Call us crazy, but a few weekends ago, there was a plan to go on a sunset hike in Pacifica area around Mori point. When we started driving, a revised weather forecast changed things to cloudy and rain. So halfway on the route, we decided to go to the closest familiar hiking point.
Chai was already in the flasks and the Parle-G biscuits and customized trail mixes, not to mention kuzhi paniyaarams were all loaded into backpacks!
I am always happy for Windy hill for all the wrong reasons. San tripped on a root and damaged her ankle at this very holy place and got enlightened. She started doing Bikram Yoga with me at BYSJ only thanks to that ankle damage and for that I am grateful to some root and this trail. That said, we always watch our step as a group when hiking here!
This time we went back and forth and walked a nice 8+ miles with wet jackets! Needless to say the trail was empty except for us and four Japanese students.
Photos... the bench was wet.. so San was literally doing awkward pose for this now customary "bench photo"!
than again iPhone auto saves images like this when you get close enough! We could hardly see anything 15 feet ahead of us.. the picture above is closer to what we saw with our eyes..
Chai at the top with the treats were just amazing.. the chai got cold within a few minutes at the top and we had to scram as it started raining!
it was dark by the time we made it back to the parking lot with iPhone flash lights!
short video clip..
Windy hill is always interesting. What is more interesting is us. We are all crazy!
That was our first experience sharing trails with cows that would just not move!
We also visited parts of this trail to just see the wild flowers.. but did not go to the peak on that day. Multiple folks ended up with nosebleeds thanks to all the allergens on that trip!
We made our second trip to the top today. Except this time we decided to take the steep hike for the last 0.2 miles to the peak directly instead of going an extra mile around the peak to reach the top! That made it really interesting.
There were no allergens this time. It was a barren trail. It was cool but the sun was in our face and I did get sunburnt. And yes, we had to step outside the trail a few times to avoid cows and the calves.
some photos of this hike.
this cutie posed for me when we walked past.. while the mom was calling for it to just come to her!
We were admiring the way these tall anternna towers were anchored on three sides..
A highlights video of the hike..
Thoroughly enjoyed the hike today even though at one point it was incredibly difficult. We made the 10.3 mile hike close to 4 1/2 hours because there were no breaks till we got to the top. Every now and then we stopped for a minute tops to sip water or take a photo and kept moving. There was one 20 minute break at the top for Chai and biscuts and a photo session.
This turns out to be a great time to hike here. There are no snow covered peaks in the background but the fog and clouds and the layers of mountains with a clear view of the valley make for some amazging views. Felt great at the top!
The cover photo for this post.. (usually it is a "bench photo".. there were no benches on this hike and this was as close as it got)
Here is a video highlight of the entire trip! This time posting the video upfront. . .
The morning of the hike, we were all ready at 5:15 AM waiting for a ride from the Yavapai lodge to the trailhead. There is a car service that gives large groups rides directly to the trailhead for around 3 to 4 dollars a person. We were 9 of us and it was a full van! It was a 5 minute ride to the trailhead but would have been another 2 plus mile walk!
Once at the trail head we took photos and started at 6AM. The ground was covered in snow and ice. None of this was in the plan!
This hike is not for the faint hearted. It is a pretty difficult trail. It is an 18 mile minimum hike starting from the South Kaibab trailhead that goes all the way down to the colorado river.. ~ 8 miles of straight downhill hiking over 5000 feet. The weather goes from cold to warm to hot when we are down at the bottom.
The portrait format photos are fewer..
The landscape format photos (most of them) are in this slide show! Just amazing views all day..
The first two miles were slow going because it was still dark and the icy ground. We reached Ooh-aah point to catch the sunrise! It was spectacular watching the first rays of the sun hit the canyon!
First photos of us as we went through the hike with some time stamps... just 4 years older than Sangeetha, but when that 4 years is on either side of 50, it seems to make a huge difference when it comes to walking uphill.
6:30 AM : Photos at Ooh_aah point waiting for the sun to come out..
