A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
We were sore from the previous day's hike to Chilnualna Falls, so we decided to hike a flatter, more relaxing trail.. . . . Inna found an exciting hike to Wapama Falls, starting from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.. . . . When we woke up, we initially planned to eat breakfast at our new local favorite breakfast spot - Pony Expresso Coffee House & Roasting. However,…
Read More: Hiking Wapama Falls Trail, Yosemite
In the morning, we decided to try eating breakfast at our Best Western Plus in Mariposa. However, we were not very impressed when we explored the dining options available. Besides cold cereal and scrambled eggs, there was not much to tempt us to stay.. . . . . Instead, we decided to try the Pony Espresso Coffee House, a mile away (still in Mariposa). I…
Read More: Hiking Chilnualna Falls Trail, Yosemite
Since my last visit to Yosemite National Park was 6 years ago (in 2013), Inna and I decided to re-visit the park during the off-season (spring) to re-acquaint ourselves with beautiful hikes, spectacular waterfalls, and tall redwoods and pines.. . . . We started our drive from San Jose to Yosemite Valley on Friday, April 19, 2019, at 8:30 am, through Hollister (152 East), encountering…
Read More: Hiking Mirror Lake Trail, Yosemite
After many weeks of constant rains, it was finally time to mountain bike in my favorite local Almaden Quicksilver County Park. . . . . . . The whole park was as green as I've ever seen it. Here is my Strava.com feedback: . . Ride . Biking Almaden Quicksilver . 8:45 AM on Sunday, April 14, 2019 · Santa Clara County, California . Distance…
Read More: Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park
After dropping off Alex at this Speech & Debate tournament at Los Gatos High School, I had a couple of hours to burn off some fat at the Almaden Quicksilver County Park.. . . . I arrived at the Hacienda Entrance around 7:50 a.m., but the park entrance was still closed. A ranger came around 7:55 a.m., opening the gate so I could park my…
Read More: Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park
After a long wait for cooler weather, it was time to resume off-road motorcycling at Hollister Hills SVRA. With the Red Sticker season on, the normal staging area was crowded.. . . . I decided to record all my trail rides using Strava. I usually only use Strava to record my mountain bike rides and hikes, but recording segment times for various trails might be…
Read More: Back at Hollister Hills SVRAAfter a long wait for cooler weather, it was time to resume off-road motorcycling at Hollister Hills SVRA. Hollister was buzzing with dirt bikers like in the On Any Sunday movie.. . . . This time, I decided to record all my trail rides using Strava. I usually only use Strava to record my mountain bike rides and hikes, but recording segment times for various…
Read More: On Any Sunday
Today, Inna and I decided to hike the John Nicholas trail in Sanborn County Park. Although I usually mountain bike ride there, it might also be a great place to walk on a hot summer day since the numerous redwoods and other trees provide a lot of shade.. . . . My Strava information recorded the 10-mile hike below. The hike took us 3.5 hours…
Read More: Hiking John Nicholas Trail
After early morning breakfast, we decided to enjoy a beautiful day of hiking on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. When we arrived there at 10:30 am, the weather was a bit cold and overcast, with a temperature of 60 F.. . . . Eventually, as we approached Natural Bridges State Beach (1.8 miles from the Santa Cruz Lighthouse), the clouds cleared up, and beautiful…
Read More: Hiking West Cliff DriveSince the surf forecast in Santa Cruz was poor, I decided to ride my Specialized FSR mountain bike at my usual Almaden Quicksilver County Park.. . . . I arrived at the Hacienda Entrance at around 9:30 and pumped up the tires on my bike (which were flat). I put on my Aukey Latitude Bluetooth headphones and started the Strava app on my Apple watch…
Read More: Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park
After five days in Tokyo, we were eager to explore the Japanese countryside and the Nagano prefecture. The Nagano region is well-known for excellent summer hiking and exceptional winter snow-powder conditions (a dream destination for snowboarding).. . We boarded the Shinkansen "bullet train" from Shinjuku station to Matsumoto in Nagano, Japan, where we planned to stay two nights.. . . . When we arrived in…
Read More: Charming Matsumoto
On my last mountain bike ride at Almaden Quicksilver Park, I stopped by for a short break and got talking to another mountain bike rider. She told me about a mountain bike ride on the nearby John Nicholas Trail in Los Gatos (relatively nearby), which she thought was one of the best rides in the area.. . Since I had never biked there, I was…
Read More: Biking John Nicholas Trail
When our friends suggested hiking at Butano State Park, I was surprised to hear about it - since I never heard of it before. It was only 80 minutes away from Los Gatos (so nearby).. . . . When we arrived, we decided to follow some of the suggestions from Alltrails.com:. Start from the Park Entrance parking lot. Follow the Six Bridges trail south toward…
Read More: Hiking Butano State Park
As the weather was scorching, I mountain biked the Saratoga Gap and Peters Creek trail in Saratoga (starting at the Vista Point parking lot at Highway 9 and Skyline Boulevard).. . . . . I arrived just before 9:05 am and rode my 2011 Specialized S-works FSR with newly built wheels. The rear tire flat has been fixed at Silva Cycles.. . The trail started…
Read More: Biking Saratoga Gap and Long Ridge
Today, I decided to go for an excellent mountain biking ride at Almaden Quicksilver County Park.. Unfortunately, halfway through the bike ride, I heard a loud whistle as my rear tire lost air pressure and turned flat. Since I was using tubeless tires, I expected my rear tire to self-seal automatically, but this did not happen on my ride. My WTB Werewolf rear tire went…
Read More: Biking Almaden Quicksilver County Park
As the weather was sunny and mild, I decided to try to mountain bike the Saratoga Gap and Peters Creek trail in Saratoga (starting at the Vista Point parking lot at the intersection of Highway 9 and Skyline Boulevard).. . . . I arrived just before 10:00 a.m. and rode my 2011 Specialized S-works FSR with newly built wheels.. . The trail started with an…
Read More: Biking Saratoga Gap and Long Ridge