Tag Archives: California

Around Mount Diablo (literally)

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Today we were heading inland for Mount Diablo. With just below 1200m the single highest elevation in the bay area – offering stunning views.

We first made it to the summit by car (this is the US at last) to take in the views and check out the visitors center. We also talked to the ranger about hiking / walking options. There was the easy going 1km trail around the summit (even halfway paved) – with the next bigger hike a proper 12km hike around the mountain (and no real options in between).

We decided for the latter one – and soon discovered, that we had underestimated both elevation changes and trail conditions – in short gravel and gradients are not a combinations … the hike in the end took us a good four hours (including breaks) and not the 2.5 to three hours we had expected. Yet – it was a very enjoyable hike, with fantastic views (some proof below), abundant plant life (many wildflowers in full bloom) and perfect weather conditions (cloudy, temperatures of around 18C). So – we took our time and enjoyed.

California Wining

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It had been some time since my last visit to the San Francisco bay area, so it was about time to return – with the main driver really being to see Lisa – my old pen pal, who I had originally met on my first trip to Antarctica – and to finally get to personally meeting some of her family.

So on this Saturday I was handing myself over to Delta Airlines to get me across the pond into Detroit (my favorite US airport) and then on towards San Francisco. I made it into San Francisco in the late evening (around 22:30) after two uneventful flights (good thing). Lisa and Harry did pick me up and we made it over to Oakland.

Sunday saw me sleeping until about 10:00 (not unexpected, given how timezones work). Over breakfast we looked into the planning for the upcoming days – to then head for an easy day of wining around the more local wineries.

We first made it over to Treasure Island – straight in the middle of the bay and straight in the middle of the Oakland-SF bay bridge – for a visit of The Winery SF (or simply W). We made our way through a number of wines. Not being a fan of Chardonnays (anymore), my focus was on the reds here – all were nice, though the Pinot Noir really outstanding.

On the way out we had a stop at the coast for a view over to San Francisco – before making it back into Oakland and a stop at Dashe Cellars to try some great Zinfandels. After a late lunch, we had a final stop at Rosenblum Cellars for a further tasting. Dinner was at home with a home-made Korean-style ox-tail soup.

Overall a great and easy going day – and a good introduction to California wines (which over here are still somewhat seen in the ‘mass-production’ and ‘nothing-special’ category) – and even better preparation for the following Monday.

Monday saw us driving up to Napa; Harry had secured tickets for the wine train – i.e. a train ride through the Napa valley, accompanied by a great lunch. With the train marketed as ‘wine train’, we somehow had expected the trip being themed around wine, e.g. with a proper tasting, some wine backgrounds etc. – but that was not the case, it was really more like a restaurant on tracks (with an extensive wine list though). To make up for that, we had another tour around the valley – after we returned to the train station. We also did two more tastings – one at the Whitehall Lane Winery and the other one at the Grgich Hills Estate.

So – two wining days … with many great wines – in other words two winning days 😉

Good-byes

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The last day of the Rocky Mountain High tour … day of good-byes …

The first good-bye was silent … we were greeted by a new van this morning … Kelly had exchanged the old one (without working air-con) with another one (with somewhat working air-con).

The first actual good-bye was for Las Vegas; on the way out we stopped at the famous sign at the South end of the Strip for a photo opportunity.

From here we continued into California – towards the Pacific and Los Angeles. On the way to the hotel we had a stop in Hollywood and some time to check out Hollywood Blvd … before it was time for final good-byes.

Yosemite

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Our last stop on the trek (before San Francisco) was the Yosemite NP. The first day mostly consisted of driving to Yosemite, passing Mono Lake and the Tioga Pass.
The second day was another hiking day – I did what is probably the most strenuous  day hike around – the Halfdome hike, a 17 mile or 27 km hike with an 1 mile or 1600m height gain on the way up and the same number in height loss for the way down – a hard, but really rewarding hike.
After coming back from the hike we joined the group for pizza – our last official tour dinner.