I had a pretty good weekend. Played some basketball on Saturday, then went for a burrito with Mary. After that we went to Don Edwards S. F. Bay National Wildlife Refuge looking for hawks. We saw a few red-tailed hawks, a couple American kestrels and a couple northern harriers. We ended up having dinner at Fresh Choice.

On Sunday, we went sailing on the San Francisco Bay. My friend Matthieu has a boat docked in the Brisbane Marina, just south of San Francisco. We met in Sunnyvale to buy some last minute groceries at Trader Joe’s, then drove up to Brisbane. There were 5 of us in all, Matthieu, Ashish, Mary, Peter (Mary’s brother) and myself. We left the marina around 1 PM. It was a nice day, and we enjoyed some lunch as we motored up the Bay toward San Francisco.

We started sailing when the wind picked up, around Hunter’s Point. The wind died down again as we passed under the Bay Bridge, then picked up as we reached the open area north of the bridge. We sailed past Alcatraz as the fog started rolling in. We turned around as we neared the Marin County side of the bay. The Golden Gate was quickly covered with fog. On our way back, we were engulfed in fog until we got close to the city. Once we broke through the fog, it was clear sailing back to the marina. Mary, Peter and I had dinner at Max’s Opera Cafe near the S. F. Airport, then called it a night. For more pictures of the sailing trip, click here.

Mary and I went to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park over the weekend. We try to go there every year around this time (for my birthday). This year we spent the weekend in the Mineral King area at the south end of the park (see map). We drove up on Friday and spent the night at the Sierra Lodge in Three Rivers, CA. On Saturday morning we drove up the slow, winding road to Mineral King and staked out a capmground at the Cold Creek Campground. Then we headed off on our first hike.

On Saturday we decided to hike to Eagle Lake. The hike is 6.8 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of a little over 2,000 feet. We got to the Eagle-Mosquito trail head at around 12:30. The first mile is reasonably flat. After turning right at the junction with White Chief Trail, the going was a bit steeper. After another mile, we reached Eagle Creek where it dissappears into a sink hole, then passed the junction with Mosquito Lake Trail. In another 1.4 miles, we made it to Eagle Lake, which is popular for fly fishing. After a late lunch (around 3 PM), we headed back down. It’s not Mt. Whitney, but it proved to be a pretty challenging hike.

We spent Saturday night at Cold Creek Campground. We got back to our campsite (#9) at around 5:30 PM and set up camp. The we reheated some chicken-artichoke pasta that I had made the day before and had a glass of wine. We didn’t have any wood for a fire, so by 7:30 PM, we started getting ready for bed. That night we found out why Cold Creek got its name. It was freezing! By bundling up in multiple layers and hiding under our down comforter, we were barely able to survive the night. In the morning, after a quick breakfast and breaking down camp, we headed for the trail.

On Sunday we hiked White Chief Trail, starting from the same trailhead. White Chief Trail is about 4 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation. We started around 10:30 AM. The first mile was the same as the day before. After the junction with the Eagle Lake/Mosquito Lake Trail, we continued on through the Mineral King Canyon. Like the day before, the trail started to steepen. After a little more elevation, we saw a lot of sierra juniper trees. They look very twisted and weather-worn. After about 2 miles, we reached the White Chief Meadow. We saw the White Chief Mineshaft in the marble cliffs. It has been abandoned for a long time. After a bit of a climb at the head of the meadow and a bit more walking, we reached White Chief Bowl around 1:30 PM. We had a nice, relaxing lunch before our trek back down.

We got back to the car by 4:20, and started our drive back home. We stopped in Los Banos for burritos and arrived home by 10:30. Another great weekend in Sequoia. For more pictures from this trip, click here.

By the way, I started an account on Flickr. Flickr is a site for sharing photos. I’m not sure why I started and account since I already have this blog and my photo gallery. I guess it’s a way to get my photos out to other people. I have posted a few pictures there from the India trip, but nothing that is not already in my gallery. Anyway, if you’re interested, you can visit my Flickr site here.

