Zurich Ironman

Yesterday for the first time I was part of Ironman. No, not at participant, but as a volunteer. I volunteered to be course marshals. The task - simple, make sure only racers are on track and open the blocks safely to let spectators cross. But Ironman is not just about the run or the bike or the swim, its about endurance, its where racers make personal history. I started around 3:00pm at the marathon course. The beginning was great, there were the strong Ironman veterans navigating the course strong. The course was a 4-10km rounds. There were some racers who were exhausted from second round and I wished they make it, and it was great watching them pass by again still going strong. Then came the rain, like a real storm. The day was literally replay of Zurich Marathon day, rain and shine and rain and storm.

I knew that Ironman is not a race like marathon, its all about finishing, especially the run is a run or a walk or a crawl, probably time to shut down the brain and just keep moving to finish line. I was close to water / food station. I could see some runner's face light up at sight of hot soup, fruits, water. Some hung out, browsed the selection, ate, some just grabbed a handful of something and carried on. Then there were others for who each round was painful. You could see the exhaustion in their whole body. We tried our best to cheer them, tell them they are doing great. By 8:00pm when racers had already been on track for 13hrs., we started seeing the really exhausted ones, those who were in true sense testing their limits. Some runners just had to sit down for a min and we would tell them last round, you can make it! There was one guy who had 2 rounds to go, completely exhausted, thinking that its over. He asked someone - I still have 2 rounds to go, I am not going to make it, am I! It was most likely that he will not make it, but you don't say that, and of course miracles do happen, second wind is true. So I wish he made it, though I don't remember seeing him at the station again. 

There were no more spectators at this time, so we slowly joined in the water/food station. It was run by a group from a Fraungymnastic club. We slowly made our way in and became incharge of a waterbooth. They were all wondering and asking each other who these people are :) Finally someone got the courage and asked us - who are you! It was kind of funny. So we told them we are freewilangers and we were at the pedestrian crossing, but now its all empty so we came to help. Most of them did not know English, so it was great time to practice German. 

By 9:00pm, the final stragglers were pouring in at the station. They still had 2hrs to run / walk the last 10km. We were all cheering each runner, telling them its the last one. By 9:45, all runners had passed our station and were in their final round. So we packed up and went over to finish line. I was hoping to see lot of those who we were cheering in last hour. There was a Malaysian man, somewhat older. I saw him at first round, and second, and then around 9:00pm at the third round. He still had ~10km to go and was barely walking. It was awesome to watch him finish just in time! One guy proposed to his girlfriend at the finish line! That was some drama. In the end it was a lot of fun. The analogy I give, for me Ironman is like Everest. It would be awesome to do it, but I know I can't. Marathon is like Basecamp. So the event at least inspired me to not give up on running and do another marathon next year.

Trip back from US

This time I flew out of SF, that was first mistake. Then I left some water in a bottle going through security. Darn! How dare I leave pure H2O in my bag! have I not heard of that new technology by which its possible to create bomb out of water? Or maybe I will threaten to drown someone in that water! So yeah, they caught me with 1 gulp of water left in my water bottle. And well, it was treated like a bomb! The (obviously does not know how to use his brains) person at security put on his gloves, ran bunch of tests on it, then took the bottle out, ran my bag through security again.

me: I planned to drink it, I forgot can we empty it now? It just water.
But even I knew its lost cause.
him: Its against the rules mam'.
me: I was planning to drink it, its just water can I drink it now.
He was looking at me thinking maybe he should arrest me. But he probably was in good (!!) mood. So did nothing.
me again: Can I have my bag back? Are you going to take the bottle away?
him: I can't do that. Its against the rules.
(well, so what is in the rules can you read that out or you have lost the ability to read also)
me: I said I am going to need my bag back, it has my passport (duh!). Can I drink the water, its very little.
So he shakes the bottle and says its more than little. I said, its ok, I can drink it right here. No mam' that is not allowed. I am getting frustrated now.
Then he finally says, you have to take everything and go out, throw the water and go through security again.
I look at the line, and time, and say are you kidding me. Ok, you can close your mouth, I did not say that, I know that's one way ticket to jail in US.
me: Its a long line, and this is just water.
him: No mam' rules are rules, there is nothing I can do. You can show your boarding pass and come back to front of like.
Well, you can use your brains maybe. So I get ready to take my bag and go out. He won't hand me my bag.
I am like, can I leave all this here since it has already gone through security?
him: No mam' you have to take everything.
me: So, then can I have my bag back (duh!).
him: No, I have to escort you.
Awesome! So I collect my other stuff in hand, he takes my bag and bottle and escorts me 2 ft out the security gate. I stand right outside there, drink the water in front of him and get back in line 2 steps away. It was just all so foolish. These people really need to at some point start using their brains. Its when you stop using brains and just go by rules that its easier to fool you. I always thought US school system at least encourages full development, including the creative side. But then they must be taking all the lower IQ people in airport security.
So I go through security again, swearing that I am never flying out of SF or into US. And then I think of all the wonderful and friendly people I met, and the price seem almost worth. 

