Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls

Trail- Pipiwai Trail
Location- Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii
Distance- 5 mile roundtrip
Difficulty rating- Does not matter, it is way too beautiful :)

This is the most beautiful trail with the unique Bamboo shoots. 

It is totally covered all the way with the terrain changing at every moment.

First overlook spot at 0.5 miles.

Trees, bridges, streams..you got everything you ask..

Pool ..oops, river...?

You have no idea till you encounter this. This part starts around 1.5 miles.  it was the most unique fantastic experience I have had. The thick Bamboo shoots, the rustling, the walkway..I have now words!

The Bamboo magic extends for almost a mile!

This is the endpoint, the climax! The beautiful Waimoku Falls! :) 

The 5 mile is so worth it! 

Happy Trails!

Iao Valley

Name: Iao Valley

Location: West Maui Mountains

Trail- Unpaved

When you are in Maui, you see two mountain ranges- West Maui mountains( Iao valley) and the Haleakala mountains.  It reminded me of the peaceful hermitages, with all the greenery, waterfalls and botanical gardens

The pristine waterfalls will make anyone's heart soar.

This is the Iao Needle. This reminded me of the place shown in the series "Lost". One of the most magical places.

There is an unpaved trail when you reach the top. If you make it through the slippery slopes, you have the most breathtaking views of the valley, which is not visible to others on the paved trail.

It can get pretty dangerous if it is rainy as there are no railings. You can continue on this trail for a long time. We returned back after 2.5 miles. The forest gets dense.

The tree on the way to the trail, this is probably the widest spot we ever faced.

As John Muir said,I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in!

Happy Trails!

Sliding Sands Trail

Name: Sliding Sands  Trail

Location- Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii

Roundtrip- 11 miles till camp (backpacking)

Rating- Strenuous as it starts at 10,000ft and goes downhill first. Need to be aware of the uphill climb!

This is my most favorite hike till date. As you walk amidst these dormant volcanoes, you are suddenly transported to another planet.

This is the view of Western Maui mountains (Iao Valley) as you are climbing up the Haleakala Peak.

First sight of the observatory and the peak at the Trailhead.

Are you on Mars?!

A land of wonder!

Such beautiful vistas, streaks and these are pictures from my super simple camera!

I could not get enough of the scene at hand (or leg? :P)

It is a straight 2000ft descent in about 2 miles. It is very easy to go down being lost in the beauty and serenity of the place.

When you stop to look behind, you are caught in a fix to determine which spot is the best.

The sparse vegetation.

The endangered species of the land- Silversword! They really are silver.

They look like these fuzzy balls scattered around the place. They are present at around 1.8 mile marker and nowhere else.

Proof of lava flow and solidification. When you walk on it, you have a feeling that you are part of history :)

This is very deceptive and you can go on without stopping. CAUTION: Stop! Assess the amount of distance and depth at a point and note that you have to climb back that steep ascent. At 10,000ft, the equations are totally different.

Once you are back, you cant stop looking back :)

This is a very challenging trail. It is best to backpack and walk the entire 11 miles to the camp to avoid the ascent back on the steep slope. Carry lots of water! Best part is, if you dont want to walk all the way, you can stop wherever you want and just turn back.

HAPPY TRAILS! 

Lawson and Gaskill Peak- Cleveland National Forest

After the 2 peak bagging of Cowles-Pyles, I tried my luck with another adventure to visit 2 peaks in the same hike. Lawson and Gaskill Peaks are in Cleveland National Forest, and considered a moderate hike.

The trail is not well maintained compared to the usual trails in San Diego county. We saw tyre marks throughout the path, which I presume is used by ATVs. The trailhead does not have any signs, except for a geographical co-ordinate. No designated parking either.

After a mile or so, the trail looks as above. It is green and has beautiful lookout throughout the hike.

After a while, you can see both the peaks at once- Lawson to your left and Gaskill to your right.











The trail to Lawson ends at about 0.5 mile before the summit. It is rock scrambling, bush-whacking from here on.









The peak has a chimney which is very steep. This place is used by rock climbers and luckily a samaritan had left a rope for others to climb.

After the chimney climb, we enter a cave which opens up to a beautiful lookout.

Once done with Lawson, Gaskill seems easy as there is a trail that goes all the way to the summit.

The trail might be difficult to find after a point and we just have to head in the general direction of the peak.

They have fancy rock formations like the one to the right that looks like an alien!

The view from the both the summits are worthwhile!

This hike is around 7 miles roundtrip with elevation gain of 2000 ft.

Things needed- Hiking poles, long pants and shirts (for rock climbing and bush-whacking) and 2L of water

Happy Trails! :)

Castle Rock Trail- Big Bear

Big Bear is the nearest place you can go to play with the snow. Apart from the skiing attraction, it is a popular place in the summer for hikes and to cool off.

Due to the elevation, it has a different topography compared to the mainland San Diego. Dont we all wish for the woods after the scorching heat?

Courtesy-Bigbearadventures.com

You hit the above sign easily while looking for this trail. It is mostly a rocky terrain with scope for rock climbing and scrambling.

The trail must be less than 2 miles roundtrip, but making way through the rocks pose a challenge.
The tree cover helps you all the way and reminded me of the redwood trees.

It was pretty difficult to sight the exact summit as we could not find many trail markers.

If you see the above sight at the midway point, you have seen the summit.

After some huffing and puffing and some steep vertical climb, we reached the top only to see the below breathtaking views of the Big Bear lake :)

Happy Skiing or Rock climbing!

The Lovely Woods - Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

The very first day of the new year was blessed. I spent it in a place I find peace at. I love the woods and imagine being amidst the tall redwood trees. I could not ask for more :)

This is the lovely Henry Cowell Redwoods State park near Santa Cruz, California.
Although I wanted to go to the Big basin State park, I settled with this due to time constraint. And it was a blessing in disguise!
Did the short redwood Grove loop trail with around 1 mile roundtrip.

This trail joins many other beautiful trails. This state park is less crowded and has a movie-like steam train station, a waiting room, coffee place, carts and lovely music playing. Seemed like a fairy land. I would recommend this place to anyone visiting the area.

Tree house in a different sense?

You want to know how old the trees are?

The rings tell the story. 

Cant visit Muir woods or Big Basin? Frown not.

Coz here you can find the exact setting in a lonelier wilderness.