Surf Session at HMB Jetty

Saturday seemed to be a nice surf day till I got in Jetty. The water was way cold even with the wet suite. Wave were of moderate height, but were too frequent for me to handle, I was done in a very short time. This was the first time that i could hear myself breath heavy, indeed i got tired in first 30 mins and had to go out to the beach before i could go back in again. After the second spell i gave up, the waves kept pounding me till they practically threw me out to the beach. Am not sure if its because I generally am out of shape in winters or the waves + the temperature were punishing. No surprise I heard few regulars at the Board shop on how difficult it was for them to surf at the Jetty a day before.

First snow in Tahoe and guess where I was?

Ye, waited too long, no snow in Nov. Finally a relief, 3 feet of fresh powder last weekend. It started on Thursday and lasted till late Saturday. I guess I don't need to mention that I spent my weekend in Tahoe, hwy 50 was beautiful, snow all over the hills, the tress, on the lake and from the sky. Took me 5 and 1/2 hr to carefully drive my Prius to the South City, where I stayed for Saturday and an hour next day to my favourite Squaw Valley. I hooked on my Snowboard at 10 in morning, continued till 4 pm and was back in Bay Area by 10 in night.
I feel so good right now, relieved and rejuvenated. Weather forecasts heavy snow next week, but i got some visitors for next 3 weekends and need to be in Bay Area. I hope it gets a lot better in Jan and continues till as long as am satisfied :)

biking san francisco

One of the regular sunny Sunday in a swim pool with Lawrence, Steve and Cecil; I discussed the possibility to Bike around San Francisco; never though this would be one of the trip of lifetime. And next Sunday there we were; Lawrence had to drop of for a reason; Steve came down to my place in the morning, I put my bike at the back of my Prius and drove to Oakland; picked up Cecil and parked my car at a 45 degree tilt of sfo road, close to Embarcadero ferry building.
Steve and Celio rented the Bike while i fixed mine and on our way around 9:30; the day was beautiful; windy, light drizzle and on and off Sun, on demand; trying to condition the temperature for us.
We started from Ferry building; off to Fisherman Wharf; over Golden Gate; in and aorund Sausalito; all the way to Tiburon. In all it was a 16 mile ride; full of fun; beauty and adventure. Up and down the hill; tiring and relaxing at the same time.
I have been to san francisco like a million times; but never saw the beautiful city this way. It has so much that i can spend my entire life, exploring new places every day and still die with a regret of missing 90% of whats in there. No wonder; i might never ever leave bay area.
Well finally we reached Tiburon at 3 pm, hungry and tired; had a sandwich and Chili soup at a local Deli and took the Ferry back to the Ferry Building on Embarcadero. In this beautiful weather we were on a high and decided to map Golden Gate again before the sunset. Well we did reach the base of the Golden Gate but Cecil gave up (to be honest, i wasn't sure if I wanted to do it either.) and we decided to call it a day. Went back to the car and loaded my bike; stopped at China Town for a hot dinner and back home around 8 pm.
Now a days I've been biking around the beautiful trails of Foster City and Redwood shores, all the way to Burlingame and South San Francisco. Am not sure if I can go to San Francisco from here via Brisbane; i'll try it sometime over the weekend.

Surfers Weekend

You might wanna call it a Labor Day weekend; but for California Surfers its a workday. Last night Lawrence called up to ask if am up for Surfing; how couldn't i tell him that this is what I wanted more than anything else for this weekend.

This wednesday a shark attack in Monterey; very close to the beach where we usually surf, left one guy badly injured and the beaches to 15 miles are close for 2 weeks. So we decided to surf at Pacifica; which is at the same coastline of famous Highway 1; a little further north. I wasn't sure if am gonna see lot of people; but its California baby- there were like close to a hundred surfers on that beach; more-so because the authorities declared beaches down south unsafe after the incident. We took a corner behind the Surf shop few hundred meters from the public parking to avoid the crowd and got a lot of waves to ourselves.

Today the day was like God watching and praising the spirit of Californians - a SSW swell brought in the perfect surfing condition with 3-6 foot wave; and everyone got a taste of what they came for.

I'll be out in water tomorrow a little early to get more space for myself.

