This post titled Mt. El Sombroso, captured our previous hike at the same place last year. It was the hardest local hike we had tried.
This year we went there again on a cooler day. The added bonus was the sun rays coming through the clouds. It was just a spectacular sunrise. We started hiking very early and were back after a chai break at the top by 1PM. It was still a hard hike even if the weather was better.
Here are some pictures.
Chaifie at the summit
These days I sweat so much that there is a change of clothing at the summit. Find it easier to walk back in fresh clothes!
Now the skies..
If you need a prep hike for any all day hikes in Yosemite, look no further.. this is the best option!
Something tells me we might even do this trail again in a few years!
I am taking a brief detour from the Banff posts to cover a local hike we did today. This is supposed to be one of the toughest hikes in the local bay area.
The Kennedy trail to Mount El Sombroso, a series of hills that come in waves. It is very different from a go up and come down formula.. you keep going up and down for the last 3 miles.. so that makes it 6 miles of up and down on a ~14 mile hike.
We left early enough but had to park across and walk. We were up in the clouds and fog fairly early but slowed down steadily over the next two hours. The views were amazing in spite of the sun because we were above the clouds for the most part.
there were no benches on this trail...not much shade either!
Two photos from this vista point that made my day.. (thanks to the two ladies who clicked these!)
As usual, we had chai at the top..
You can see Mt. Umunhum in the background. we were thinking that if it wasnt for the building on the top of that, this would be the tallest point in the range. we felt we were looking down on that mountain at one point!
The landscapes were amazing.. till the sun came out.. then there was a bluish tinge on everything.. maybe the fire in Yosemite is causing this?
you can see downtown San Jose under the cloud cover!
A video of the hike..
As a prep hike for Yosemite, this one comes close.. definitely more challenging than Mission peak!
Strongly recommend this hike, if you can leave early enough and avoid the sun beating down on you relentlessly.. take enough water. We underestimated how much water we needed today and slowed down the last few miles because of that!
The trail is slippery in the gravel areas and pretty steep at places. They call it a tough hike for a reason!
All is well that ends well. I am tired but have a sense of accomplishment! Hope this trend continues...
This weekend hiking plan was to go to Rhus ridge. Rest of group has already gone there.. so it was supposed to be a new trip for me. It was 34 degrees out and there was ice on our windshield.. so by the time we defrosted and drove there, the parking lot( which has only 10 spots) was full! This was at 7:15 in the morning in freezing weather. Enough folks beat us to that parking lot.
Then we tried to go to PG&E and that had no parking. So the plan changed again and we decided to go to Maisie's peak. It is in our local preserve. We drove back home, parked and hiked up!
We spent a good 2 1/2 hours hiking, drinking tea at the top and chatting on the way. Next time the plan is to take some samosas to the top and have it with the tea.. and leave earlier.. freezing or not!
Some pictures..
To make it interesting and slightly longer, we went up and down three little lookout points. Maisie's, Hunters and Srisie's point. Word in the local circles is that people used to mistake Srisie's point as Maisie's point for many years. Imagine going to keezh Thirupathi and thinking you have gone to Thirupathi?! It is a beautiful lookout.. but not the main deal! Thought this blog should capture such special moments..
Enjoyed the weekend morning hike! Need to start earlier and defrost for the next hike!
