Our hikes and trips

Inspiration: Scared of rattlesnakes at hikes near Spokane, we shifted directions back to the Central Cascades to cover Lake Serene. But halfway through the trail, under the direction of our wise ol’ man, we took the Bridal Veil Falls trail.

Photo credits: Anitha

Description of the trail: This hike was surprisingly hard for us (casual hikers) mostly because of low maintenance of the trail. The first two miles were pretty flat but the last half mile was “half mile from hell” reaching the majestic Bridal Veil falls.

The trail was full of wild flowers and wild mosquitoes :). This is a trail our group had difficulty doing but definitely created sweet memories about all the tough times and decisions we made. The waterfall was huge and easy to go upclose. For those interested, the trail to Lake Serene is much rockier and steeper which is why we decided to do Bridal Veils instead.

Hike talk: “Good Telugu, who draws the line? ”, Spirit of Gattaca, Return by 4.

One learning from this trip: Destination doesn’t matter, journey does.

Inspiration: A sunny weekend. This was our kickoff hike for this summer’10.   

Photo credits: Anitha

Description of the trail: This hike was surprisingly close. The cougar mountain has a lot of trails and we chose one combination of those so that it stays easy and pretty.

The hike had a random incline and decline which was quite interesting. This is a trail our parents could easily do. The waterfall was small but accessible, which allowed us to sit and spend some great time there. This was like a local version of Hoh rain forest.

Hike talk: Gilli Danda, Summers at grandparents’ villages, racing with the snail, horses.

One learning from this trip: a great hike can be just next door. 

Inspiration: Anitha found this hike. We love waterfall hikes since Franklin falls hike, they have a nice background music of the water flowing that's pretty meditative.

Photo credits: Pallavi (for first) and Anitha (for the rest)

Description of the trail: It starts with high transmission power lines but then immediately converts into a very woody trail. The flora has a lot more variety than on the trails near north bend.

The hike has a gradual incline until lower falls which was gorgeous btw. It got only slightly steep towards middle falls. The river was adjacent to to the trail for most part until lower falls which was really nice to see and hear.

Hike talk: Cinema Paradiso, "Are you having a good time in your life?", Photography to develop visual thinking, Body building, Nasal breathing, Sleep, DSLRs

One learning from this trip: don't believe the weather forecast and waste a pleasant weekend sitting indoors. 

Just another sunny Sunday in Seattle (huh ?) and we just  felt like doing this trip to the seward park  ..

Lot of folks (felt compelled to) joined as pedda dikku declared he was joining :) .. We had an elaborate brunch at Family Pancake house which was suggested by ....

We reached there in no time.. and then before starting the hike, for some extra energy ..

Here is a majestic view of Mt.Rainier at the beginning of the trail ...

Water was so calm that we felt we should throw some stones in it .. may be stick one or two on Mt.Rainier ..

After Rainier was all studded with stones and the shore ran out of  pebbles, we walked for miles and miles ..

(That milestone above is probably in light years)
Then we got to a place to play some frisbee  ... so we posed for more photos ...

We again tried to fill the Lake Washington with pebbles and sink Seattle, but it was getting cold so we continued on our remaining hike ..

And as we reached almost to the end of the trail , one of us felt overwhelmed by milestone blessed by health conscious, dogs who marked their territory on the trail

and again ....

So there you go ..

We all had a glimpse of heaven and/or hell, as we ate these nuclear reactive chillis . These chilis can supply power to all major US cities for a month or may be more if you use them raw without removing their seeds . Thats how ..

That last pic required a lot more motivation than you think ... 
and the Gods thanked us as we rest (temporarily)..

Waiting for just another sunday like that !

It was supposed to be really rainy weather today, so we didnt really plan for a hike when we met last night for Surrogates movie (btw awesome entertaining movie) followed by late night dinner at Dennys. Next day around 11am, the weather looked great so we thought we'd go to an easy quick hike, like the Denny creek trail in the Snoqualmie area.

But somehow we saw the Franklin falls trail-head before getting to Denny creek trailhead. It has been third time that we have skipped on Denny creek trail :). The entire trail is next to the Snoqualmie River and ends with the gorgeous and tall Franklin falls. Its only a 1 mile hike with some elevation. We had some great shots

right as we started the hike.....

We skipped some stones on the glistening river along our way and clicked some more pics .

We spotted some wooden cottages during this hike, which we felt would be a great getaway location (warning - they probably have internet there :D ) .

Vaishnav had a lot of fun getting cool shots of huge trees, macro leaves and dew drops ... We all had to make it to Kamal-Anitha's reception party at 6 that evening, so we started picking up speed and soon were near the gorgeous franklin falls. The last 100 feet or so were bit challenging though ..

                               
On our way back we rushed and finished the trail in 35 minutes to catch up with the reception party. After lot of dancing in the party, followed by a movie and a fourth meal...

Next day, we woke up and met again for lunch , and saw another movie .. One heck of a fun packed party weekend ..