San allowed me to do yoga poses on rocks. Was wondering "is there a catch?" and turns out there was none. She is now a yogi and appreciates me posing with the BYSJ shirt at national parks!
She did start screaming when I turned to take this selfie on the ledge..there was screaming from multiple ladies!
8:15 AM at Skeleton point
After the first two miles we tried to pick up the pace, but it was hard with all the puddles in the trail. That was an added distraction for me. Have a whole series of photos from puddles which will be posted separately.
We managed to reach Skeleton point after two hours and 15 minutes and Tonto West (Tip off point) at 9 AM. We had made up some distance in the last hour. Then it was time to go through a steeper descent to the river.
9:00 AM Tip off point
9:30 AM
We can see the colorado river and the green bridge
10:30 AM
We finally reached the green bridge across the river. At this point the group was split up into two. So two of us went ahead in search of the next restroom which was a mile away! By the time th rest of the group joined it was 10:30. We walked together to Phantom ranch after a break.
Under side of the green bridge
Then there is a few miles of walking along the river to Phantom ranch. From there it is a crossover the Colorado river again and back to the Bright Angel trailhead at the top. (most folks start at bright angel and end up in South Kaibab).
Hindsight being 20/20 and given we had our own packed food, we should have just got back on the river trail and saved ourselves 2 hours in time and 2 plus miles extra walking. Phantom ranch was overrated.
Phantom ranch was a let down. There was a canteen there and a few benches to sit and eat lunch. We were told that there is free lemonade for everyone who visits this place. IT IS A MYTH! THERE IS NO FREE LEMONADE!
There is lemonade for sale at 6$ a cup with 1$ for refills. Some folks in our group were all set on having that lemonade and did! Their verdict? Nothing special !
After eating our packed lunches and having lightened our backpacks a bit, we started our hike back. The return was going to be 9 miles with a stop every 1.5 miles.
The silver bridge to get back across the river
The return is longer as it has at least 30+ switchbacks in the last 3 miles of the trail and is just grueling!
12:00 Noon
We see a warning at 2 PM around Tonto East
We walked together as a group for the first 3 miles. We were climbing steadily but slowly. The altitude gain was gradual. Then we split up 4 and 5 and went through the next mile and a half. Once we reached this Indian garden or Havasupai garden (which is a cross point for two trails), three of us decided to move forward as we were already losing steam.
that is a little too late...
3:00 PM
We had hot chai and Parle G biscuits and started walking the last 4.5 miles. It was a steep climb and after the first mile it was already sapping.
The stops have a restroom and we can refill water bottles.
4:00 PM
Was taking it literally one step at a time. My legs were burning by then. There was no option but to keep going. The three of us tried to encourage each other with jokes every now and then.
4:30 PM
The towel came out to keep wiping rain from face.
5:00 PM in bad rain with a Poncho
When there was two miles left, it started drizzling. By then we had climbed up a good deal. We had come up 3500 feet and had 1500 more to go. Then drizzle became rain. The towel around my shoulders had to come off and replaced with a poncho. Was drenched inspite of the poncho. It was also getting colder as we were hiking up.
5:30 PM Made it back up! Changed clothes and got the jacket back up.. by then the rain had slowed to a drizzle
The idea of hiking up to end a trail is not that great. Usually we hike up mountains and come down to the parking lot. This was brutal to put it mildly.
When we made it back to the top, we were soaked and were not going to wait for the rest of the group. Glad we didn't. They were also hit by the rain and darkness and had to walk with headlamps and ponchos and made it an hour after we did. A 20 minute delay at Indian garden made them an hour late because of the unpredictable weather! We took the cab service and made it back to our rooms a little after 6 PM. Took us a good 30 minutes to sort things out and after a hot shower and some chai, we realized that we had actually made it!
The legs were shaking and sitting down or standing up was a slow process. I had already taken a couple of Ibuprofens every 3 hours all day thanks to my laces jumping the notches in my hiking shoe and hurting my ankle earlier in the day. That still didn't help at the end of the day.
Once all of us were ready we spent some time at the canteen at the Yavapai lodge. Then it was time to call it a night.