Entering Switzerland is completely different. Immigration takes literally 10 min. Though in front of me there was a American family on vacation. The poor souls so traumatized by their American experience looked quite scared at immigration. The immigration person asked them how long is their stay. The woman mumbled 2 weeks, and the man immediately corrected her loudly - 11 days, we are here for only 11 days. Immigration person also looked up, probably waiting for him to tell - 4 hrs 3 min. He smiled and said its ok. And me too thinking poor souls, they can relax now.
While in US you are greeted with warnings - don't use your cell phone, don't open your bag, just keep walking straight, don't look anyone in the eye, head down! In Switzerland you are greeted with cowbells and heidi :)

A trip to US

A trip to US is always very interesting for me. It starts with being excited to visit Seattle again. This time also I decided to stop by Seattle on my way in. Landing in Seattle still feels like returning home. Its all so familiar, the lake, bridges, 405 and the bus. Even the immigration staff feels friendly (of course only relative to US immigration elsewhere). This time at immigration I was giving all the wrong answers -
where are you going?
me: To Redmond
here it says california?
me: Right, to Redmond for the weekend and then CA
Why are you here?
me: (I am sorry I will never commit the crime of coming to US again!) well, we have headoffice in CA and we are here to have meetings with the team.
We? Who else is with you?
me: (oh, my imaginary friend, because I must be crazy to choose to go thru this questioning) Oh! did I say we, I meant I, I am travelling alone.
hmm, I thought you said we.
me: No, I am alone.
(wait for him to take me aside for more questioning, but that does not happen, thankfully I am in Seattle and not NY or SF)
Alright since you have committed the crime of entering US, get fingerprinted and then you can go.

Phew! that went well, which is true everytime you are not arrested.
Then the airlines left my bag in Paris. There was not enough time. I said there were 2hrs, I got myself from plane 1 to plane 2, going through US security. Come to think of it there was no US security this time. So the agent says, "oh well, u know the europeans they don't care about anything. If its time to take their 3 hr lunch, they will take it". I guess I do no Europeans and I happen to think they take their work seriously. But anyway, no big deal except that its really cold and I don't have a jacket. The bag will arrive next day on same flight. The agent leave me with advice to not fly through Paris or London - they are the worst. ok, I knew that actually. My favourite is Amsterdam.

Anyway, so that is how I found myself outside the airport, without luggage, but free. Sadly all this experience is also all so familiar! After spending the weekend in Seattle, I was out to CA. Domestic travel is the same, still a bit pleasant at Seattle airport. After spending a week in US, I always feel like everyone loves me, I have so many friends, the world is so friendly and wonderful. Its just so easy to fit right in US work or outside. But ironically, I also never adjusted to general lifestyle - extremely wasteful from excessive cooling everywhere to refusing to dry clothes in sun, germophobia, take 20 paper napkins at every change etc. It always hurt me to see people just not caring at all about the environment and living like everything is infinitely available, and well, to them it is. Anyway, on to good things. So I ended my trip feeling great, world is all friendly again, till..... I tried to get out of US.

--
tuls

View from office today

View of Alps from uetliberg

On a rare clear day

Lachen

12 mile run after a very long time!! We started going towards ziegelbruke from lachen but then decided to run along lake Zurich to Bach.

Shoes are for profit making!

Like everything else, shoes, especially running shoes is such a sham industry. All the big players run big ad-campaigns, huge deals with popular runners to make janta bewakoof. Yeah, tell us something new! ok, I always knew it and I always said it. But today just browsing through REI catalog of running shoes, I noticed not 1 or 2 but 10 different types of Vibram Fivefingers. I thought the whole point of these shoes was they are minimalist, just a sheet of rubber to protect your feet from harmful things on the road. After that they just feel natural like running barefoot. Then why the hell there are 9 different features of "Vibram FiveFingers KomodoSport LS Multisport Shoes - Women's". And why this piece of rubber costs more than $10? In fact they cost anywhere from $85 - $110, almost same price as my regular running shoes. Poor public just starts thinking that they need specialized shoe for that one specific sport, me included. I have -
climbing boots
hiking boots
light hiking shoes
running shoes
light running shoes
daily sandals
dancing shoes (ok, well they are kind of special!)
high heel party shoes
no heel daily shoes
everyday shoes
That's a hell lot of shoes for one person!

This feels like home....

Hard to believe! When a year ago I was all ready to leave, I was done with US, it was not home,  it was weird foreign place. But today, after living in Europe for 10 months, when I come back, it actually does feel like home. Right from the car-park garage, to malls, to driving on freeway, to everything else. I had great time here, starting from San Diego. I did everything I wanted to do, I loved my life in Seattle. People just feel familiar and wonderful, they talk the way I am used to, and they understand the way I talk :). Its so great when you can a "free" 1-800 number and they greet you with - "how may I help you", and they end with "Is there anything else I can do for you". Little things, but they seem to matter. Even India feels foreign now compared to US. Of course I know the Indian ways, the society like only a native can know, but the way things have changed in last 10 years, its an adjustment to be there. Here, its like I understand how things work, even though I don't really understand the society and culture (or the lack of it as I say :) ). This world works in mysterious ways!

Hate it less here

As things have settled down, I have to say I hate it less here now. Getting hang of language and meeting good people has helped. New Year party in building was nice. Finally I got to meet the "nice neighbours" you only hear about. Snow is back on the mountains and cloudy rainy weather is helping.

