NorCal Hikes

Today I am going to share with you guys the recent hikes I have done in the past few months. Its winter now so all I can do is sit with hot cup of masala chai and stare at previous pictures reminiscing heaven. Something about a good hike , or bike ride puts a BIG smile on my face. As much as I love the beach and sand, I need my regular dosage of soil and trees and thorns ;)

1. The Mission Peak at Fremont

'Rising steeply to the east behind the city of Fremont, Mission and Monument peaks form a dramatic backdrop to the South Bay.'
Woke up one Saturday morning and made plans with my buddy Jason to climb the mission peak. By the time we got to Fremont(around noon) the sun was at its worst. 'This 5.6 mile out and back hike is moderately tough, but manageable, particularly if you visit on a cool day and bring plenty of water. Trailhead elevation is about 400 feet.' It was not a cool day and we were not interested in just walking we wanted some adventure. Very close to the trail we noticed a tiny water stream, now dried up and merely a trickle of water flowing. This looked like our 'scene'. Through the water we climbed up and over huge rocks. It was a fun 4 hour trip up and down. Returned home with a wet soaking shoe, muddy pants and a slight cut on my palm.

2. Los Gatos Creek Trail

Fun sunny day to bike and walk around this park. It was a 7mile gravel bike trail. Towards the last mile my brakes failed on me. So with downhill slopes I found myself not only keeping myself from rolling down but also my bike :(. I still managed to have a good time.











3. Almaden Quicksilver County Park trail

Went along with a group of 20 hikers through the Meetup website. They have hiking groups so I decided to try one of these. Was a long 7.5 mile hike exposed and some shady routes too. One side of the hill had the view of the reservoir and the other side we could see Downtown San Jose. '7.6 mile loop through oaks and grassland at a former mercury mine site.'. To sum it all, was a good hike, made new friends that share the same passion for hiking as me and cant wait to go on more of these events.




4. Rancho San Antonio trail
This was my first hike in Norcal. Went hiking with Kow and Alex at 8am, it was a cool hike uphill.
'This 5.5 mile loop hike is easy, with about 800 feet in elevation change. Trailhead elevation is around 350 feet. The hike is flat for about 1 mile, climbs on a moderate grade to about 1045 feet, descends to about 330 feet, and returns to the trailhead on a level grade.'. The final mile was a walk around the county park, where we got to see horses, cows and pigs.



Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this piece!

Time heals all

TIME PASSES. EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE. EVEN when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does. Even for me
From New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

25 random/not so random things about me

Something that I had posted on Facebook a few months ago and received great response for. Its one of the " Every one's doing it" things ;)

1. I am doing this coz I want to know 25 random things about myself.
2. When I laugh I sound like a donkey.
3. My front lower 3 teeth are made of ceramic
4. I can ski but am scared of skiing
5. I love Harry potter books, but I still haven’t read the last book cause I can’t handle the fact that the series has come to an end.
6. I Google almost everything
7. I cook tasteless food
8. I love cut+copy+paste
9. Every time I go to a karaoke bar I sing 'Cant fight the moonlight ' first without fail
10. I have a weakness for guys who can play the guitar.
11. I am scared of dogs, coz I was trapped with a big dog in a room alone when I was 5
12. I chugged a beer at the bar with the bartender and after a min - we both threw up
13. I have a love/hate relationship with God.
14. I can survive on salsa n tortilla chips for a whole day
15. I have completed 8 yrs of Speech n Drama from the trinity college of London
16. I hate apples but buy them almost always and then I force myself to eat them
17. I always look for the Orion's belt when there’s a clear sky
18. I have a lot of nightmares the scariest is - as a kid I had a recurring dream where a gardener would chop off kids heads along with the grass.
19. I have never been able to solve a SUDOKU puzzle
20. I love tea and hate coffee
21. This took me almost an hour to write but I still haven't given up. I am not a quitter. lol
22. I laugh when people fall and then feel guilty about it
23. I have spent an entire day watching random videos on YouTube
24. I just got back from mountain biking, its 7pm and am exhausted but I don’t want to go to sleep right now and hence this.
25. I turned 25 this year.

Living or Existing....

Last year I joined the Art of Living class and believe everyone in their life should attend this course atleast once .We feel we know how to live, true we do but do we know the right way. I just felt very enlightened with this course, felt at peace, calm and want nothing but happiness and joy in life. The past 2 years have been crazy for me with leaving home, family and friends so this was an enlightening exercise.
The Art of Living Course is a 7 day course and is offered in over 40 countries.
The heart of this course is a breathing technique called the Sudarshan Kriya. Benefits of this course include - happiness, clarity of mind and a new depth of life.


Here is the link :www.artofliving.org
Please check it out.

There is a difference between living and existing..how many of us are actually living..!!!

In-dependent Life

I read an article last night by Meeti Shroff Shah called The Dependent Housewife. Do take a moment to read it, trust me its BEAUTIFUL.

Its an ironic title since nothing less than independence oozes out of this lady. I like how she has turned what life gave her into something so beautiful. Although the piece is about a housewife dealing with her dependent status there lies a message in there for all. Life has its good and bad turns but coming out of it a winner is our goal. Considering the current economy a lot of people like Meeti can feel the pain of unemployment. Meeti took this free time of her's to do things she always wanted to do but 'never found the time to do so'.
I can relate to her 'And then there was the small matter of being 8000 miles away from friends and family'. Having lived 3 years away from home doesn't make it ok. I still miss my mother the same. You just get used to it and as Meeti put it ' You must wait patiently and fruitfully. And in doing so, you must forget you are waiting at all. '.
All being said, reading this article by Meeti motivated me all over again to take on life and the independence gracefully.

Pilot

Excuse my amateurish writing this is completely new for me. Blogging, I thought was only for professional writers till I spoke with a few friends and discussed possible topics which got me interested. I want to make this my space to talk about people, life, places, music, food. Simple/not-so-simple things that touch everyone's lives daily. I am a sharer, anything I read, watch, eat I feel this urge to share with my friends and family. I think this need comes from living alone, away from home.

So like most tv shows I plan to start my blogging with a pilot article. More to come up soon, watch this space :)