This week we took a couple of our friends with us on our hike. We always wanted to share the benefits of hiking with them and it finally happened. Mike originally planned to go to Portola Redwood State Park where the old giant tree is, but ended up changing plans to Castle Rock because one of our friend wasn't feeling well.
As this was their first hike, we wanted to ease them into hiking. So, we first took them to see the Castle Rock, and from there we picked up the trail leading to the Goat Rock and then turned back around.
Since this was Thanksgiving weekend, the park was very crowded. However, it worked out well for us since our friend who is new to hiking preferred to be near other human beings vs. totally isolated in the nature. The park has a good mix of vegetation and trails -- lush woods, amazing vistas along the ridges, challenging trails and above all very interesting rock formations called "tafoni." Tafoni which looks like swiss cheese is a result of gradual weathering processes reshaping the sandstone over a long long period of time. The tafoni rock's steep and swiss cheese-looking faces provide a plenty of finger and toe holds for rock climbers and thus makes the park a popular hang-out for rock climbers and boulderers in addition to hikers.
One downside of the hike was that some parts of the trails were quite narrow with rocky and steep ups and downs. However, our novice hiker friends managed them really well :D -- we were so proud!
We finished the day with the super yummy dinner at the Pacific Catch Campbell for the first time followed by the two kids successfully finishing the computer game, Portal 2 -- whose ending credits song "Still Alive" (Portal 1) I love so much that I adopted it as the ringtone for my cell.
Our Friends And Us
Easy To Guess Who is Mike Here :)
What Do You Mean This Is Not Castle Rock?
Maybe This Tree Needs Chemo
Who Invited The Fingers?
Well-Deserved Dinner At Pacific Catch Campbell
Edamame And Little Fish Crackers
Cabo Calamari And Thai Coconut Shrimp
Spicy Mahi Mahi Sandwich
California Salad
Grilled Mahi Mahi Special
Fried Dulce de Leche "Spring Rolls"
No comments :
Post a Comment