP!
Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 12:42PM ;)
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