Eric, Linda, Kolina, and Linda/Eric’s co-worker but recently retired friend Chris and his friend Dan all did the hike this morning. If a 59 year old can hike up the mountain, I definitely didn’t want to slack. The trail itself was basically straight up on dirt paths and the top was foggy and windy. We found some relief behind some rocks to enjoy some food before heading back down. Took about 3.5 hours total and we had a pretty good pace. Stats from Runkeeper:

At the top:

From Mission Peak

Kolina finds that waving her arms makes it easier to go downhill:

From Mission Peak

Fog and cloudiness means uninspired photos:

From Mission Peak

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Mission Peak

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

I loved the mossy colors that adorned the steps and trees:

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

We eventually broke through the trees into a gorgeous meadow:

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

After stopping for a Powerbar break, we were back into the trees, which were gigantic Douglas Firs and Redwoods:

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

The trail then headed downhill. We reached a cool ladder that was next to a pretty stream:

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

After reaching the end of the trail we were back to a clearing and headed back to our car:

From Mt. Tamalpais Hike

We headed back to the South Bay and stopped at the one and only Ramen Dojo for a caloric dinner. Extra roasted pork for everyone!

Rest of my photos here. Runkeeper stats here, although they’re slightly misleading since I accidentally paused my GPS like a noob. Not sure if I’ll get to Yosemite until after my wedding, so this will have to suffice for now. Hopefully biking and hiking will fill the next few weekends. Next up is a trip to Baltimore! Can’t wait!

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Mt. Tamalpais Day Hike

It’s pretty surprising for me that after living in this area for 6 years that this is the first time I’ve been out here. I went to college less than 10 miles from the preserve and now live only 30 minutes away. The trial was well maintained and well-suited for an easy, light day-hike, which reminded me just how close beautiful outdoor activities are in the Bay Area.

Next time, however, I’ll probably come out here to do two different things:

1. Mountain Bike – the mountain bike trails were rolling and steep enough for speedy descents and likely, painful climbs.
2. Camping – I found out you can camp overnight here! The Black Mountain Backpack camp is close but still remote enough that it’s easy enough to do a quick weekend trip.

It’s likely too late to do the latter and I don’t know if it’s even worth me organizing a trip, because the past two events have failed (Yosemite = fire, Paramore concert = singer has laryngitis), but I’ll definitely keep it in mind. Anyway, here’s a map of our hike, courtesy of MyTracks:

View Stevens Creek Nature Trail in a larger map

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Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

Angel Island itself was a place I’ve read about in my numerous courses at Stanford for Asian American Studies. It’s been called the Ellis Island of the West and is best know for being an immigration station for numerous Asian immigrants in the late 1800s. Their website has a basic overview for you to read so I won’t go into much more detail.

Anyway, the island is now a good tourist attraction, with a paved road around the island to make hiking or biking easy. Our group walked around the 5 mile perimeter at a leisurely pace, taking numerous pictures and finishing in several hours.

From Angel Island

From Angel Island

From Angel Island

I can’t believe August is ending; for me, September is when I think summer closes and it’s time to start thinking about fall. That logic doesn’t make the most sense here in Northern California, but it’s crazy to think about all of the things I won’t be able to do in a few months – hiking and biking. But, I’ll replace it with snowboarding, which is never a bad thing!

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Angel Island

The trip was for 10 people, so Kolina and I were up late the night before shopping and cooking food. The menu included salami/turkey wraps with avocado, tomato, onions for lunch, sausages for dinner, bagels with honey/jelly/peanut butter for breakfast, and a final lunch of tuna. What we thought was too little food turned out to be a whole bunch. Better safe than sorry, right?

From Yosemite Young Lakes

Delicious, right?

From Yosemite Young Lakes

We headed out at 6AM in a rented Kia and PT Cruiser:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

After stopping at Burger King for breakfast, we made it to Yosemite around 11ish. Lunch was consumed:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

And after a group shot (thanks, Nelson)!, we were on our way:

The trail was filled with a decent amount of uphill climbing and streams to cross. Intense!

From Yosemite Young Lakes

Wild animals were spotted!

From Yosemite Young Lakes

Since it was late June, there was actually still a lot of snow on the ground, which was weird to walk through in shorts and a t-shirt:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

After about 6.5 miles of hiking, we finally made it to the lake. My head was pounding from the altitude of about 10,000 feet and some of my friends weren’t doing too well, but the view was so worth it:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite Young Lakes

I wasn’t feeling too good that night, so I quickly ate and retired to my tent to get some sleep. Throughout the night it was pretty cold – maybe in the low 30s, which wasn’t something we didn’t entirely prepare for. The tent kept me warm enough, but I missed having a pillow throughout the night, so I awoke with a sore neck. The sun provided some warmth and excellent lighting on the lake. We took our time eating breakfast, packing up our things, filling up on water, before finally heading back to our cars.

Bye bye Young Lakes:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

An area of the hike I didn’t capture on the way out was the large grassy meadow which offered some views of the mountains around Yosemite:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite Young Lakes

And finally, pictures of Half Dome and Tenaya Lake from Olmsted Point:

From Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite Young Lakes

Overall, an excellent trail, although maybe I would go a few weeks later in the summer to avoid the cold weather. Nonetheless, I had a great time and I hoped everyone who came would agree. My next three weeks are already planned – Boston, Sonoma, St. Louis, but after that…more camping? Point Reyes? Who is in?

