Ellis Peak and Lake Tahoe

21st September 2008

Where else ? Home for several recreational activities, in summer and in winter, the second deepest in United States, known for its clear water, surrounded by the Sierras, and so on and on … and it is Tahoe … :):):)…

My desire to hike Meeks Bay trail was fulfilled yesterday and so it was Hina’s turn to fulfill her desire to climb Ellis Peak (8640ft) for the sweeping views of the spectacular Lake Tahoe. My knees and heels were so sore but, the thought of fantastic blue lake made me to go for it. It was 6 miles round trip hike with 1,800ft elevation gain and 400ft elevation drop. Initially the statistics looked very easy for me … why not ? An year ago I could run up this peak effortlessly ...

Ellis Peak is located at the west shore of the Lake Tahoe (Map). If you are driving from South Lake Tahoe on Hwy-89, take a left on Blackwood Canyon road to Barker Pass. The trailhead starts at the end of Blackwood Canyon road. There is a spacious dirt parking lot. The trail is well traveled and maintained. And also, you will meet a lot of dogs and dog owners ...

First mile was a steady climb with few steep sections under the shade of the trees … with dog walkers passing … and the dogs sniffing on me and one of them liked me so much that it licked my nose and cheeks … he looked like a wolf … big … hairy … almost white … brutal yellow eyes etc … but very gentle and friendly at heart :) Another one was like Scooby Doo (Great Dane) … she was as tall as me when she stood on her hind legs to sniff my face … okay enough of dog stories … Once I was on the ridge the sweeping views of Desolation Wilderness and Granite Chief Wilderness opened up … The Hellhole reservoir was visible at a distance … and I thought I already reached the peak … you know when you are in pain you will believe anything :)

All the way on the ridge I saw the remnants of wildflowers as a symbol of faded glory ... withered, dry ... still they looked beautiful ...

And there was a motorcycle rider ... was resting on the false summit ...

Second mile is a bit flat initially and then climbs down … gradually and then steep down into the forest … I wondered where is the peak ??? And then last mile is all uphill to the peak … By the time I reached the craggy peak my knees were hurting … it was excruciating pain.

From the peak I could see the Ellis Lake ... a small pond like ... green lake ...

After witnessing the spectacular view of the Lake Tahoe I felt speechless … it was all worth it … I didn’t have my wide-angle lens or my Cannon 30D with me for this hike … and my tiny point-and-shoot Sony DSC-N1 wouldn’t make any justice to the magnificent view there … But still managed a panorama with a bit of crappy stitching …

I seem to forget my injured ankle and the weight recently I have gained … it was difficult when my knees got stiff again … I saw our hiking partner Jan, may be 30 years older than me, was walking effortlessly … life felt miserable on the way back … And after finishing this spectacular hike I decided I will take a break from hard hiking this year until my ankle and knees heal ...

Hiking Meeks Bay Trail

20 September 2008

Last year I wanted to do this Meeks bay Trail to Rubicon Lake and due to extreme cold in October I had to back out. This year I tried in September and it was perfect weather ...

Located at the west shore of the Lake Tahoe, Meeks bay Trail (Map)is 16.2 miles long and has considerable elevation gain. It is considered to be a moderate hike and passes a chain of alpine lakes. The day use permit is required and the permit can be collected at the self-service station at the trailhead. The trailhead is on Hwy-89 right across the Meeks bay Resort.

Me and Hina started the hike little late at 10:30AM. Initially we went on as fast as possible ... the first mile is an unpaved road which leads to the actual trailhead ... after this the trail gradually climbs up ... at 4.6 miles we saw the Lake Genevieve ... pretty big lake with the rocky peaks in the background ... we took a break for few minutes to fill some fuel into us ...

Another 0.3 miles walk led us to the Crag Lake ... we were very eager to see more lakes as we progressed ...

Some more uphill ... rocky steps ... where the trail forks to Hidden Lake down below and the Meeks bay trail continues on the left ... We saw the lake from the cliff and continued on Meeks bay trail ... the Shadow Lake was almost dried up ...

We continued non-stop ... some more uphill ... to our joy the Stony Ridge Lake was so cool, pristine and spectacular ... getting a good picture of that beauty was just not possible with my point-and-shoot camera ... since it was a long hike I had not carried my usual camera gear and had to manage with the little what I had in hand ... we sat there over a boulder on lakeside ... enjoyed viewing the rocky mountains ... clear water ... reflection of sunlight ... and nibbled on snacks ...

