Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Mount Olympia hiking

In our hiking group, every time one of the members decide the trail of hiking. This time it was Mr. Man’s responsibility to select that. Mr. Man already hiked with his friends on a different trail of Diablo Mountain. Even last month we three hiked on another trail at Diablo Mountain. This time we decided more strenuous hiking. So, Mr. Man found out North Peak trail in Mount Olympia. The hike was going to be really strenuous, rather impossible to us. Eleven miles round trip with 3000 feet elevation was not possible, specially with a seven years old. Still we wanted to give a try.  In the morning of our hiking day, two of our hiking group members messaged that they wouldn’t be able to join us. So, we three, and another friend decide to carry on.
 

Parking car was a little difficult when we reached there. Actually, there was no parking place at the trail head, rather we had to park our car on curbside. Then we started walking. After walking few minutes, we found that the trail was almost as flat as any road. We realized we made some mistake. After searching in the map, we found, we started walking towards the downtown, instead of the peak. After turning around we took the real trail, and saw many people were hiking . The starting point was vary wide ,amid thick green. 


The path was not as much as eventful, as it was looking. Though it was wide without any hidden danger,with burbling sound of the little stream beside the path, but few spell of rain and horses hoop prints made the walking little difficult. Most probably on the rainy days equestrians stroll on the path leaving behind the deep hoop prints making the path very uneven. We faced difficulty to step on the ground. 


Wherever, we set our feet, we felt the pain at the bottom of feet. Anyway,  the path started going upwards, making the walking little difficult. On the top of that my son started whining. Then we reached a little stream, which crossed by jumping over the stream. My son got little interest after seeing the little stream. After crossing the stream the we found that the path was very steep. When we hiked and stood straight, we found that we already gained almost  half of the elevation. We felt motivated and started walking leaving behind the falls trail, as we wanted to hike to North Peak. On our way we met a gentleman. He told us that the trail towards North Peak was extremely steep. On top of that the train was very barren. The day was very hot and brightly sunny. My son was with us. We realized that we could not hike to North Peak. Then we decided to hiking on the Falls trail. Our adventure began from there.





The falls trail was off shoot of the main trail. It was narrow, maximum two and half feet wide path. We started hiking in a line, as no two people could walk side by side. Moreover, the one side of the path was the steep mountain, and another was deep cliff. On the top of that the path was full of pebbles. When we start walking I didn’t see the side of the cliff, but as soon as I saw my jaw dropped. We were walking on a narrow path with deep cliff on one side, any wrong step could cause any major accident. On our way, my husband stopped and wanted to show me the fall from distant, I could not see at first. My son shook me and he desperately wanted to show the fall. With his shake I was about to fall from the cliff. My heart stopped for a fraction of second. Anyway, we went on and on to find out the waterfall, which we saw from distant.  


Then, we reached one point where the steep mountain slightly tilted towards the narrow path. That was another point of challenge. Anyway, we successfully crossed that part. Then we reach one small waterfall deep down the ravine. We became so excited, we almost ran towards the small waterfall without thinking anything. After that, we could’t found any path to cross the fall. We hike upward on a pebbled dart path where we saw a small opening between to pointed rocks. Mr. Man’s friend tried to go through those stones, and he found there was no opening to go there. So we needed to turn around to take the path few steps back. However, turning around was a big challenge. I was at the bottom, so I was the first person to turn around and step back. There was nothing to hold for support. On the top of that the part was so narrow, and steep that one could easily fall in the falls, which was very small , but the sharp boulders there made it dangerous and scary. I tried to turn around, and I found it was difficult to me. So, I sat down on my bottom and try to slip down. As I sat down , I couldn’t control myself . I was slipping down. From behind my husband was shouting and asking me to stand up. I shouted back that I  couldn’t stand up. Somehow I managed to stand up. Then it was my son’s turn. He took it as a fun. He started slipping down just like a slide in his school park. However,my heart beats I skipped . 


Anyway, we successfully avert any danger. Then the path was not as dangerous as it was, still it was not easy path. Again we met another unforeseen danger, though it was not as dangerous as the previous one. Again we reached a small stream which we had to cross. The stream was little below where we had been standing. When we tried to come down , again we found it was slippery with lose dart. Thankfully there two trees, where we could support us to come down. Rest of the hike was normal. Till date we hiked so many places, but this was the first time we faced danger.



13 comments:

Gosia said...

lovely trip

JoJo said...

I've been on a few trails like that in Marin County and I found going down was way harder than going up. There was a trail behind my townhouse complex that afforded amazing views from the top. But going back down, the trail was full of scree and loose stones and more than once I lost my footing and slid down on my butt.

Beauty Unearthly said...

Really interesting post...thx for sharing! xx

Beena said...

Wow Lovely post

Ti Emme said...

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handmade by amalia said...

Great adventures. What a lovely place for a hike.
Amalia
xo

diane b said...

That was a scary adventure. Take care when hiking. You must be very fit. Thanks for visiting.

George said...

I'm glad you got through this hike without getting hurt -- it sounds very dangerous. I'm not sure I could do it.

Nancy Chan said...

Such an exciting adventure! I wouldn't dare walk along the edge of the cliff, no thank you. My legs will turn to jelly!

Diane said...

Amazing hiking in places like this and yes you need to be very fit. Thanks for your visit Diane

eileeninmd said...

Hello, wonderful photos from your hike. I am glad no one was hurt and everyone was careful. Happy Sunday, enjoy your new week ahead!

Powell River Books said...

Nice hike. Rocky trails can be tricky. The first picture makes it look like they are mining rock or gravel on terraces. - Margy

Paulita said...

What a fun hike. You're brave to take a 7-year-old along.

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