This is a continuation of the recap of my trip to India started in may last post. I ended my last post in Goa, after Kim had left us to fly back to the US. Mike, Mary and I had spent a lot of time planning our next steps. We decided that we wanted cooler weather, so we ruled out visiting Rajasthan in favor of going to the hill station, Nainital. So we took a flight on Spice Jet from Vasco da Gama to Delhi, then a night train to Kathgodam. From there we hired a car to take us the 35km to Nainital.

Nainital (August 13-14) - The hill station of Nainital was once the summer capital of Uttar Pradesh. At 1938m, it’s high enough to have rather plesant temperatures even in the summer. Wehn we got to Nainital, we found a hotel, the Evelyn Hotel, right on the Mall, which is the main street along Naini Lake. We spent the rest of the day walking around town and taking pictures. The second day we planned to take the gondola up to Snow View, where you can sometimes see the distant Himalayas. The gondola was sold out for the day, so we hiked up instead. The overcast day did not provide us with any views of the Himalayas, but we did have excellent views of Nainital (see picture). For more pictures of Nainital, click here.

Travel (August 14-15) - The day we wanted to head from Nainital to Agra was August 15, India’s Independence Day. To get to Agra, we had to go back through Delhi, and all the trains to Delhi were booked for the holiday. After checking nearly every travel shop in town, we managed to get the last 3 seats on a night bus to Delhi. The bus left Nainital at 10 PM. The guy from the bus wanted us to pay extra to put our large suitcases in the luggage compartment. After trying to argue with him in broken English that this was included, we gave in and paid. The next sequence of events is one of the more traumatic parts of the trip. We wanted to get from Nainital to Agra, but to get there we had to pass through Delhi. The next day was August 15, India’s Independence Day. All the trains to Delhi were booked. After checking with nearly every travel shop in Nainital, weWe had 3 seats in the back row of 5. Mike and Mary crammed into the window and second seat while I sat in the middle for more legroomTravel (August 14-15) - The day we wanted to travel from Nainital to Agra was August 15, India’s Independence Day. All the trains from Kathgodam to Delhi were sold out. After checking with, but the middle seat was very uncomfortable. As we started going, some people actually started sleeping in the aisle. We decided this was the bus from hell. About half way through the trip, we stopped in some random little town. We had been stopping quite a bit, so we figured this was a quick pit stop or something. After 15 minutes of so, some people started getting off the bus. Looking out the side we could see a crowd of them standing around some guys working, so we went out to investigate. It turned out they were fixing a flat tire that we didn’t even know we had. After about an hour, we were on the road again. After about 7 hours of total disconfort, we were finally approaching Delhi. The sun was up now, and the bus was really getting hot. All of the sudden, we came to a stop. It turns out the road had been blocked to prevent any truck from entering Delhi due to security concerns for the Independence celebration. We needed to catch a train to Agra, now we weren’t going to make it. After discussing with some fellow passengers, we decided to go see if we could improve the situation. So a bunch of guys from the bus took me up to the guards and told them I needed to catch a flight at the airport. Whatever… It worked. The guard came back and moved traffic out of our way so we could get past the roadblock. As we’re driving through the outskirts of Delhi, we hit some major potholes. The back of the bus bounced so much, I actually hit my head on the roof and one guy came down so hard in his seat that the back broke and crushed the girl behind him! This was not the “bus from hell”, this bus *is* hell. In the end we didn’t make our train time, but in India style, our train was delayed so long, that we ended up catching a different train to Agra.