Backpacking from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley

Last weekend Sandy and I went out Backpacking for 4 days. The route was amazing, beyond imagination and awesomely beautiful, no words to describe how i felt.
Here are some trip details i copied from Sandy's email.
Friday June 29thReached Yosemite Friday night and slept outside the Wilderness office so that we can get walk-in permits to start on Saturday. Saturday June 30th-The office opened, we couldnt get permits for Saturday but for Sunday instead.- Did a day-hike (with the backpacks on) around Tenaya Lake. This loop was about 3 miles round trip. Parked our car in the valley and came back up to Tuolumne Meadows to start the next morning. Sunday July 1st-Started our hike with a backup plan of coming out thru Tenaya lake if we just made it to Cathedral lakes by evening. Crossed Cathedral Lakes at noon and kept going. Reached Sunrise around 4pm and thought of going further. Finally stopped after walking about 13.5 miles; in the middle of a thick jungle. Interestingly, we found 2 other backpackers from India at a pre-established camp-site and also another guy(Bob) who was backpacking alone. Bob mentioned that e saw a large bear about a quater of mile from the campsite so we were certain that he shall be visiting that night, thankfully, the night was uneventful. Second day, started with intent of covering half dome on our way down to the Valley, then, dropped idea and continued downhill at a much slower pace. Reached Little Yosemite Valley at 4pm and stopped for lunch by Merced River. A dip in the river; had a late lunch and started again. Finally reached the Trailhead at 8pm and dragged along to the parking lot around 8:30pm. Took shower and pizza in Curry Village and started for home. Reached Fremont around 3:00 am.

A Day in Santa Cruz taming the Waves!

I've been waiting for this day for more than a few months. Got up at 5 in the morning on my way to the sandy beach of Cowell, ready to ride the waves. I never thought its gonna be so much fun. 2 hrs passed like few minutes. After couple of wipeouts i was able to ride it all along.

Its not even a day yet and am already looking to go back and do it again.

A day Ocean Kayaking @ Monterey Bay and Hiking @ Point Lobos

Came back after a short trip to India on Wednesday and decided to go to Monterey Bay for Kayaking. The day was perfect, temperature in mid 60s and sun shying under the cover of clouds, neither cold nor sunny.
Everything was perfect, the takeoff, the maneuver and the Kayaking itself. The landing however didnt work out well, the tides were higher by the time we decided to go back to the shore and I was hit by a big wave, knocking me off the boat into the water. Thankfully I was at the beach
and walked my way back to the shore.




After I changed to new set of clothes we decided to hike out at Point Lobos State Reserve Park, the hikes' got some very beautiful vistas and I captured each one of them in my heart.

Another Milestone

Reached another milestone yesterday. Now i can surface dive (and believe me this is not easy as plunging from a dive-board), to a depth of 17 feet and pick up a quarter :)

Snowboarding at Squaw Valley - Tahoe

So i decided to take up a new Sport (as if i don’t have enough to do already), Snowboarding. I wanted to be in Tahoe Snowboard entire President's Day weekend but unfortunately couldn’t find anyone to go along and chip in money for the trip, the hotels are booked and the one that are available are way expensive for me to stay alone. So i decided to take Bay Area bus ride to Squaw Valley. I got up at 2:30 in the morning, got ready and was at bus stop in Oakland at 4, reached the resort around 8 am, rented out the snow board and took the lift to High Camp ground, took a quick lesson on how to stop and turn on a board, and after a few fall, my skating skills came into play. I didnt had the fear of fall or of going fast, all i had to know is to turn on that board and to be able to slow myself down the steep slope if i need to. After and hour of practice i was good to go solo, enjoyed it for the rest of the day and got better with each slide though the terrain. It was tiring though, i was grounded by 3, decided to quit and go back to Bus, had some fresh snacks and fruits. We headed back at 4:30 and i reached home at 9 pm. Took a hot shower and had a very long sleep, have a mild body pain today and am liking it :) Planning to take another trip next Sunday and if all goes well, i'll have a new tool in my sports closet, a snowboard.

Snow camping in Yosemite

2 nights and 3 days Snow camping in Yosemite with DeAnza outdoor club was lot of fun, i'll write baout it.