Next was Rubicon Lake, our final destination before we turned to retrace our steps back to trailhead ... the trail was going uphill in between the rocks and boulders ... and by now my knees were whining ... as we ascended uphill the views of the Stony Ridge lake were visible far away down below ...

At last ... there it was ... hidden behind the granite giants ...

Rubicon Lake ... our final destination of the day ... it was blue and beautiful ... not as big as Stony Ridge lake ... we had our lunch there ... it tasted divine ... after 8 miles of almost non-stop hike anything would taste good :) We had sandwiches ... wholegrain bread, coriander chutney, tomato, cucumber and avocado and of course salt-pepper :) ... kind of gave us energy boost ... we had 8.1 more miles to go back to the trailhead ...

Now all the way downhill ... my knees were resisting so much ... I had to push myself hard ... but, there was no time to relax ... we had to reach the civilization before Sun sank behind peaks ... we passed Stony Ridge Lake ... it was beautiful and serene ... but, we didn't have any mood to pay attention ... we moved on ... there it was ... Hidden Lake ... so ... two more to go ... yey ... there was Crag Lake ... and there we passed Lake Genevieve ... and the lake told us "another 4.6 miles more" ... ahhh ... the pain in the knees was unbearable now ... I was almost limping ... and all I was searching in the woods was the unpaved road ... and I saw it every now and then ... and Hina laughed ... may be that is called hallucination ... hehehe ...

Sun was now behind the rocky peaks ... it was getting dark ... we passed the wooden bridge, the sign board, trees which indicated we were getting near to the unpaved road ... I started running ... with the knees hurting I looked awkward to myself ... But, I am scared of dark ... in the woods ... what if a puma is on its prowl ?? what if I see a bear ??? with limping limbs I could never go for a ballroom dance with a Californian brown bear !! And I saw the unpaved road ... I yelled out ... screamed out of joy ... as if I had won a gold medal in Olympics marathon ... Sun was completely behind the hills now ... we had one more mile to walk to reach the parking ... we started talking about our fears ... our religions ... especially funny customs and beliefs ... it was a nice contrast ... Hinduism and Islam ... and then some politics ... and then what to eat for dinner ... and we saw our car ...

After dumping the daypack into the trunk ... I got rid of those heavy hiking boots ... they looked very ugly ... my feet were happy to earn their rightful freedom after 8 hours of painful confinement ... then me and Hina both laughed as we peeled off the sticking dirty socks ... the fiber from the socks was still sticking to my heels and toes. We drove back to the campground ... after a shower I ate channa usali (seasoned garbanzo beans). Sitting beside the campfire brought us (especially me) back to normal ... It was a great beautiful hike ... I wish my knees weren't a problem ... ahhh ...

Columbia State Historic Park

14th September 2008

Columbia is another visitor attraction in Calaveras County. If you like history then this is the place for you :) Located 3 miles north of Sonora, Columbia is one of the best preserved California Gold Rush towns. The original brick buildings with iron doors are well preserved. It is not a dead museum but is a living community. The main street is lined with stores, restaurants and bar.

There is no entrance fee. When I entered the park I could see the mid-19th century gold rush town. I was standing in front of a bar looking for a state park map :) And I got one state park brochure from the bartender :):) Then I started to get to know the history ...

In 1850s few miners found gold in Columbia and within months there were 6,000 miners digging for gold. In a decade two fires destroyed the town considerably, but it was rebuilt. After a decade when the easily mined placer gold was gone people started abandoning the town ... later in mid-20th century it became a state historic park. I spent two hours wandering around the streets. I didn't go for any specific events or tours that park offers.

There were preserved buildings ...


Stores ... where friendly people dressed in centuries old style clothes ...


Poultry ... this particular species, called Dominique chickens, was brought here as they are hardy, and do well in open and confinement. Taking care was easy ...

Museums ...

Restaurants ...

Mobile restaurants ...

Century old stagecoaches ...

Blacksmith ...

A jail ...

Carts ...

And people ...

It was fun ... wandering in a town stuck at 1850s, talking to people dressed in centuries old style.