The next morning we were going to start at 8 AM from the lodge and celebrate!
That and the return back to Phoenix in the next post...
We went from Cochin to Mumbai and had two full days in Mumbai before our return flight to the US.
Having visited so many temples every day in Tamilnadu and Kerala, why stop. While San was busy trying to get blouses stitched urgently, MIL and me went out to visit local temples. We visited 3 that morning.
Later went with San to another local temple and visited what is probably the worlds best one stop beauty store. (you can see it in the video)..
We managed to eat out a few times..
watch three movies in two days.. the movie theater is the building next to in-laws apartment. We can just walk down and go see movies!
Here are two lapata ladies at lapata ladies..
Then we spent an evening at Ambani center. It was a stark contrast to the other shopping we did. The stores and complex was grand but there were no people in the stores!
We walked around, took pictures and drove back in time to get some rest before flying out the next morning.
A video highlight..
The return flight was not direct. It was Mumbai to B'lore and then to SFO. The airport in Bengaluru was nice. We actually enjoyed the two hour wait.
Then there was a disaster of a return trip where the tail section of the flight had no power!
No way to charge phone/laptop, call the air hostess, or watch anything. It was a horrible 16 hours in a plane with a local power cut. They werent even apologetic. We were to get some money back as token compensation for this horrible trip and it has been 6 months plus and we still don't have anything from Air India. There has been 20 + emails back and forth and a check leaf was wasted. That was about it. They have bought all these used planes from Delta airlines and are flying it BLR to SFO. Ratan Tata must be sad now that he can see what is going on from wherever he is!
The trip on the whole though was a happy one. Checked all the items that were in the plan. Did so much in 10 days!
Now that I have finally finished posting about the India trip in Feb/March, can get back to otehr things that have happened since!
We boarded the train at Tanjavoor close to a 7PM and it was to reach Thrissur in Kerala at 4AM. The train was 40 minutes late. FIL had booked a hotel room right next to the train station just so we could go, take a shower, change to dhotis and get going. We did get okay rest in the train given people kept changing at every station and kept waking us up.
We reached the hotel at 5 AM, had some dip tea, and all four of us got ready in record time and were at the Sree Vadakkumnathan Temple before sunrise. The sun was just coming up when we came out of the temple.
Then we went to the Thiruvambady Krishna temple which was just 5 or 10 minutes away.
After this we had a long car ride to Guruvayoor. We stopped for a quick bite to eat.. idly sambar and vadai at a local place (this is not related to HSB.. but the food is better!)
There was a ticket for an appointment with Guruvayoorappan at 9AM. However there was an utsavam and we found out that we should not have been sold those tickets. The temple staff said sorry and told us we will get the money back! Money or not, we wanted to see the deity before leaving. So we stood in line for 2 hours almost and got to go only so far to see the deity from 20 feet away for a few seconds before being pushed out.
It was an interesting experience. Kerala temple crowds are really agressive. Especially the old ladies!
The lines to keep your cell phone and footwear s a mile long! We still had fun at this temple. There was a person singing who we mistook for Yesudas first before walking to the area (you can see in video clip).. the stores on either side were cute and the ladies bought Onam sarees!
Then we went to a shiva vishnu temple in Mamiyoor which was the last stop. It is a beautiful temple!
There was a plan to visit Chottanikkarai baghavathy amman temple which was an hours drive from there, but given we saw baghavathi in Guruvayoor, we decided to skip.
My MIL's close friend stayed in Cochin on the way to the airport. So we went to visit Kamala aunty and her husband for an evening chai visit and then head to the airport.
We saw elephants on this day. At the temples and on the roads. A land with elephants is a happy land!
a land with bananas galore is definitely a happy land..
We stopped by a place for lunch. It was awesome!
It was great to talk to them and spend a few hours. As I write this, Uncle is no more. He passed away recently. An extremely nice person. We were all glad we got to spend time with him.
A video highlight of the Kerala leg of the trip
Then we were off to Cochin airport and flew to Mumbai.
We had almost two days in Mumbai before our return trip to the US. That last post later..
Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 5:09PM ;)
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