Switzerland and India

This December I went from Zurich to Delhi. The first thing that hit me was how opposite Switzerland and India are. While Swiss are the definition of punctuality, timetables have no meaning in India. Right at the immigration counter, you could see the stark difference in Zurich efficiency and in bored kaam-chalu behaviour of "babus" at immigration desks. Some of them were randomly chatting, playing no attention to passengers waiting in line. Some were really rude to Indians and some were equally rude to foreigners too. Baggage as usual took forever. I was not expecting any efficiency there anyway.
While boarding the domestic flight in Aurangabad, the said departure time (after already 2hr delay) was 7:30 and that was when boarding started. Flight left 30min after and there was no apology. As if no once cared that flight was delayed by another 30min.
While Swiss have so much national pride, they seem to always want to use swiss made (that's my impression), take pride in speaking their language, Indians only run after American and other western cultures. In the bus I was speaking to someone in Hindi and he was replying to me in broken English. I almost felt like retorting - Don't you know Hindi? (It was clear that he was native Hindi speaker).
While in Switzerland, or any other developed country I have seen so far, people take their work seriously and responsibly. India of course is complete opposite, there is no accountability or responsibility of work at any level.
These things just make me wonder if our poverty and lack of advancement is really just the fault of this kaam-chalu culture. What if it changed one day and people became responsible and took their work seriously?

From Berlin to Prague

Took a short bday trip to Berlin and Prague, 2 very interesting and very very different cities, still tied together by common WWII and communist past. While Berlin was a very open city, feels new, filled with interesting new architecture (obvious since it was bombed to ground at end of WWII), Prague feels like a old european city, narrow cobblestone gulleys, stuck together colourful victorian houses. Berlin tells the tale of how cruel humans can be to each other, Prague tells the take of what beautiful things humans can create when they are not busy killing each other! Overall it was a very historic tour, part of history that we just read about.

Fall colours

ok, I have to admit, this is one time when Zurich is really beautiful. More so than Seattle. Of course in Seattle, we have our berry bushes that turn all red and yellow and convert mountain slopes into beautiful canvases of nature. Hiking during that time was such a bliss. But.... it was short lived, 2 - 3 weeks max and then snow took over.
Here, fall happens in the city. There are very few evergreens around. Most of the trees turn red, yellow and orange, and its movie / dream like setting that you get to walk through every day. Its great, fall definitely is so much beautiful here. That combined with dry Oct and Nov means we are still able to hike! +1 for Zurich.

Still hate it here...

...yes. I guess hate is strong, it can only be used for New York. Lets say don't like it here. It will never be home. I guess its all downhill from here. Now this and then India. I am done with all the fun I was suppose to have in a lifetime in Seattle. Now that I have moved, I can totally see there is something about US that everyone wants to live there, and that something is something real. Life is just good and comfortable there. People are nice, make an effort to be nice. People in Europe are just mean (maybe racist or maybe just plain mean). When someone is real nice, I am surprised and then often discover that they are actually American! Especially true at work. If I could, I would move back to Seattle in a heartbeat.

Travelling is great though, but that charm is wearing off now.
Italy was great though, can't complain, especially Sicily!
Off to Berlin and Prague next.

This happens only in Switzerland!

So after all my ranting and raving about how I miss Seattle, how Switzerland is horrible! I found one good thing. On Sunday we decided to go hiking to Windgällenhütte (don't try to say it!) or Golzern. I think the place is off the track from Thalwil. So SBB suggested, we take 3 trains and then a bus and then a gandola to get up to Golzernberg to start the hike!
(Thalwil - Zug - Arth-Goldau - Erstfeld - Golzern Talstation - Golzenberg)
I am hike this is crazy! It was suppose to take 1:58 min total, and 4 - 6min to change the trains. But being Switzerland, we could count on trains being on time and making those 4 min connections, and we did, both times while going up there and coming back! Amazing, how things work out when every one and every thing is on time! I have also often made 2 - 3min connections, but making 4 in a row was great! (the train to Erstfeld was 4 min late to start, but I think it caught up or the bus waited!)

Even now, when we hike, something seems always missing. I don't know what it is, company of friends, the feeling of remoteness or whatever. But I get more tired than refreshed on hikes here.

In Napoli

Finally reached here after visitng 3 great volcanoes. Pompii was great, but decided to skip Vesuvius. Its not really a hike afterall and after the 3 great volcanoes, it wont appear great anyway. Had some good oven cooked pizzas of course. Waiting to get some great Napolean pizza now. Off to Florence and Cinque Terre next.

--
tuls

sicily

In Sicily now. The state of Italian train is no better than Indian. They too r almost always retarded. Its kind of fun after the insanity of Swiss people. Coast line is interesting. We also had the first moment of tourist traps, always happen

Rome!

Finally able to make a trip to Italy. After more than 12hrs of train (including overnight) got to Rome. Spend 2 days here to see all the major sites. I think 4 days is more appropriate time here. We had to cram all site seeing of this ancient city in 2 days and did not get to go to any ancinet museums. Next time probably. An ideal itinerary would be take 2-day open bus tour and see what is there in the city.
Food - suppose to be great here. But we have not yet discovered so. I tasted 2 wines, both definitely good given my selective taste of non-reds. Pizza was good, but can't wait to get to Sicily to taste the real italian food.
Off to Sicily now where Etna is erupting, all fingers crossed to see a good light show and be able to get on the mountain (sort of conflicting wishes!).