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Yosemite Young Lakes

From Yosemite 2009

Since this part of the park was closed to cars, the normally busy grove was nearly empty, allowing for some quiet hiking and unobstructed views of the giant sequoias. This set of trees is called “Bachelor and Three Graces”:

From Yosemite 2009

On the way back to Yosemite Valley, some dark clouds provided some contrast for Tunnel View:

From Yosemite 2009

Lower Yosemite Falls the following morning:

From Yosemite 2009

Merced River:

From Yosemite 2009

Mirror Lake:

From Yosemite 2009

A few not so great things about going to Yosemite in March: since the snow is melting, plenty of paths were full of mud or slush. Curry Village’s parking lot was under construction, so the lot itself was a giant puddle. Additionally, the nice high school band that performed during dinner turned out to be a nuisance late in the night, since the canvas tents don’t shield much more than a pindrop from your neighbor. But, that’s the camping experience, right?

Anyway, heading up to Yosemite in March offered some amazing falls that are otherwise dry by the end of the summer. For example, Tunnel View from September 14, 2008 looked like this:

From Yosemite – Vernal/Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

I got a year pass to Yosemite, so hopefully this means I’ll be able to take at least one trip up Half Dome and do a backpacking trip to someplace like Young Lakes.

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Yosemite March 27-29

Oh yeah, so this weekend was pretty relaxed. I read a book, went to the gym, saw O Brother Where Art Thou? in SF’s Dolores Park (part of SF’s Film Night in the Park), went to an ugly sweater house party, and did a short hike at Sawyer Camp Trail. 7.21 miles is an overestimate because we had driven about .75 miles before I realized I had left my GPS on. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to slice-up a .gsx file (if someone knows how, then I’d love to know!).

Sawyer Camp Trail is a pretty nice multi-use trail. It’s paved the entire way, has a gorgeous view of San Andreas Lake, and has designated lanes so bikers, jokers, and power-walking mothers can pass you without much incident. Although it’s a short trail, biking-wise, I would certainly be up for biking it in the future, since the 700ft climb is a good workout. But, that’s for another day.

From Sawyer Camp Trail

More pictures here and here.

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Sawyer Camp Trail

It took about 5 hours to get to Yosemite, thanks to some traffic near Tracy, CA. Honestly, where do these cars come from? By the time we got to the housekeepng camp, it was past 10pm and we couldn’t have a campfire = no s’mores :( We quickly made “friends” with our neighbors by waking them up when we tried to inflate an air mattress and clanging around the cot we were given as an additional bed. For photographic proof of the small campsight, where three folks slept on the ground with their bodies half under a cot, see Koklynn’s photo.

We hiked up to Nevada Falls on Saturday. It was my fourth time on the trail, so I was pretty familar with what to expect; this is in contrast to hikes where I have no idea what to expect, often resulting in very horrible situations. On both nights we did hear gunshots to scare away a bear that was getting too close to the local nearby campgrounds, but other than that, I think our group did really well. Our hike was ~ 9.27 miles with around ~2,700 feet of climbing/descending. I brought along my GPS to record the route on Motionbased:

Well, enough rambling. Here are some pictures!

Rainbow at Vernal Falls:

From Yosemite – Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

Our group on top of Vernal Falls. For some perspective, click here to see this same photo in May 2007 when I went on the same hike with some of my dorm residents.

From Yosemite – Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

For my curious co-workers, here’s what Matthew Lewis’ bead will look like in 30 years:

From Yosemite – Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

Nevada Falls (barely, on the right) and Half-Dome. This is what Nevada Falls looked like in May 2007.

From Yosemite – Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

The view from Glacier Point of Half-Dome:

From Yosemite – Nevada Falls & Glacier Point

More pictures for your enjoyment:
My Photos
Koklynn’s Photos

Anyone up for Half-Dome next year?

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Yosemite – Nevada Falls and Glacier Point

• Finished the first half of seasons 5 of The Wire. The season started off slowly, but it’s ramped up quickly with plenty of drama with McNutly’s detective work, Carcetti’s quality of governing, and Marlo’s aspirations as a drug dealer. I’ve been on the edge of my seat when watching because this is the final season and there’s only 6 more hours to resolve loose ends. Netflix needs to hurry up and deliver the final two discs.
• Did a little shopping at Valley Fair. Retail therapy has been difficult as of late – I’m not to keen on the Express knit polos with a giant lion taking up half of the front chest. I did find a hip argyle sweater from Ben Sherman that I might wear for another ‘Fancy Friday’ at the office.
• Headed up to San Francisco to Chez Spencer. A very romantic restaurant wedged in a tougher part of the City. We went for the a la carte menu – heirloom tomato and basil salad, foie gras, mushroom risotto, and roasted lamb were excellent choices. I also had my first glass(es) of Chimay beer, but I still prefer Ommegang as my Belgian-inspired beer.
• Hiking at Rancho San Antonio today.  We got a little lost and ended up walking one portion three times, but found our way back to the parking lot. There’s a small farm in the park where we were able to see some sheep, cows, chicken, and rabbits:



• I also took some pictures.

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Weekend Shenanigans