Waterfall heaven - Plitvice National Park in Croatia

The previous post in this series is here..

We had a full day plan to visit Plitvice National Park. This has been on the bucket list for a long time. So when San asked me what to visit in Eastern Europe, this was the first thing on the list. 

We met our guide at a pick up point at one of the gates in old town Zadar. She was a student learning English and History and could speak multiple local languages. She walked the group of 50 or so people to an empty parking lot near a busy street and we waited for buses to pick us up. There was a group going to another set of falls called Krka.. they were very particular about sorting the right folks into the right buses as it took some time. 

Plitvice is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Zadar. Zadar is the main city in the south and Zagreb is to the North and this park is in the middle. So we drove along a scenic route from Zadar towards Zageb.

We had a rest stop in between for some tea/coffee and restrooms (and for smokers!)

Once at the park, we had a guide who explained to us that the park is navigable by ourself as long as we followed the rules. Most important of which was not to drop anything even accidentally from our pocket like plastic , paper etc. This lake had 800 employees full time whose job was to make sure no litter of any kind got to the lakes. The ecology was delicate.

The waters crystal clear at depths of 50 feet! Hundreds of specific flora and fauna unique to this park. You had to watch your step everywhere. For a country where 1/4 people was lighting up a cigarette perpetually, inside the park, there is no smoking! So we thanked our stars for some temporary fresh air. 

It was a 10 mile hike around the park with a boat tour to get across a lake at one point, and a bus/train ride at another point. 

There are lakes in layers that come down from each level to the next in the form of a few hundred waterfalls.. we zig zag our way up and then come down partly and then by bus.

There are signs everywhere that show how many falls and the depth profile of the water..

You can see the fishes so clearly. The water is really deep. if you focus your eyes on the still water surface for a few seconds, it almost appears as though the fish are flying in air! 

San was very happy that I suggested this place. She enjoyed it as much as I did. 

We started walking at 10 and made it out at 2. We had to wait at the restaurant for the entire group to come before boarding the bus. Everyone was smoking there as soon as they came out of the park! No non-smoking area. We simply couldn't eat or hang out there. The irony of having such a beautiful place and fresh air only to see the people addicted to smoke come running out for cigarettes was sad to watch!

There were a lot of photos from that day.. it took me forever to select a few to show the beauty of the place and the happiness in our faces.. so, here are four slide show galleries.. 

*** There is a bug in Squarespace that is not allowing me to display galleries*** 

will update this post with the galleries once it is fixed. 

finally a video highlights reel.. yet another place where photos and videos will never do justice to the experience .. 

By 5 PM we were back in Zadar at the same point where we started. We decided to walk back to our hotel along the high wall get a quick shower and go see the rest of the sights in old town Zadar. 

The sun was still up.. we were up for an amazing evening!

Closing out a trip in style

The previous post in the series is here..

We slept early after the long gruelling hike. Woke up in the morning and after having Chai in our room we were all ready to go to the Vista point on our way back to Phoenix. 

All nine of us had matching T-shirts to wear. It was great to spend almost an hour taking photos at the vista point.

We were delayed by an extra 30 minutes with the "photoshoot" and raced towards Phoenix.

There was a 30 mintue stop for lunch in Flagstaff at a nice Indian place. It was really good food, great ambience, quick service! If we ever visit Flagstaff, will definitely go back to this place!

We made it 20 minutes before boarding time to the gate! 

It took me two days to be able to walk normally again and be able to sit down and stand up. Was mostly standing and walking all of Monday and Tuesday. Did yoga last two days and finally able to do squats again.

All said and done, it was a memorable trip. Will I go back to the south rim again. Definitely not. 

This was one of the most challenging hikes we have done to date. Enjoyed the trip and most of the hiking except for the last three miles!

Glad it is done!

The Grand Canyon's South Rim

The previous post is here..

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...