Hiking Pinyon Peak in Carmel

It has been a busy weekend. Spending all afternoon and evening at SIFA concerts, taking photos, soaking in the music.. then waking up early on a Sunday to drive to Carmel valley and hike Pinyon peak.

We drove early morning. It took us 90 mins to get there and we promptly started hiking.

This hike was harder than black mountain overall because of the steady climb in a shorter distance. We also ended up picking a day that is unusual for that area. No breeze and bright sunshine! Foggy conditions would have helped. My shirt was glued to my back for most of the climb.

We thoroughly enjoyed the hike with the banter and antics. Also got to try some yoga poses on a ledge. However the pants did not cooperate for some of the poses..

Everyone had packed some food to share for lunch and we had tea (made at the top) and after a few more photos, got back on the Fern trail. This trail is nice and shaded and wider. The sky trail we went up on was not wide and there was a lot of poison ivy everywhere. We also got lost once but realized it soon enough!

Here are the nature pics..

I also hit my head on a tree branch while running down the trail. Have a bruise but so far my cognitive skills are still good enough to blog. Hope the bump in the head subsides in a day!

Back home after being in traffic for almost two hours. Sitting and smiling while typing this, going over the hike in my head. We had a fun time!

Surprisingly I was not grumpy as was expected!

A video highlights reel..

Would definitely recommend this as a day hike, even if you have to do the drive from bay area. The views are amazing!

There is supposed to be an amazing waterfall in this hike in rainy season. Might have to revisit in April for that!

Fall creek state park

The plan for the long weekend was rest rest and more rest, with some yoga thrown in. However, the hiking group decided that the best recovery is to just get back on the trail when I have been declared to be able to breathe again normally.

If the wife says I am hike worthy.. then guess I am..

We left at 7AM to drive to Scotts valley / Felton area to Henry Cowell state park area. There is a Fall creek state park as part of this elaborate complex of parks.

We hiked the big ben tree trail, the lost empire trail and a few other trails. It was interesting. Four plus miles of downhill and an almost non stop climb back up. Not exactly a starter hike for a guy who has been wondering where all oxygen was going after it passed through his nose.

There were Zero benches on this trail. So no bench photos.. I did stop a lot to take pictures..

There was plenty of water in the creek and the waterfalls were amazing!

The trees, the berries, the banana slugs, it was an interesting hike.. and the mosquitos..

standing inside the hollow of a burnt out tree that still stands is an amazing experience. These trees are hundreds of years old!

After the hike we stopped on the way in Felton at Ambrosia to get some Indian buffet.. have not had a buffet lunch in a long time. There was a lot of stuff for non-veg folks. I did not get my money’s worth, but the food was great! The daal and naan were fantastic.

Here is a video highlights reel..

A few things about this hike. It is not 8 miles. It is closer to 10. So don’t believe the comments on websites. The hike is moderately hard at places. It was pleasant and a better me would have had a lot more fun. Finally, there is plenty to see on this trail and it is mostly shaded. No benches but plenty of amazing views and the creeks full of water added vibrant views.

We might visit other trails in this state park area soon!

Pleasanton Ridge regional park - Castleridge

This has been a busy weekend with a lot of yoga doubles and a nice hike.. there was also some singing involved! Busy but happy..

The hike was in Pleasanton ridge regional park from the Castleridge trail head. We did an 8+ mile loop which took us ~4 hours. We did good time given it just keeps going up in the initial part of the hike. It was an hours drive almost for us to get to the trailhead and given it was post lunch, starting the steep climb was a slow affair.

We saw a lot of hare, turkey, deer, red tailed hawks and frogs today!

Could have waited another 5 mintues after reaching the top. There was a solitary bench right after we managed to have tea standing up and trying to juggle tea and bhajjis, standing up.

we kept clicking as we walked today!

It was good we didn’t stop much today. Managed to come down before it got dark. As a treat to ourselves, we stopped at Thirupathi Bhimas and refilled four time he calories we burned on the hike in 1/4th the time!

Here are the nature pics from the hike..

There were like 10 frogs that surrounded my feet when getting close to the water to take this shot. Lots of frogs! First time seeing them up close in these numbers!

and a short video highlights reel.

While San and our friends would like to visit this again, I am not. Great trails, amazing views etc.. but there is a section of the trail where one big tree has fallen and there are another 3-4 trees in this section that could fall anytime! Not a big fan of trails which are not maintained well. After a lady lost her life because of a falling tree in our local park last year, very hesitant to go through trails like this!

Did enjoy the hike thoroughly today!