4 months after

Its been 4 months, and a goodish summer. Hiking is exciting again, new places, new things, new challenges. Almost every trail here is either Mt Si or Mailbox peak, nothing less steep. And you don't always go up to see towering Mt Rainier, or snow capped Olympics or North Cascades. But you see something different, or cows, or huts and people etc. etc. I know every hiker's dream!
This place is still no home. Always after a hike I have mental image of reaching my Kirkland home. The cool homely home and am almost disappointed to reach the Thalwil apartment, full of light and hard floor. Oh well! I miss Seattle. When I look at my pictures from Swiss hikes, its feels like a trip. The pictures from Seattle hikes feel like images from home, the familiar, the fun place. I seriously doubt that Zurich will ever become home. It will remain a place where I 'stayed'.

Miss you Kirkland!

I really miss everything about my life in Kirkland. I donno what I was thinking when I decided to move. It was so perfect there, almost everything I wanted. I miss my cool apartment, tiny comfy kitchen and 'forces you to relax' furniture. I miss my office, the nice corner desk with view of road, and my own little place. Of course I miss my car :( Shopping at REI :( Salsa, Zumba, swimming, running from one activity to other, not knowing when the day started and when ended. The weekend parties, hiking with friends, Mt Rainier, 520, lake side, a rare view of Mt Baker on runs! It was all just so awesome, so comfortable, people were so great, life was so nice. Any problem there seemed so easy, so solvable.
Its the total opposite here, I hate the place, hate the people, it feels like a hostile environment to live in, apartment is not comfortable, even the walls are harsh rather than the smooth plastered walls of my apartment in Kirkland.
I can't believe I am saying this, but I want to go back, back to the life I loved and end this insanity of moving here :(

The most amazing thing

... I have seen
Can't be one, so here are 5

1. Glaciers sitting on top of Kilimanjaro

2. Wild lions in Serengeti

3. White endless mountains of Alaska and the sunrise-sunset colours there. We went there to see northern lights. But I was totally amazed by the vast whiteness of the place. Endless Yukon plains and mountains, all covered in perfect white. There was something completely soothing and refreshing about being there. One place I would love to go again and again.

4. Machu Picchu

5. Mt Rainier from many points in Seattle. I know its cliche, but to see Rainier rising about the clouds from many unexpected places in Seattle area IS amazing!

Americans just have something right!

I cannot believe I am saying or even thinking this! But America just has something right in it. Life there was nice, welcoming, comfortable. Its just something in the culture that people from anywhere in the world soon find themselves settled and comfortable and part of society. I am realizing this after I moved here. Ok, yes, 9 years vs 2 months, huge diff, still. I don't see myself ever getting that comfortable here. People around are not nice and welcoming, it feels like a 'foreign' place and I think it always will. I am not saying that I came here with expectation that Europe will be all rosy and nice, I have read history and I was expecting some hostility. But I can feel the famous - 'don't like foreigners' saying in the air here. I have not yet encountered open racism, at least not that I am aware of. But I do wonder if part of hostility I feel in environment is coming from that.

And I don't even want to talk about hiking! Again American has just nailed it. The numerous national park, especially in the north-west are just amazing. You can be in middle of everywhere and feel like nowhere! Here you hike in artificial forests, and when you pant and sweat your way up, there are people clicking heels who just came on the cable car! That would be ok, if on foot I got a chance to see and be in absolute natural beauty. But no, there are cows and smell of dung everywhere, barbed electrified fences. Not really my idea of a hike!

So in all, yeah, at this point I am regretting moving here! I miss Seattle, I miss St Helens and sight of Rainier. What the heck! I miss hiking Mt Si. Top of Si had more beauty and remoteness (yes I did say Si and remoteness), than I have seen on actual 'hikes' here. I hate this place.

Unfriendly place

Since I have been here, there was a nagging feeling at back of my head. I could not put my finger on it, but I think I realize it today. I think this place is really unfriendly, people around are not friendly, things are just not nice and comfortable. It just does not seem like a place for a worrier like me. As oppose to US, where I was comfortable and had confidence that things won't go terribly wrong. And here its not. First of all, I have no confidence that even in daily life if I wanted money urgently for something I will get it. Its like bank has locked away my money in name of security. It was not so there. Bank people were nice and friendly and made you believe they are there to help you. While here its like - why r u here, its not our problem. And I believe this easy access to money brought a sense of security with it.
US was probably better place for me, at least this one is not.

We are not from here!

So this 'incident' happened a while ago, around the Royal Wedding time, if u know what i mean. I was in train back to Thalwil, and there were a bunch of Canadians on the train. Teenagerish, definitely college students. I am guessing lost, must have been trying to get to London to attend the 'wedding'. So anyway, these folks were on train, speaking their canadian english, and I was feeling good to finally hear and understand conversations around me and smile at jokes. We are all getting along, and we arrive at Thalwil. This group also wants to get down there, and they are standing in front of train door. Shouting at each other - open the door aye, it does not open aye, what is wrong aye! how are we going to get down aye!

