Vacations

ATM Cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal)

We didn’t take any cameras with us to the ATM caves since they weren’t allowed inside. They weren’t even allowed on the hike up to the cave, and had to be left in the parking lot. The tour started out by fording a chest deep river, then hiking through the jungle for 45 minutes, including fording the river twice more. The cave entrance was daunting, as it was something that belonged in Romancing the Stone. To enter the cave you had to jump into a pool of water and swim upstream for a bit to get to a small ledge. Then you had to go upstream through large boulders to get to the ruins. There was one section where you had to get down chest deep and squeeze your head through a rock just so, where it looked like the rock would take your head off. This was by far the most strenuous part of any tour I’ve been on. The water made it both harder and nicer, since we were cooled down by all of it.

After about 3/4 of a mile we got to the climb up to the archeological site. Once we got to the part with the remains we had to take off our shoes and then we got to hike into an area that had pottery everywhere. There were also a good number of human remains. Since the cave had water flowing all over the place many of the remains had been swept to different areas of the cave, and some were encased by calcite deposits. The main attractions were in the back of the cave, that wasn’t too easily accessed. The first skull was of a young child that most likely had hydrocephalus. This skull was the reason for no cameras, since someone had previously dropped a camera onto the skull. The second main attraction was the Crystal Maiden, which wasn’t actually shiny since it was dry when we were there. The cave formations were pretty neat, and I really enjoyed the intense hike it took to get to the site.

The hike out was easier, but everyone was very tired. We had lunch in the parking lot; the same lackluster lunch. Everyone got cleaned up, and dried off. Then we went back to Caves Branch and more or less crashed for the rest of the day.

December 13, 2014 0

Cave Tubing

We got up to go cave tubing the first full day in Belize. We had heard that the previous week all water activities had been canceled due to high water. We got lucky and the water was just low enough for us to go through the river of caves. We had a long and bumpy ride out to the river, which is on the Caves Branch property, and then we got ready to go. The water was a bit cool, but not too bad. The diving booties were perfect for the water.

We started on the first cave and I was very surprised at how far it went. I was also surprised when there was a loud popping sounds at the very beginning as one of the guides had the extra tube pop on a sharp rock. We were in the first cave for a good 45 minutes. The light was too low for the GoPro to really pick up the larger sections of the cave, but in the tighter sections, and where there were cave in windows we could get a good video.

There were a good number of bats in the caves, and we could see them flying around when we woke them with the headlamps. We got through the first two caves, and had the option to stop there for lunch. We declined and had to hike through the jungle for a little bit to get to the next cave. Once there the guide told us to keep our lights off and do the cave in the dark, since it was a slow cave that was also deep, so nothing to worry about.

When we exited the dark cave, there was a massive group of people on the side of the river. This was where the cruises would bring their guests and have them go through the last two caves. This made it a little harder for us since we had to deal with cruise passenger tube flotillas. The tubes they were on were connected together making large rafts of 12 to 16 people, and it was impossible to get around them. At a few points these rafts got between us and we just had to deal with it. Not too long after that we got to the end of the cave and had lunch.

As amazing as breakfast and dinner were, lunch was simple. There were tortillas with veggies, cheese, and lunch meats. The food was filling, healthy, but not all that tasty. We got to chat with the other guests a good bit and made quick friends. It seemed like the Caves Branch attracted a certain kind of person, which was the kind of person Steph and I get along with very well.

December 13, 2014 1

Getting to Belize

The morning of my flight, my mom was nice enough to get up early, even for her, and drive me to the airport. I got there a little before Stephanie, but by the time I went through security she was waiting and we had breakfast at the only open restaurant in the food court. The flight was uneventful, and we made it to Belize. After clearing customs there was a guy with a sign waiting for us at the airport. We headed to Caves Branch and got there mid afternoon, at about the same time all the tours were coming in from the jungle. We hung out in the room until dinner. The dinner was much nicer than we were expecting and it was a full 3 course dinner. There was a different 3 course dinner every night. The first course was pasta, soup, salad, and cheeses. The second course was the main course of fruits, and entrees. Many of the entrees were vegetarian and vegan friendly with a side option of meat, cheese, and eggs. There was also a delicious desert course every night. The staff there was also amazing, being both friendly and helpful. Chef Jay was fun, and reminded me strongly of Carlos, a friend from the fraternity, who was a Chef. We got to chat with some fun people and then called it a night early.

December 13, 2014 1

Hiking out from Sykes

We had a really good hike out, in the morning it was sunny, but as the day got later and we approached the coast it got overcast and foggy, which for hiking was great.