Natural Bridges

14th September 2008

Another small wonders of nature lies in Calaveras County of California. Just 10 miles off Hwy-4 on Parrot Ferry road you will see a sign board for Natural Bridges trailhead. When I was reading about these bridges on the net I didn't realize they could be so unexpectedly beautiful.


I parked my car and saw only another car there. The sign board indicated the distance to the upper bridge is 3/4 mile. The trail has a gentle descend with long switchbacks in open, dry shrubby land. I went on ... nothing seemed attractive on the trail ... It was quite hot afternoon ... when I approached the bridge I saw an young couple with two baby girls ... The very unfriendly welcome from them indicated that they didn't seem to be pleased with my arrival there ... I passed them to be near the bridge to take pictures ...

The Coyote Creek flows through this cave open both sides creates these upper and lower bridges. People usually go to the upper side of the bridge and swim across to the lower bridge. I was prepared to swim across but when I looked back the unfriendly family had already left ... didn't want to leave my camera gear unattended and so sat there inside the cave watching the reflections in the water on the cave walls.

This bridge is truly amazing ... it is not just a bridge ... it is a cave ... it is a Gothic Arch ... it gets a mysterious look with the stalactites hanging from the top with moss grown on them ... the darkness inside ... and then the faint light which enters from the other side ... like some Harry Potter movie ... while sitting there I just imagined the Slytherin coming out of it :)

There is a trail to the lower bridge (or other side of the cave). But, I was happy with one entrance. I had heard that lower side is not that attractive ... It was a perfect lunch spot but, I didn't have any food ... I sat there thinking of coming back with at least one more person to swim across :)

I sat there for some time enjoying the cool and freshness of the water and air before heading back ... on the way back I saw a big crowd going to the bridge ...

Moaning Cavern

14th September 2008

Moaning Caverns sounds funny huh ? This cave is almost vertical hole in the ground and the air inside it makes kind of moaning sound and hence ... :) Located in Vallecito not far away from Hwy-4. It is always associated either with rappelling or an iron stairecase :) It is not a very big cave but, is more popular for its Adventure Tour which includes rappelling down the cave. After the visit I am inclined to go there again for the adventure tour :)


When I reached the cave I was the only one for the tour. Then the tour guide told me that would be a private tour for me :) After the brief introduction about who, how and when this dangerous cave was found etc ... we started descending into the very narrow hole in the Earth by a steep iron ladder. When we reached the top of the big chamber the guide got a message about three more tourists will be joining us. So we waited for them. The guide explained us how people would have fallen into the deep cave through the hole above. It seems an heap of hundreds of human and animal carcasses were found at the bottom of this cave. Below is the picture of the spiral staires which I took from the bottom. Just cannot imagine the innocent unsusppecting victims falling into this deep cave ending up with broken limbs and dying unnoticed in the pitch dark :(

Once the other three tourists joined us we started descending around 100ft to the bottom of the big chamber through a spriral stairecase. The guide mentioned this stairecase is a century old and was made using the iron from a Navy Ship. While descending I could see very long and beautiful draperies and the big mushroom like flowstones from so near.

Lower part of the mushroom patch ...

Once we reached the bottom of the big chamber we could see a giant mushroom like a flowstone formation.

You can see the brown color on the mushroom patch. That is because ... there was a big rusted iron structure above the ground near the cave hole. So the water which dropped on these flowstones had iron rust which gave the mysterious color and enhanced the beauty of these flowstones :)

This coral like formation on the ground was totally separated from other flowstone formations ... the guide didn't give any suitable info on this though ...

This is at the base of the mushroom patch ... seems like water flows from the mushrooms and falls on the ground and forms this wavy textured stone :) Amazing ...

Wonderful ... there was not much to see but, whatever was there was amazing !! I am waiting to go there again for Adventure tour :)

Small Town America - Murphys

12th September 2008

Recently I happened to read a book on small yet interesting towns of America and now I am trying to see those small towns as I happen to pass by them. One of such towns is Murphys in the Calaveras County of California. I wandered around the Main street and few off streets.


The first thing caught my attention was a shop Stories in Stones ... I was warmly greeted by a senior lady as I entered the shop. The stones were neatly lined up ... not that I haven't seen such stones elsewhere but, some carved stones were genuinely interesting ... There was a skeleton of an ancient polar bear which was brought from Russia. The owner proudly told me about it ...