And some of us 'from switzerland' are telling them calmly - you have to press the button, the one that is shinning green. They finally did it. They tell me - "We are not from here, aye, so we are still confused, aye". I was sympathetic, so I told them don't worry, I was doing exact same thing less than a month ago :) How fast we learn!

So why was I reminded of this - bcoz on Sunday I decided to take ferry to Thalwil from Zurich. As I was boarding, there were all these people with maps and camera and what not, 'the tourists'. And I had this funny feeling, I am not a tourist in this very touristy place! I live here every day! how funny is that! Its like living in Switzerland! or Paris!
(we always wondered where do those people go for vacation! Do they just keep visiting each other!)

The machine that keeps your clothes hostage!

Yesterday finally got around to washing my clothes in the machine. As expected, all instructions were in German, but I could manage my way around 20 different programs to find the one that I like. So I put in the clothes, did in-pin-safetypin to put soap in one of the 3 slots, and told the machine to wash for 30min. No response. I tried again. No responsem, except the 30min counter was counting down. There was a coin thingy, so I put 20c in it. No response. So I thought, maybe I asked it to wash 'after' 30 min. I come back after 30 min, and its doing something and saying will take 20 more min. ok. good. I come back after 20 min and its done. wow! that was good. But wait, it won't unlock the door. I cannot take my clothes out. The machine is keeping my clothes hostage. No washing powder has been used either. It just ate the 20c and now wants more if I want my clothes back.
Now I don't know what to do. Give it more money, or just wait till one of us give up. I decided instead to call the neighbours. They were also kind of not sure what is going on, but advised I pay. So I put in another 20c. It started doing some work again. This time using the soap and told me to come back in 20 min. After 20 min, again its the same status. My clothes are still hostage to the machine. So I decided to put in another 10c. This time its rinsing and spinning. ok, that is progress. Spinning is the last state, it has to give my clothes back after that. This time it said come back in 10 min. No way I am leaving my clothes now!
So I wait there for 10 min, watching it rinse and spin. And guess what, after 10 min, exact same status. Still not ready to give my clothes back. I put in abother 10c. This time it said 2 min. I waited 2min and phew finally the door opens.

First time I have seen a machine that kept my clothes hostage till I fed it money.

wowed :)

Finally I saw a view that I had to say wow! while biking down (up?) from office to new apartment. Here I am speeding down a hill, looking at a lake and distant mountain, feeling the usual blessedness that comes from a sunny day! Something was amiss though, did not fit the picture. Then suddenly it hit me! These are not Olympics! These are Alps and that is lake Zurich not Washington! I slammed by brakes, almost toppled over and climbed back for a better view. And wow! The mountains were just sitting there, looking great! They were blurry, distant and not as clear as Olympics on a sunny day, but it was still an awesome view. And I had to say wow! I felt bad for not considering moving to a place further away from office but with such a view. It was almost worth the 40 min a day commute!

run Thalwil to Enge

Finally moved-moved into the new apartment. Almost saw a good sunrise. The view from apartment is such that you can almost see what you are missing! Still the day was nice and cloudy, temperature perfect (mayvbe tad bit warm) for running. What's the best way to make first commute from new apartment to office - run :). The distance is about 9km, and with rolling hills. I heard that view is good from 'top of the hill'. Of course first had to run up the hill :). And yeah, it was good, folks who live there are lucky! But still it was not so bad, except for one little hill, it was smooth sail in ~1hr. Hoping to bike back. Found a route that almost look devoid of steep hill, we will see. Go SPC!
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4471688

And my latest favourite Sheldon quote -
“Ah, memory impairment. The free prize at the bottom of every vodka bottle!”

I hate this place!

yes, I hate it! I want to go back to comfort of my awesome double bed, cozy little car and easy banking. Spent panicky 30 min trying to find the 20 numbers and passwords and cards and what not required to access the bank account. Finally had to call help line which thankfully spoke English to figure things out. I hate this place, I don't understand the language, I miss Rainier, hiking at truly peaceful places and I miss my car, swimming, going for salsa :(

I hate this place!

yes, I hate it! I want to go back to comfort of my awesome double bed, cozy little car and easy banking. Spent panicky 30 min trying to find the 20 numbers and passwords and cards and what not required to access the bank account. Finally had to call help line which thankfully spoke English to figure things out. I hate this place, I don't understand the language, I miss Rainier, hiking at truly peaceful places and I miss my car :(

Judge food by taste not cover.

In so many ways Zurich or Europe is literally half way between India and US. People still know how to use brain and common sense here. I found this conversation on a hike interesting -
x: hey, what are you eating there?
y: Its dried apricot, a bit old, I am not sure if they are good anymore. Maybe I should not eat, that's why I am not offering to others.
x: If it tastes ok, then it should be ok. Let me try.
(x takes a bite and says its good)
z: Let me try too.
(z also declares that its good)
x: hmm, maybe its good. Does anyone else want to try?

At first I was surprised that no one looked at the cover or mentioned expiry date or even asked how old it is! It was all - if food tastes good, then its good.
Of course that is how we treat food in India, but I would have expected it to go like this -
x: hey, what are you eating there?
y: Its dried apricot, a bit old, I am not sure if they are good anymore.
everyone else - freak out! freak out!
x: what! have you checked the expiry date? How old is it? OMG! Don't even touch it if its expired! Throw it in this bin marked "bio hazard". I am not even sure if it can be composted! SEE THE EXPIRY DATE!

