Revisiting the Kennedy trail

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!

Mt. El Sombroso

I am taking a brief detour from the Banff posts to cover a local hike we did today. This is supposed to be one of the toughest hikes in the local bay area. 

The Kennedy trail to Mount El Sombroso, a series of hills that come in waves. It is very different from a go up and come down formula.. you keep going up and down for the last 3 miles.. so that makes it 6 miles of up and down on a ~14 mile hike. 

We left early enough but had to park across and walk. We were up in the clouds and fog fairly early but slowed down steadily over the next two hours. The views were amazing in spite of the sun because we were above the clouds for the most part. 

there were no benches on this trail...not much shade either!

Two photos from this vista point that made my day.. (thanks to the two ladies who clicked these!)

As usual, we had chai at the top..

You can see Mt. Umunhum in the background. we were thinking that if it wasnt for the building on the top of that, this would be the tallest point in the range. we felt we were looking down on that mountain at one point!

The landscapes were amazing.. till the sun came out.. then there was a bluish tinge on everything.. maybe the fire in Yosemite is causing this?

you can see downtown San Jose under the cloud cover!

A video of the hike.. 

As a prep hike for Yosemite, this one comes close.. definitely more challenging than Mission peak! 

Strongly recommend this hike, if you can leave early enough and avoid the sun beating down on you relentlessly.. take enough water. We underestimated how much water we needed today and slowed down the last few miles because of that!

The trail is slippery in the gravel areas and pretty steep at places. They call it a tough hike for a reason!

All is well that ends well. I am tired but have a sense of accomplishment! Hope this trend continues...

Sometimes we end up back home! Maisie's Peak

This weekend hiking plan was to go to Rhus ridge. Rest of group has already gone there.. so it was supposed to be a new trip for me. It was 34 degrees out and there was ice on our windshield.. so by the time we defrosted and drove there, the parking lot( which has only 10 spots) was full! This was at 7:15 in the morning in freezing weather. Enough folks beat us to that parking lot.

Then we tried to go to PG&E and that had no parking. So the plan changed again and we decided to go to Maisie's peak. It is in our local preserve. We drove back home, parked and hiked up!

We spent a good 2 1/2 hours hiking, drinking tea at the top and chatting on the way. Next time the plan is to take some samosas to the top and have it with the tea.. and leave earlier.. freezing or not!

Some pictures..

To make it interesting and slightly longer, we went up and down three little lookout points. Maisie's, Hunters and Srisie's point. Word in the local circles is that people used to mistake Srisie's point as Maisie's point for many years. Imagine going to keezh Thirupathi and thinking you have gone to Thirupathi?!  It is a beautiful lookout.. but not the main deal! Thought this blog should capture such special moments..

Enjoyed the weekend morning hike! Need to start earlier and defrost for the next hike!

Until next week...

Hiking Hiking and more hiking

The last five weeks have seen me walk and hike like there is no tomorrow. First it was trying to make it past 20k steps/day for November.

That was in preparation for a College group trying to collectively walk 200 km on same 24 period across the globe. My target was 16km for the day and my goal was to walk 10miles at a stretch. Did both yesterday. Walked 10.3 miles in the morning, another 4 in the evening .. all this after walking 7 miles the previous evening to get some "practice". It was a happy day with all my classmates sharing before and after pics after their respective walks and runs. 

Then my wife tells me we are going on a hike this morning to the summit of the Windy Hill open space preserve in Portola. She tells me it is a gentle hike and 5.8 miles round trip to make me feel at ease. After starting the hike I am told it is moderately strenuous and is a 1100 foot climb and the loop is 7.5 miles! A few small misses in the details from the missus to push me a little . . . 

Oh how the tables have turned.. years ago I would be the one saying "the falls is just around the corner.. another 0.1 miles.." a few times to get her to not give up. Now she is doing that to me!

It was a pretty steep hike at places and I was lagging behind for the most part..especially when I stopped to take selfies or panos..not that much was visible in the fog!

Loved the hike.. we were up at the summit and above the clouds.. there was fog everywhere and water condensing off our faces and masks on the way to the top. 

It was great to watch the sun come out through the fog and the trees.

We were almost halfway back when the sun came out and made it interesting for the rest of the walk..

The dripping water and the sun streaming through the fog and trees made an amazing display.. the photos do not do enough justice to the actual views!

Once we were on the other side we got a clear view of the hills and the moon

This is one well made trail ! They have put a lot of thought into it..

The falling leaves made it even more interesting..

We made it back in time for lunch.. 

a video clip from the hike..

Wrapping this post up with a smiling San, whose accomplishment is to get me to go with her..

Another hike towards end of 2020! Given we have not flown anywhere or traveled to far away places, we are definitely seeing places that were within 20 minutes drive that have been missed all these years!

We will definitely be making another trip to Windy Hill where we get the views..maybe an afternoon hike! 

Having gone up Mission peak, Mount Um, Windy Hill in last month.. my confidence in hiking with my wife has improved significantly!