Agra (August 15-17) - After a 3 hour train ride, we were finally in Agra. We got a room at the Howard Plaza Hotel, one of the nicer places we stayed on our trip. It was getting late in the day so we went to look for a place to have dinner. We took a pedal rickshaw to the area of the Taj Mahal (Taj Ganj) and went to a rooftop restaurant with a view of the Taj Mahal. It was nice watching the sunset over the Taj and enjoying a meal. Too bad the view was a bit obstructed. The next day we hired a car to tour the city. We went to the Agra Fort, Taj Mahal, Sikandra, and Itimad-ud-Daulah. The fort was pretty cool, and quite big. There are also great views of the Yamuna River and Taj Mahal from there. The Taj Mahal was great, but getting in was a pain. First of all the cost for foreigners is about 70x more than locals. The line to get in was really slow due to extra security. As we’re waiting, we would notice random people going up to the front of the line. Sometimes, the ticket taker would kick them out, unless this one guy with an ornage shirt brought them up, then they would stay. We decided the orange shirt guy and ticket taker were in on a bribe deal together. Hmm… Not much we can do about that. We eventually got in and enjoyed our time there, though it was pretty hot. Sikandra is the location of the tomb of Akbar, the greatest Mugul emporer. Itimad-ud-Daulah is a tomb that pre-dates the Taj Mahal, but displays similar styles and architecture on a smaller scale. Thus it is also known as the “Baby Taj”. For more pictures for Agra, click here. Make sure you check out all the sub-albums.

Delhi (August 18-20) - We took an evening train back to Delhi and got a room at the Hotel Ajanta in the Paharganj district. The hotel is close to the New Delhi Railroad Station and the Main Bazaar shopping area (see photo on right). By the time we got to Delhi, I wasn’t feeling very weel and spent most of the first full day in the hotel room. Mike and Mary explored the nearby bazaar. That night we did go to the Red Fort to see their night-time Sound and Light show, describing the history of Delhi and the Red Fort. The next day we hired a car to see a few sights. We went to the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. It is near the Red Fort and we had many great views of the fort from the mosque. We went to the top of the south minaret at the mosque which provides great views of the city. We also went to the Lotus Temple (picture to the right), which is the house of worship for the Bahai faith. There are only a handful of Bahai temples in the world. While driving around we saw Raj Ghat (the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi), the India Gate (memorial to the Indian soldiers that died in WWI), and various other sites around the city. For more pictures from Delhi, click here.

Mike ended up heading to the airport the night of August 19 to catch his early morning flight back to Chicago. Mary and I went to the airport early the following morning to start our long journey home. Initially, my memories of the trip were predominantly negative. Events like the hell-bus and beggars everywhere really weighed heavily. The cities were dirty and it seemed like every single person wanted to sell you something or beg from you. It was a bit disheartening at times. Now that a little time has passed, I am really starting to appreciate the experience. I’m not saying I’m ready to head back there tomorrow, but I think I may visit again someday. Thanks again to Nick and Natasha for providing an excuse for the trip. I hope to post some pictures from their wedding sometime soon.

As noted in an earlier post, Mary and I went to India for Nick and Natasha’s wedding. We were in India from July 30 (we left the US on July 29) to August 20. In this posting I’ll recap the first half of the trip. I’ll save the second half and details of the wedding for future posts.

Bangalore (July 30 - August - We arrived in Bangalore late at night on July 30, after some 34 hours of travel. The Bangalore airport is not exactly what I would call modern, but we managed to get all our bags. Mark, Nick and Mr. Singh met us at the airport with a car and driver. We stayed at the Radha Hometel for a couple nights, then moved to Palm Meadows, which is the location of most of the wedding events. Besides the wedding, we didn’t do a whole lot in Bangalore, just some shopping on Commercial Street (see picture) and a visit to the botanical gardens. We also visited the campus of the India Institute of Science, which is where Nick worked for the summer. More pictures from Bangalore can be found here.

Shravanabelagola and Belur (August 1) - We took a day trip from Bangalore to visit Sharavanabelagola and Belur. Our main purpose to visit Sharavanabelagola was to visit a Jain Temple atop Vindyagiri Hill. After removing your shoes at the bottom, you proceed to climb some 500+ steps to the top of the hill. At the top is an open-air temple containing a 57 ft. tall, monolithic stone statue of the Bhagavan Gomateshwara Bahubali. The statue is more than 1,000 years old, and brings in Jain pilgrims from all over. The Jain monks are so dedicated to leading a simple live, they climb up the hill to the temple wearing no clothes! Some older pilgrims are carried to the top in litters. There are some great views from the top of the hill. More pictures from the temple can be found here.