I am so glad the conversation went the way it did. I am beginning to feel more and more at home here.

Identity crisis!

I seem to be in sort of middle of an identity crisis here. I cannot at all decide where I am from. I feel Seattle is home and sight Starbucks brings feeling of 'home'. But then I can never identify myself with US, that will always be in India. But in some sense, I am lot more used to lifestyle in US and when comparing things, I always compare them with US. I have very little idea of current Indian lifestyle. But then culturally, I still feel much closer to Indian culture and nothing for US culture (if there is such thing as culture there!). Of course I feel some connection to Indian folks on street, but then if I find a Seattlite, I am sure I will feel even stronger connection with them, but rest of US, I don't care.

Don't even talk about telling people where I am from! I thought in US when visiting other places I had problems defining that, but its twice as worse here. Do I tell that I am from Seattle / US or do I tell that I am from India which I left 9 years ago. People around me get majorly confused by my answers.

If I say I am from US, they get confused as I definitely look Indian. And I do not exactly speak like a ABCD.

If I tell them I am from India, it works mostly. But it gets confusing soon when I start telling Seattle stories. Or when I say 25C is too hot and I can't tolerate sun. Then I have to explain I have been living in a cave for 6 years. And I have been told more than once that I speak english with an american accent! how dare they! Maybe they just don't know where to place my accent and dump it on America :)

So now I have settled on -
Where are you from?
"I have been living in Seattle, US for long time."
If they want more details - "I was in Seattle for 6 years"
Rest they can assume. If they don't look at me and realize I am of Indian origin, I don't know what's wrong with them and I can't help it!
If they are still interested, I can open the book of my life and tell them all about where I grew up, how I went to CA, then Seattle and then NY in between. Well, they asked for it, I have a complicated life! It has not happened yet :)

Also people seem very interested in why I am in Zurich. I did not come directly from India. I was living in US, a very comfortable life. And I have nobody here, and I did not go to school here. So what the hell am I doing in Zurich. Mostly I have settled on "I wanted to move from Seattle and Zurich is one of the few places which qualify as upgrade in natural beauty"
... or some version of it depending on how good their english is. Most people just agree.
Sometimes I say that I had hiked in most areas around Seattle, so needed a new place. But that is so not true! But partly also true. I was feeling less excited about trails around Seattle. You cannot beat the great views (I am doubting that even Switzerland can beat it), and the idea of hiking will always remain exciting in itself. But in some sense 4 out of 5 places seemed 'seen' or 'familiar'. I had stopped taking pictures and hiking just for the fun of it. Here on the first hike, I could not stop taking pictures. Even though it was not the untouched mountain slopes you see in Seattle, but it was new and different. I do miss getting out into places with no cars or human civilization, just the hikers out there to enjoy nature.

One more hike

yeah, well sort of. I am getting disappointed by the state of 'hikes' here. We would never call such things hike. We started on a nice somewhat foresty train (think Tiger mountain), which was ok, but soon there were houses and sheep, which was cute. But then soon there was a road and cars and random people on 'top'. And from there we took a motor road down. Well, my friends, that's not what you call a 'hike'. Its a walk in park with some elevation gain. We did get to see Alps, but there was also civilization in between. Beautiful lake had 2 bridges and houses all around it. Rolling hills were all dotted with houses. You get a much better remote experience on Tiger Mountain. It did not even meet that standard (which is the lowest of any hikes in Seattle). Maybe its too early, maybe I should just appreciate the fact that I am out hiking in sun while its all cloudy and snowy in Seattle. But the scenery needs to get better else I will be packing my bags soon. I don't think I can spend many months without getting away from the civilized concrete world of houses and fences.

Speaking of sun - its way to strong here. I was completely dehydrated yesterday and its suppose to be spring! what's with that!

PS: I do have pictures from hike, I will post soon. Right now I dont' have internet at apartment.

Apartment!

Got the keys to apartment today! finally! It seemed lot less painful than what people described. I guess I did not have too many constraints. I can slowly move now in next 4 days of chutti!

funf minute!

I forgot to mention another exciting moment. When I was coming back from signing lease for new apartment (oh! I found an apartment! if it was a surprise to you, pay attention!), I stopped at the bus stop to see when was the bus to train station. There was a very old lady there, she was looking at me with interest. I saw the timetable and then looked at my no-watch wrist (yeah, I live in Switzerland and don't own a watch. (Oh! wait! did I just say I 'live' in Switzerland!!)) [back to point].
So I looked and obviously did not find the time. The lady who was looking at me with interest said - "sthg sthg auto sthg funf minute sthg sthg sthg", and guess what! I understood she is saying the bus will be here in 5 minutes. Then she also said "die post", and then I was all confused! But I got it!
It was a Dei Post bus and it came in 5 minutes! woo hoo! Of course I still have no idea what all the other things she said, but I did get 5 words!

4 & 1/2 day weekend!

The looooong weekend is here and I have no plan. I can't help compare it with the July 4th weekend when we would always take a long trip somewhere hiking / backpacking. Its kind of too early for me to plan here. I am sure there are bizzare amount of options here, I just don't know them yet. I do feel like going out somewhere and camping for a day. Snowshoeing would be just awesome! Or I might spend the days in city doing nothing (I bet there are things to do in a city also!).

