Sweeney Ridge trail and Mori point in Pacifica

After a three week hiatus on hiking, we had a chance to join a large group of folks on a hike to Sweeney ridge. 

A group of 14, some of them I met for the first time. Enjoyed it thoroughly. The trailhead is a 35-45 minute drive from home depending on traffic and given the insane temperatures in Cupertino, this was a morning well spent in the fog and mountains. 

We also get to cross Highway 1 and go see the beach at Mori point  in the end. The ridge is part of the last piece of the hike. Started from home at 6:15 and came back home at 1:45. Hiked for 5 hours with a bunch of photo stops and a small break for tea and snacks at the vista point on top. There was nothing to see as there was a heavy fog and mist in the air. It did feel like walking through Jurassic park.

The parking lot for the trailhead is shared with an Orchid greenhouse. It makes for an interesting last mile climb back from the freeway to get to the car. 

By the time we made it to the top with the 1600 foot climb, was completely drenched! Good thing I had a change of clothes in the backpack for the rest of the descent and beach!

The morning dew made for some great pics with flowers, bees and spider webs.. 

When coming back to the car, noticed that my pants had a yellow layer of pollen on them! Luckily this time there was no severe post hike allergies to report!

sometimes you walk past a small flower that looks near perfect to the naked eye at 3 feet.. then you go take a macro shot of it and realize it is not that perfect.. still this small flower was irresistable!

The rest of the landscapes are in this slideshow..

A short video clip of the hike. Took a lot more slow motion videos of the waves crashing in.. you have a small sample within this clip.

It was time really well spent with a fun bunch! The last part of the trail where you come down to the freeway is very loose with gravel and if you don't have hiking shoes with grip and poles (for folks with bad knees) it is dangerous. We have been doing this for sometime now and managed it.. but first time hikers with improper shoes.....not recommended!  

The trail starts with a steep climb as well and keeps going almost a 1000 plus feet in one go. Warm up beore you start climbing!

Strongly recommend this as an early morning hike for a hot summer day!

Local hikes in Cupertino

Planning to change my name to "The last knee bender" or something like that. Walking is sometimes an ordeal so hiking is a challenge. Walking on trails is what makes me happy, so trying out local hikes which are not more than 6 miles and not too steep for long times.

Three hikes in last two weeks.

1. The zinfandel trail

2. Mclellan Ranch trail along the Stevens creek

3. Vista loop to Maisies

A few photos from these hikes.. which all had a chai session at the top!

Enjoy these places while there is still water running in creeks and the ponds are full of water.. for the last few years we used to go by the signs that said "no swimming or wading in ponds" and laugh as there was no water in any of these creeks or ponds. 

For now, alternating between small hikes and knee care! 

Now waiting for the super bloom of flowers to start!

Hiking takes a hike

The last two years were great for hiking. Was almost at 10k steps a day. This year has been a disaster. The weather outside was gloomy, cold, rainy and windy for most of January. San was also in India for the first half of Jan and that meant less time for walking. Our hiking group leader tore both her ACL's and had surgery on one leg and has just started to walk without crutches! All of these things pretty much made hiking or walking difficult. Some days the iphone registered not even 500 steps! 

To break the jinx we made an attempt to hike Windy hill with a few friends from the other side of the bay. It was a warm 45 degrees.. by the new California standards for 2023 and we made it to the summit and back in good time. Fast forward just a few days and we have snow on the local mountains and people rushing to get a look. 

Went up to Hunter's point but there was no snow there.. but we got a great view of the hills on Fremont and San Jose side and the entire bay area. 

Then we hiked to PG&E trail towards black mountain. We did not make it as it got too "slushy" on the trail and our hiking shoes got all clogged with mud to the point where there was no grip. We played it safe and turned back.

The weather change is definitely challenging the house and I have to get some work done. Kept trying to postpone it but if we keep getting hit with rains this frequently, might have to just go for some major repair work! We have lived here almost 17 years and this is the first time we see snow on the local hills. 

Bracing for more rains that are coming this week..

A few photos from the last few hikes (including one of a salamander ? that we saw both in Mid peninsula and south bay trails within a week.. we normally don't see this.. only lizzards!)

Snow is fun. A very contrasting experience to Alaska where there was just snow everywhere and bitter cold. Looks like we brought a bit of Alaska back with us to the bay area!

My yoga T-shirt was wet from that hike! Given the 60 day challenge is still on, my pores just pour sweat! 

The creeks are all flowing and the same places that looked dry are now brimming with life!

Within 5 days the scene has changed.. stopped the car on side of our road to get this shot of the rainbow and the snow in the local hills facing our street. Had to go to office that morning, so missed the chance to just walk up and see it up close.