The main attraction in Belur is the Channakeshava Temple. This temple was commissioned by a Hoysala king in 1117 AD to celebrate an important military victory. The temple is made of soapstone, which is easy to carve when first quarried, but later hardens. The ate some amazing carvings all over this temple. The temple is an indication of the kings inclination towards Vaishnavism, which is a monotheist version of Hinduism which believes that Vishnu-Narayana is the one true god. The base plan of the temple is star-shaped. More pictures from the temple can be found here.

Hampi (August 9-10)- Most of the family returned to the US on August 9, but Mike, Kim, Mary and I contunued our adventure. We took a night train from Bangalore to Hospet. The train wasn’t too bad. We were in an air-conditioned car with sets of seats/bunk beds. After arriving in Hospet we took autorickshaws to Hampi, or Vijayanagar, which was once a the capital of one of the largest Hindu empires. Hampi is a pretty small town, but the ruins are pretty vast. The ruins include many temples and palaces. One of the best is the Vittala Temple with it’s musical pillars. The stone pillars were built in such a way that musical tones are heard when they are struck. You can see a short video of a demonstration by our guide here (click to download the video: 6.2 MB, AVI). More pictures of Hampi can be found here. Be sure to check out each of the sub-albums!

Goa (August 11-12) - From Hospet we had to take a local train to Hubli, then catch a night train to Vasco da Gama, Goa. We ended up staying at the Coconut Creek Resort in Bogmalo Beach, which is a quiet town on the coast. We spent the first day waling around the small, seaside villiage. That evening Kim had to catch a flight to Mumbai so she could catch her morning flight back to the US. Mike, Mary and I stayed on until the following day. It rained quite a bit while we were there, so we spent a lot of time on the internet planning our next steps. For more pictures of Goa, click here.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the trip recap as well a detailed post about the wedding.

Well, I haven’t had a chance to load any pictures of the India trip yet. For the first week back in the U. S. I struggled with a cold and jet lag. I only managed to load the pictures from Malaysia. For the past week, I have been traveling in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Mary has been planning to hike Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states at 14,505 ft. The group she is going with had a permit for September 1. The idea was to spend some time in high elevation before the hike.

On Sunday we went to Yosemite and spent the night near Tuolumne Meadows (actually, in White Wolf). On Monday we hiked up Mt. Dana (13,061 feet) on the border of the park. The hike was about 3 miles with over 3,000 feet of elevation gain. It was pretty tough, but we made it! We saw lots of marmots and even a few pikas! That night we drove to Mammoth Mountain and stayed at the ski resort there.

On Tuesday we rode the gondola at the resort to the top of Mammoth Peak (11,053 feet). The weather was pretty good, but the winds were 30-50 mph. There were some awesome views from the top, including the Minarets and Mono Lake. We ended up hiking 5 miles from the top of the peak back down to the resort. Oh, we were staying at the Mammoth Mountain Inn, and they upgraded us from a standard hotel room to a one bedroom condo. It was pretty nice.

On Wednesday we went to Devil’s Postpile National Monument. From the Mammoth Mountain resort it’s a 15 mile bus ride into the Postpile. The postpile is pretty cool. It’s the remnants of an old lava bed that had cooled in such a way as to crack in nearly perfect hexagons. During the ice age, glaciers sheared off the top of the formation, causing a nearly polished surface. Thousands of years of erosion have exposed a face of the formation. From the base, there appear to be 60 ft. tall columns of basalt rock, and from the top, it looks like a hexagon tiled floor. There are also some nice water falls in the area, including Rainbow Falls and Minaret Falls. After a day in the Postpile, we drove down to Lone Pine, CA, our base camp for Whitney.