Then I went on to look for Bambi Papais Art Gallery. This is popular for the water color paintings of local landscape of Sierra foothills. They were indeed beautiful. But, heard that the gallery will be closed soon and the painitngs will be still sold at Harbinger Gallery in Arnold, CA just 4 miles away from Murphys which I visited later that day. Another impressive gallery was Iron Door Art Gallery which had mostly oil paintings.

In the Art galleriy I saw the faces of Goddesses from different religious mythologies. And this was how Hindu Goddess Kali was seen by the Murphy artist.

One of interesting buildings on main street was Antique Plumbing. Antique building for antique plumbing :)

I went on further passing restaurants looking at the interesting lamps, doors and this was metal Sculpture ...

And there was this Old Timer's Museum. It is a small place with lot of items on display. The antique collection is very impressive but they are crammed in a small place.

Most interesting was this cash counter ...

The ironboxes lined up ...

Then headed towards my destination for that day ...

Calaveras Big Trees

12th September 2008

If you had not been to Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks then Calaveras Big Trees State Park is a place to visit to see few of the big trees. Located in Calaveras County on Hwy-4 this state park is around 22 miles east of Angels Camp. It is a small little state park under the shade of big trees.


I reached the park earlier than other campers that day. The group campgrounds were in a secluded part of the park away from rest of the family campgrounds. The wooded place was full of shade and breezy. There was plenty of space for parking. Though the campsite had flush toilets and showers they were not very clean, but better than pit toilets :) I had my lunch at a picnic table, a sandwich and a portion of a watermelon. Blue Jays were every where. I inspected the ground for footprints. I could see clear footprints of deer and raccoon. But, there were fresh marks of a bit bigger paws. Not sure if they were of any bear !! After pitching the tent I thought of taking a stroll around the North Grove trail in the park.

North Grove trail (Map) is an interpretive trail about the big trees. Redwoods, Cedars, Sequoias, Pines and so on ... I had to share the trail with a big-noisy but friendly family here ... all into taking their pictures with these ancient trees ... they offered to take my pictures too ... as I went on ... I saw the trees, tree stumps, dead giants, dogwood and so on ... the dogwood flowers were now dry and the small berries were looking like a fine colorful gem-studded brooch ... and I saw an Asian guy reading a book in a very calm, cool and beautiful place ...

The bark of this tree is a bit unusual ... like pink granite ... so they called it Granite Tree ...
As I was reading the history of this place I realized the people who found these big trees didn't respect them. They were amazed by the size of these trees; they cut the trees and sent few logs to New York to show people about their find. One such big tree is now only a Big Stump ... it is so big that it could be used as a dance platform !!

There is another such tree, the Sacrificial Tree ... the early discoverers striped the tree of its bark, to exhibit in New York, eventually killed it ...

All these destructive events were critically condemned and the forest of giants was saved by some tree lovers of those days ... In my previous visit to this park I had hiked the South Grove trail which is about five miles. In comparison with North Grove, it looked lusher and there are much bigger trees there. One of them is Palace Hotel.

It was a short but very refreshing walk in the North Grove ... then I headed back to the campground to meet the other campmates ...

Next morning I headed to Ebbetts Pass which is 40 miles from east of Calaveras Big Trees on Hwy-4 for a nine miles hike to Noble Lake. Drive to reach Ebbetts Pass was adventurous in itself :) The highway becomes single lane road once you enter the Alpine County, narrow winding steep uphill and down ... on that some bicyclists ... woooow !!

Noble Lake trail is part of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I had expected through backpackers and plenty of hikers ... but ended up hiking all alone ... amidst trees, high granite boulders ... For some reason on this hike I never thought about bears ... but when I passed one of the high granite boulders I had a wierd feeling that a mountain lion (puma) was lurking above the high boulder to pounce on me ... hehehe ... I didn't have anything to fight back except for two bananas and an apple in the backpack. Later however I realized it was a coyote ... Then I saw a herd of cattle running down the adjucent hill kicking off the dust ... and the bells around their neck made a melodious sound which made the whole landscape beautiful. I stood there and saw the dust raising up the trees while the bells went on tung ... tung ...

