Kirukkalkal

After contemplating for several weeks, we bit the bullet and decided to do this hike. The main problem for us was the daunting 11-12 mile hike. Anyway, the point is that we set off to do it this weekend. Sunday showed more chances for rain than Saturday. So, we left early on Saturday. We had done a bunch of research and had watched videos that showed mama bear and cubs in the area! So, we took some small bells to hang from the backpack. It was a cloudy day, all the way to the trailhead. While the fall colors were iffy on the Northway 87, it got better and beautiful as we got closer to Exit 30 and on Route 73. We were looking for the trailhead parking around Ausable road - about 5-6 miles after taking Route 73. The parking was overflowing and cars were parked on 73 for about a mile on either side, wherever there was space. Luckily, we got a spot on Route 73 not too far from the trailhead (maybe about a mile or so from the trailhead). We got to the Lake Road, between two tennis

Though we have been living in the country for a while, haven’t really planned a good long vacation in California. We’ve been meaning to see the giant trees, lush green valleys of Yosemite and scenic Pacific coast, we kept postponing for several reasons. In a way, it was good that we didn’t plan there in the last 5 years though. The drought struck California and its effect on Yosemite waterfalls was so evident from the pictures. Luckily, the rains and snow during the last year had made the valley to come back! Day 1 (San Francisco): We started off in San Francisco and quickly drove away from the city after a day. The day that we spent in the city was a bit disappointing because of the heavy fog engulfing the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so bad that we could not see bridge even from a distance of about 100ft! Well, it wasn’t atypical for Golden Gate Bridge and we weren’t lucky enough to beat that. Downtown San Francisco had  lot  of things to offer - food,  road-side  chai shop and