Joe is just visible on the point of the trail

There were any complications, and when we got the bottom we cleaned up some, then got on the road. Steph drove, which was really nice, since I was super tired and don’t think I would have been good to pay attention. We decided to go get some pho at Pho Vi Hoa, which was delicious. I really enjoyed the trip, and would certainly do it again.

The kitties were happy when I got home.

September 23, 2014 0

Sykes hot springs

From our camping site at Barlow flats it was another 3 miles to the hot springs. We decided to not pack up and drag everything to the hot springs but instead took just day gear and left the rest at Barlow flats. The hike to the springs was gorgeous and the last bit was crossing over a stream several times. When we got there the springs only had one occupant and we chatted with him for a while.

There are four pools, upper, middle, lower, and small. Other two hottest were the middle and small, then came the upper and then the lower. Flew spent most of our time in the middle pool, which could fit about 6 comfortably. An hour after we got there a group of 10 showed up and we chatted with them for a bit. Steph and I finished off the cider, and had a very relaxing time. More people started showing up as we left and the pools were pretty full by that time. The hike back wasn’t bad and we had a good dinner at camp.

September 23, 2014 0

Hiking into Big Sur

Steph and got on the road about 1:30 and made it to Big Sur Station at around 4pm. we waited there for about 30 min and then Joe and Chad got there.

We set out as we were getting shower on daylight. The hike was beautiful, but the first part was a grueling uphill with no forgiveness.

It was dusk as we came to the first campground, terrace creek. We decided to push on for another hour or so in the dark to make it to the next campground, Barlow flats, two miles further down the way.

When we got there it was pitch black. The people who had made it there before us were nice enough to show us to an empty camp spot. I took a bath in the creek, Then we set up and hung out with some of the other hikers. There was wiskey, scotch, sake, wine, beer, cider, and weed going around. Everyone was sharing their plenty but I stuck to just a little cider. We decided to call it a night a little early since everyone was so tired.

September 23, 2014 0

Henry Coe State Park Camping

Steph and I joined Lindsay and Jeremy on a 7.5 mile hike and backpacking trip to Henry Coe State Park. We all met at Jeremy’s place and drove to the park from there. It was only about a 45 min drive from San Jose, so not too far away. The park itself was gorgeous, and it wasn’t hard to find our way around. On the drive up to the park we saw a tarantula crossing the road.

I hadn’t realized they were around here, and this one was huge. We then got to the park and set out on our hike. We walked along some really pretty fields for a while and sat down to have lunch.

While eating we got to see some Woodpeckers putting acorns into holes in the oak trees. It was pretty amazing how many holes they had filled up with acorns.

We then got into some hillier forested areas. We got down to a dried creek bed at a place called “China Hole.” There were some small pools of water there, but not much, and nothing flowing.

There were some frogs, turtles, and decently large fish. After hanging out for a bit there, we hiked down the dried stream bed to the next road. There were a few puddles along the way, but nothing major in the way of water. We ran across a recently dead dear.

We had one huge hill to climb before we made it to the campsite. Past that hill it was just a short walk through another field and we got to the Lost Spring. There was only a drip coming out, but beneath the drip there was a large basin of water. That water was what we used to cook with that evening and the next morning. We also filtered some for the hike back. We set up camp and then had a nice dinner. During dinner we saw a deer walk by, but didn’t get any pictures of it.

After dinner Lindsay led a meditation session, where both Steph and I had our legs fall asleep. Then we played a game of Hanabi and a game of Boss Fight. We did well in Hanabi, but there was a little bit too much table talk. The game of Boss Fight was ok, but there wasn’t enough agency, or depth to the game. We then got to sleep, as everyone was very worn out. The next morning we got up around 10am. We had no idea that there was a 6.1 earthquake in Napa at 3:30am that morning, but we did realize that Jeremy was snoring and his alarm went off at 7:30. We then got a big breakfast and hit the road. While filling up water at the Lost Spring, we had a humming bird sit along the edge of the trough and drink water out of it. We hiked back along the dry river bed, and got to see some pretty wildlife around the few water holes that were left, including a bright red dragonfly, some quail, and a good number of butterflies.

We had a really good hike back along the river bed, and took another break at China Hole. We saw another group of day hikers, and decided to head out before they left. We chose a different, more direct route back, and the day hikers came along the same route. We passed each other a few times and then made it to the top of the mountain for lunch.