By the time I got back, most of this had melted.

We did see this view from our side..

and over the weekend.. we did get to have fun.. 

Our regular hiking gang is slowly starting to venture out again. Maybe this is a good sign. For the first time this year my step count crossed 10k steps for the weekly average instead of being below 5k steps. Let's hope this keeps going. 

My knee still swells and reduces every day. Trying to do my best to keep it under control at least for a few more days before doing some drastic medical intervention.

I feel this might not be a one off event and we might get this type of weather every alternate year or so going forward.. Seattle never used to get snow. Five or six years ago they got snow and the city came to a standstill as they were not prepared for it. Remember my BIL telling me about it. Now every alternate year they see snow in their backyard. Bay area might end up like that! 

My body was not built for snow.. it was built for Marina beach, but has done a decent job of adapting to colder climates. Trying to spend as much time in the hot room as possible to compensate for this weather!

There is a first time for everything! Didn't expect to see snow in Cupertino, but we did! 

A change in perspective

Post Half dome, things seem to be different. Mentally.. those jitters of making it through 3-4 hour hikes in local parks seem to be gone. Granted it is the first and only data point, but it counts for something. 

It is rare for me to walk alone with San. Today we decided to just go and enjoy some together time and went to Wunderlich's Bear Gulch and Meadow trails. I was really not sure of being able to walk with the pace of a group and stress myself out. The last three miles of the half dome trip were still on my mind. After coming out of yoga class yesterday, thought my hamstrings were not up to it, but surprise surprise!! We did 7 miles in 2 hours 10 minutes including a Chai break and a few photo breaks. The photo setup times were a longer than usual. We were doing a steady pace and went up 1400+ feet and came down. Was able to walk as usual after the first 15 minutes..something loosened up somewhere and things turned out okay!

We got to see the sun rise over the bay area on what was a beautiful morning!

Not a bad start to a long weekend!

Here are some more pictures..

This place is just beautiful.. the sunlight streaming through the trees was like watching a dance!

Wasn't sure of the first one.. so took another one. Running from an iPhone placed delicately over a tree stump with a few other twigs to create a makeshift tripod has its challenges.. 

Went and got this trail special UV protect long sleeve hoodie from REI after a friend got it on the Half dome hike. It is very convenient and light and it is also thermal wear. Only thing is I should have worn my BYSJ shirt on the outside instead of on the inside. My usual T-shirt was soaked! 

That was an accidental click with the selfie being in portrait mode. It blurred the background, but turned out to be an interesting photo..so keeping it!

By the time the sun comes up the grass fields start looking like lava beds!

While making tea at 5:15 AM to get ready might not be appealing, drinking it after reaching the top of the trail, definitely makes up for it!

and finally a photo of me up inside a hollow tree..

This park is lovely and you get parking if you go early enough. Let's hope the rest of the long weekend goes smoothly!

I am starting to like walking alone with San as she is taking better photos every day! This is a good sign, given we will be empty nesters next year. 

Surprise point and Bow falls trail - Banff National Park

The previous post on this series is here..

After dinner, we drove to the surprise point outlook and took a walk. You get a beautiful view of the historic Fairmont Hotel while hearing the roaring sound of the water going between the view point and the hotel.

we had purple skies!

It was us and another asian couple there at the vista point. We were happy to see someone else there as they were! we took photos for each other and off we went to the Bow falls trail. 

This is an amazing trail. Well maintained, just gorgeous attention to detail.. 

then there is the falls.. it is wide and the water flow is something to see! The setting sun (at 10PM) made for interesting hues. By the time we went up the trail and took the photo on the bench (at the top of this post) and got back down, the rest of the folks were gone. We had spent an hour and a half here without realizing it. The walk was not tiring and we were smiling from ear to ear! This place was just beautiful and fresh and inspiring! 

It started getting a little chilly at that point and we decided we had spent good time here. We got back to the hotel and it was still bright out. The sunlight finally went down at 10:30 PM and I could make out the light through the shades even at 11! We had to get some sleep as there was a long full day planned for Saturday. Banff is one hour ahead in time compared to California, so it was still early for us to sleep, but we closed all the blinds (reminded us of Alaska!) and got some shut eye!

This video shows you bow falls and the beautiful trail..

Had I known it was going to be this pretty, would have rushed to the hotel to grab the SLR as well.. after this, had the SLR on me throught the rest of the trip!

If you visit Banff, check sunset timings and dress accordingly to see bow falls at sunset time or golden hour.. just breathtaking!

Not to be missed!