The trail is a bit steep uphill and downhill ... kind of butt-kicking ... as we cross the Noble Canyon. When I reached the lake I was not awe-struck ... Noble Lake lacks that prestine look of Alpine Lakes ... something unusual about it was ... thousands of tiny frogs ... reminded me of the rainforests of India ... It was time to head back ... again I was encountered by herd of cattle ... one big black cow was right on the narrow trail ... I yelled ... Hello Please get out of my way ... it turned and gave me a stare ... I yelled again ... and again ... and the staring continued ... after yelling 10 to 12 times it moved down to join its herd ... as it ran down ... it kicked some dust and then ... tung ... tung ... tung ... this time it didn't sound so beautiful :)

On the way back I stopped at Mosquito Lake and Alpine Lake. On the drive back only thing in my mind was ... Paneer Butter Masala (MTR ready to eat) and the roti for the supper ...

Music of Violin

Since childhood I have been loving the sound of violin. When I listen to it ... no matter what type of music it is playing ... western or Indian .... I melt with it ... it has all emotions in it together ... fun ... sad ... romance ... intensity ... slow ... rythm ... beautiful ... soothing ... inspiring ... compelling ... just like life !!



Another one ...

Lassen revisited ...

Exactly after one year I revisited Lassen Volcanic National Park :) This time I camped in a different corner of this national park. Near the beautiful Butte Lake. Carpooling with Hina was fun that we equally shared the drive on Butte Lake road and we saw a bear running. Low point in this trip was I didn't take my absolute companion ... my camera ... so I am letting you see the pictures of my last year visit :)

In my trip last year I had visited and hiked most of the popular destinations in the park like hike to the Lassen Peak, Brokeoff Mountain, Cinder Cone, Bumpass Hell, Kings Creek falls. It was a great trip then. So, this time I wanted to cover the trails which I had missed last time.

Hikes ...

What is special about Lassen ? There are 4 types of volcanoes in the world and all those 4 types exist in Lassen !!:) The 4 types of volcanoes and those exist in Lassen are :

Plug Dome - Lassen Peak
Composite - Brokeoff Mountain
Cinder Cone - Cinder Cone
Shield - Prospects Peak

So, I had not climbed only one and that was Prospects Peak. Camping at Butte Lake was very convenient. Prospects Peak trailhead (map)starts from Butte Lake and was only 7 miles round-trip with a steady climb over an easy grade. Still it is very hard on the knees and ankles as we have to walk on the loose volcanic ash/gravel. On the way back my knee gave me some problem that I thought I would never be able to hike again :(

This is view from top of Prospects Peak, Burney Mountain Look out ... to ... Mt Shasta ...

There was a register in this rusted box ... me and Hina printed our names with date ...

Next day, we went for Cluster Lakes loop hike (map), the trailhead is at Summit Lake which is 45 miles drive from Butte Lake. It was a 12 miles easy and beautiful hike in the shade of redwood and pine trees. There are about 10 lakes in this cluster, seven of them named and three unnamed. Some lakes were deep blue in color and some emerald green. It was very nice to walk on the lakes-side, it was cool and breezy ... almost flat trail under the happy green trees. There were blue jays everywhere ... though their song is not that melodious, they brought more color and life to already beautiful landscape there ... We went on ... Echo Lake ... Upper Twin Lake ... L0wer Twin Lake ... Feather Lake ... Silver Lake ... Big Bear Lake ... Little Bear Lake ... some unnamed lake ... and then Summit Lake ... and we were back ... Pictures of Cluster Lakes Loop ...

On the third day, Hina wanted to go for Lassen Peak and I went for some easier hikes around Manzanita Lake, around Reflection Lake and Lily pond trail. Lily Pond Trail is an interpretive and self-guided trail, but there was no one other than me. I saw the Lily Pond but no lilies.

Reflection Lake is beautiful from where I could get the nice views of Chaos Crags and Lassen Peak. I wish I were there early in the morning for pictures.

Manzanita trail was quite crowded and I was looking for a secluded place to sit and read a book which I had picked recently from library.

And I saw a family of deer.

I picked a spot and settled ... I could see people kayaking, and fishing ... there are trout here ... and there is a limit of three trout per day ... I could see the trout jumping out of the water a bit and making a 'tout' sound ... after a while I got used to that sound ... Later I saw a mammal which was swimming in the water looked like a huge rat. Could be a wood rat or could be a beaver.

On the way back I wanted to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant which I had discovered during my Crater Lake trip few weeks ago. Wong's Chinese Restaurant is very near to the exit 603 on I-5 and the food is very tasty. I ate Garlic Eggplant and Vegetable Fried rice. yummy yummy ...