We were getting pretty tired, so we booked it out, and made some good time after lunch. We stopped by a Starbucks to treat ourselves to something cold and sweet before going home.

It was a pretty fun time and the views were amazing. I would love to do more hikes like this. It also was a good training for the Grand Canyon hike I have planned for November. The pack I took on this hike was 40 pounds without the water or containers. With full water it was getting close to 60 pounds. I expect to pack lighter personally on the Grand Canyon hike, but to be carrying more of other peoples stuff. the air was just as dry as I expect the canyon to be and it was more constant a temperature, but not too much cooler. The water I used was 4.5 liters on the hike in, and about 3 liters on the hike out. I did a full day’s worth of Soylent, but it wasn’t quite enough for a day’s food. The apples and peanut butter also weren’t worth their weight. I’d say it is probably worth bringing the trail mix, and filtering more water. The Soylent will still be a decent plan, but won’t be enough to hold me over the whole time.

August 25, 2014 0

Yosemite with the Parents

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I woke up early to rent a car for the weekend, then pick up my parents from the Millbrae Caltrian station. They got there much earlier than expected, but I was able to pick them up not too long after that. We got on the road and went to the northern entrance to Yosemite. The drive wasn’t too bad, but it got pretty stressful towards the end with the winding mountain roads. The views coming into the valley were amazing, and we stopped by Bridalveil Falls. It wasn’t flowing nearly as well as in the picture. We then went to the lookout point before entering the tunnel to leave the valley and got some really amazing views. We made it to the hotel and got some much needed rest. We were staying at the Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp, just outside the park’s southern entrance. There were a good number of decent restaurants at the lodge, and we ate there both nights were stayed there. The rest wasn’t great due to some snoring, but it was very refreshing after a long day.

The first thing we did on day two was go to the Vernal Falls trail. This has a footbridge that overlooks the falls as the first main stop, which is where my dad waited for mom and I to come back. Mom and I then went all the way to the top of the falls. The view from the top wasn’t all that good since you couldn’t see the falls at all. The creek at the top is also deceptively calm, and makes you want to go put your feet into the water. The stairs up to the falls were much trickier going down than going up. There was one guy who was running down the stairs, and we saw him later with a ranger who was looking over his ID. We hopped over to the Ahwahnee Hotel for lunch and dad was a little upset that the view he liked the last time he was there was blocked by trees that had grown into the space. The main dining hall had a large window in the back that used to look upon Yosemite Falls, but it was no longer visible. The hall itself was pretty amazing, and had a feeling of rustic luxury. After lunch we went to Yosemite falls, and mom and I put our feet in the water for a bit. The water was cool, but not as cold as we were expecting. We walked back to the bus stop and decided on more hike for the day. We picked out Mirror Lake as the last hike, but when we got there it was all dried up. There were still some pools of water there, but certainly no lake. We then went back to the car and drove back to the hotel in fish camp.

The next morning we went to the Mariposa Grove, and the trees there were amazing. There was one called the Grizzly Tree that had unbelievably massive branches. Dad waited at the California Tree while mom and I hike to the upper grove. There was a gigantic fallen tree up there, and it was very cool. I really liked walking through the grove. It was gorgeous and the trees were amazing. After going through the grove we headed back to Palo Alto through the souther route, which was much more direct. The roads back were pretty small, but they made much better time.

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July 27, 2014 1

Kayak Camping

On the weekend of June 28 and 29 we went camping in Norther California at Ahjamawi lava springs state park. The park is only on one side of the lake, which is the opposite side from the entrance, so we kayaked to the camping site. Steph used an amazing folding kayak that you can see her in here

Most of the area around the campsite was forrest, but there were a few fields. Also as soon as you got away from the lake it turned into much more of a desert landscape. There was a group that got a little lost on the way to the campsite and ended showing up at 10pm after paddling for 3 hours. It only took us 1 hour 15 minutes going straight to the site, so they got way off track.

Steph and I decided to take a hike out on our own, and we learned it was a lot hotter and drier than the area near the lake made it seam. We got out to a lava tube, that was disappointingly small, and it took us nearly 3 hours to do the hike. On the way back we took a shortcut that went through a lot of poison oak patches, and we stripped down when we got to camp. There was a nice spring nearby that we went and washed in, which felt really good. The hike did have some interesting things to see like some pretty flowers and a tree that was completely destroyed by woodpeckers.

We decided to do a quick hike to a “historic mansion” that I expected meant run-down. I was more correct than expected, with the house not only run down, but terribly infested.