Hike, train, bike and marathon weekend

Finally got started on hiking in Zurich. I think Uetliborg does not count like Tiger Mtn does not count in Seattle. But was kind of disappointed, as I had completely different expectations. I was expecting mountains, wilderness, snow covered peaks. But this was more of a urban hike, going through city and little hills. I have a feeling that when it comes to wilderness and real mountains, I will have to lower my expectations here. Seattle and its never ending views of Cascades, Olympics, Rockies, Rainier and all other ranges totally spoil you. I miss that getting out of city and being on mountain feeling here. Maybe I need to get further into real Alps.

The highlight of hike though was train back to Zurich from Brugg. We caught TGV coming from Paris. What a train! Its a bullet! luxury! carpet! I want to go to Paris just for the experience of sitting in that train. Also I have to admit, when we got back into Zurich I had this slight feeling of home!

This was also Zurich marathon weekend. I am sure I could not have run a full marathon this year with all the stuff going on. So that was a good decision. But looking at all returning marathoners in their bright yellow 'finished' shirts, I felt like I really want to run this next year. Timing is also perfect, just getting out of winter, starting summer in super form.

Finally getting around to looking for bike. This is truly a biking country, there are bikes everywhere. Weather definitely favours that, its been sunny 15 of the 17 days I have been here. Will probably end up buying a new very similar bike as I have.

1 year commitment to travel on swiss rail

Today finally I went and bought the 1 year half-price swiss rail card. As days go by it feels more and more like I am actually going to be living here. I also went and checked out some bikes and might soon buy a new Swiss (actually German) bike for every day commute. All the talk of travel is so exciting, the reason why I am here :).
Though I still feel that I am here for short time and Seattle is still home. Though actually I am thoroughly confused! Is India home? Is Seattle home? Do I live in Zurich now? Sometimes I wake up and don't know where I am. Yesterday I went to an Indian restaurant, kind of hole in wall, but awesome food. And I felt that I am still sitting in Seattle and then I hear someone speak an incomprehensible language and realize no, its Zurich!
Everything is still strange, but its getting familiar. I am able to understand some German words and my igoogle is also insisting that it should be in German.
ich: hey
Am Samstag um 17:42 gesendet.

15 days - Apartment!

hmm, I think finally found apartment. Nothing fancy, no view, not cheap, not walking distance from office, not bikable, not a gas stove, but that is Zurich! I can still get into office in under 30 min, and there are plenty trains and there are mountain views outside apartment.
apartment

Nothing more exciting after finding the salsa club.

12 days

ok, 12 days as no significance, but its just that I am finally feeling like I am indeed living here and its going to be good. (fingers crossed). In office there is an actual Indian chef who makes real Indian food. Its so awesome! So much better food than what I got in Kirkland, and of course I have already mentioned the quality of food here, no fake GM stuff.

Also went to an 'actual' authentic Indian (Sri Lankan actually) place. Of course I had samosa because I can't make them and they were not good. But the person I went with had idiappam, real good iddiappam with nice daal and what not. Totally unexpected. I had thought here you will get an even worse imitation of Indian food, but it turned quite different.

Apartment also I think mostly resolved. Whoever said getting apartment here is hard. It did turn out to be ok, just complicated by the fact that I was too scared that I am not going to find anything.

People are definitely nicer, rather more genuine. In US everyone around you was friendly. Which was good, I have met some kinda mean people here. But then folks who act friendly are genuinely friendly. Almost daily I am surprised by generosity of my teams here - genuinely interested if I found an apartment, if I need help with German, even accompany me to see apartment! Its just not the same in US. And as I learn more things, it feels its really half way between India and US, so many things are so India like here, still its so different from India.

half-day Monday

Yesterday there was interesting event in Zurich, parade and burning of the snowman. It was one of those rare 2 - 3 days in a year when Zurich actually gets crowded. It was interesting to see all the marching parades from different cantons of Switzerland, dressed in their very traditional outfits. Then there was a big "snow" man that is burnt to predict how good the summer will be, its kind of like ravan dahan. This year its support to be very good, and the snowman's head was blown away really fast.

Second weekend

Sunday night found a salsa club, thanks to friends in office. Definitely highlight of my 10 days in Zurich. It was great. I did miss Danceworks, its just different when you know all people at the party. I could see some folks doing the moves that we learnt at Danceworks and I wished it was Wednesday and I was at the party in Redmond. But oh well, at some point I might get to know more people here and dance away the night.
At the party also met someone who spoke little English, but was Spanish! Vola! Time to practice Spanish. It was interesting how I could slip into speaking broken Spanish over trying to speak mix of few German words and English. I guess its all relative :)

Apartment hunting seems to be coming to an end. Seen good places, 2, both good, both ok, it will be whatever its meant to be.

Also did some shopping over the weekend - bought salt! It is interesting how I could not find bulk rice and aata here. And of course its impossible to shop when you cannot read the labels. I spent 10 min trying to figure out what kind of oil I am looking at till my translate told me that its vinegar. Never seen so many types of vinegars.