I had remained rather undecided about my own role in this whole Whitney adventure. I was mainly here for moral support for Mary. In the end I decided to attempt the hike as well. We have a group of 7. Six of us met at the Visitor’s Center near Lone Pine to pick up our hiking permits. Alta, Catherine, Clement, Mary, Dana, and myself are pictured at the Visitor’s Center with our goal in the background (the peak is directly above Dana’s head). Clement’s friend, Tes, our seventh member, had not yet arrived. That day, Mary, Clement and I hiked the first 2.8 miles of the trail to Lone Pine Lake. This is as far as you can go without a permit. We explored around the lake and rested at the higher elevation for a while. After hiking back down, we had an early dinner in Lone Pine and returned to our hotel to prepare for a 2AM start time!

We started our hike on Friday at a little after 2AM! It’s a long hike, 11 miles each way and more than 6,000 ft. of elevation gain, so we need to get an early start. We were using flashlights and headlamps until the sun came up. The group pretty much stayed together for the first 2.8 miles, just past Lone Pine Lake. We stopped at Whitney Zone permit sign for a snack and took some time to enjoy the amazing view of the stars. After this first stop, the group started to string out. Clement and Tes moved on ahead and were not seen again until near the top. Mary, Alta and I were generally in the middle with Dana and Catherine at the end, but catching up to us at each rest stop. We continued this way until just after Trail Camp, which is a bit past the half way point.

After Trial Camp, the group strung out a bit more, with Mary and I pulling ahead on the dreaded “99 Switchbacks”. It’s a long trek up these never-ending switchbacks, but the grade is not so steep. Over all I didn’t mind this part of the hike nearly as much as I had feared. At the top of the switchbacks we were rewarded with some nice views from Trail Crest and crossed over the border into Sequoia National Park. Less than 2.5 miles left to go!

Man, that last 2.5 miles was tough! I’m not sure if it was the elevation, the previous 8.5 miles, a lack of calories or a combination of all three, but I was really dragging for this part of the hike. We ran into Clement and Tes on their way down, and they gave us some words of encouragement and continued down the mountain. I was practically crawling across the trail. Within about 0.5 miles from the summit, Clement and Tes caught up with us again. Apparently they had run into the rest of the group and were talked into going back to the summit for a group picture as a form of encouragement for the rest. Then, after nearly a 10.5 hour up hill battle, Mary and I reached the top!

Mary and I explored the summit for a while, checking out all of the numerous geological survey markers. Apparently every few years they make a more accurate measurement and adjust the numbers and relocate the “true summit”. There’s a shelter at the top as well, but we did not need this at all as we were lucky to have the most glorious weather we could hope for. Oh, and let’s not forget the spectacular views from the top!

After about an hour, the rest of the group reached the top. We posed for a group picture in front of the shelter around the registry. So that’s me, Tes, Dana, Mary, Catherine, Alta and Clement. After a snack, a change of socks and a few more pictures, we started our trek back down the mountain. Only 11 more miles to go! The group separated again, with Clement and Tes in the lead, Mary and I in the middle, and Alta, Dana and Catherine at the back. Mary and I hiked about as fast as we were capable. We just wanted to get back to the car before dark. Just short of 6 hours later, we made it just as the last light was fading. We drove straight back to the hotel, soaked our feet, took showers, had a snack and went straight to bed. What a day!

On Friday, we met for breakfast in Lone Pine. After breakfast, Mary and I went to visit the Manzanar National Historic Site about 5 miles north of Lone Pine. Manzanar was one of the War Relocation Centers used to relocate the Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants during World War II. There were about 10,000 people living in Manzanar for many years. There’s not much left of the site, but there’s a great display in the remaining old community center building. It has a lot of information about the hardships these people had to go through, many of which who were American citizens. Driving around the the rest of the site gives you a perspective of the bleak landscaped that so many were forced to call home. A memorial still stands to mark the Manzanar cemetery. After the war, everyone was released, but most has no homes to return to. How these people managed to survive these hardships is a true testament to their resolve. Most remained in the US despite the terrible treatment they were forced to endure. Hopefully we can all work together to ensure this sort of thing does not happen again…

I will keep you posted when I manage to post pictures from this trip as well as the pictures from India…