Another interesting event on the weekend - while walking down a path by river (its more like a nala but clean), a little girl stopped by me. Probably wanted some attention. So I obliged, and told her "look at you how cute! riding that little bike! What's your name?" Yeah I was in really good mood! She looked like at age where she should be able to understand and speak basic language. So I tried again "what's your name". More blank smily stare. So I thought - what a dumb child. Till then her mother caught up and said something to her, and then I realized - I was speaking a foreign language to her! how interesting!

1 week - Feeling better

1 full week spent here. Can't say it flew by. It did not, I was counting each day and it seemed really really long. But I guess feeling somewhat better, coming to terms with living here. Everytime I can understand a word of German spoken by stranger, its like awesome! wow!

Day 7 - overwhelmed

Almost 1 week complete. Now is the time to feel overwhelmed with apartment search. I have seen 5 so far and all are ok, something wrong with each of them.

Day 5 - Its finally sinking in

yes, its finally sinking in that this is a big change, that I am by myself in this strange country. The initial shock of OMG! I am in Europe! is over, and its S***! I am Europe by myself!
What triggered this - I won't go in details as its office related and confidential and what not. But I suddenly found that I have 0 money here. With one click money transfer from US -> India, you would think it will be half-a click to Switzerland, its after all half way from India. But no, not possible. Of all the things, I did not think that finances is something I would have to worry about.
(don't worry, I am not out on street begging, I still have dear old credit card from US, it is kindda difficult to use it to pay my apartment deposit. Of course working at Google I can eat 5 days a week and fast for 2 days)

... and that was just the beginning. After being spoiled by friendly Seattle folks in office, everyone seems rude here from HR to the security guys. I miss the smiley security folks at Kirkland who always asked me if I am working late - with a smile. Not like why are you entering office so late!

... and bank people. Ok, they are not rude, they are polite in their own way, especially after they look at where you work. Its not their fault that its so complicated to get a bank account here. Don't even ask about getting a credit card when you need it the most. In Seattle, its always smiles - how can we help you today :), can we interest you in this credit card and also give you $40 to take it :). Oh well, no more happy banking.

As is clear, totally feeling home sick today. Need to remind myself why I am here - because I like complicated life and it was getting too easy and comfortable in Seattle.

Looking fwd to some swing dancing tomorrow.

Day 4 in Zurich

Day 4, Monday, new week, back at work. Still trying to decide if I like it here or not. Its strange, its like I have no feelings about this move. Or that I have strong positive and negative feelings and they have mixed to form a no-feeling zone. Still super excited to be in Europe, to start a new life in country with new language, culture and what not. Of course looking forward to traveling all over Europe. Its exciting, its adventure. At the same time, leave all my friends behind, getting started from scratch in this new place where I don't even speak the language is super scary. Yesterday while walking back from office, I had a strange feeling of loneliness and vulnerability! Its like there was a safety net in Seattle, if something happened to me, there were people there. Here its like there is nobody.

The weekend came and went, and there was no party to plan, no one to talk to. Still hard to justify why I took the big step, but of course deep down I know, I wanted to do this. I needed this change, the sense of adventure, knowing and learning something new to feel alive. I am really going to miss salsa, the weekend parties, the mountains that were always there (just behind the clouds).

Day 12 - Bangalore

Finally reached Bangalore. We had enough time and space to put the bikes together in tran itself. That was good. We got off at the main station and from there had a long ride back home. It was peak traffic time on weekday. But Rahul showed great navigation skill and we were able to do the whole ride by inner roads, away from bad traffic. I did have a fall on the way though, not bad, but just some combination of downhill and breaks. I was just so glad to finally reach his apartment and have the ride over with!

Day 11: Alappuzha - Ernakulam: 70km

The houseboat ride had still refreshed me enough that I could so the final stretch to Ernakulum. It was all on NH and we knew that there is going to be lot of traffic and pollution. No surprises there. Going was slow, but ok, we were covering the distance. We reached a place called Aarur, from there we were able to take a Kochi bypass in Ernakulum. That was good, my cold was bad, whole respiratory system was fried and I had to get this over with. Ernakulum city was worse than expected, really had traffic and it took us really long time to navigate the last 9 km to railway station. Someone I got there, still alive. Then it was long wait for the train. We spent the time at a restaurant, having lunch and then coffee etc.
On train, we decided to take the bikes with us. After bus's terrible experience, I did not want to leave the bikes anywhere else. So we paied Rs1000 and took the bikes with us. Vaibhav helped us take them apart and we could adjust them under the seats. Here again I saw another reason for this country's backwardness. People are just mean and greedy. There was an empty cupboard in train where bikes would had fitted. But the person managing it probably wanted money, so he won't let us put bike in there. He locked it and just would not listen. We also decided, whatever happens, we are not giving him money. Luckily folks on other seats were nice and adjusted with the bikes. Train ride was overnight and turned out to be ok. Away from pollution, my cold was little better.

Day 10: Amritapuri - Alappuzha: 60km

I got up feeling much better. The medicine had worked to hide the symptoms. So we decided to ride. We started early, but we had to again go on highway which I know was not good for my respiratory system. Early morning helped, though not much. We reached Allepey in afternoon and had to find houseboat. I was not really into it, because taking a boat would also mean that we will again be starting Ernakulum ride in the afternoon. But it was not an option. So we took the boat and loaded all our stuff in it, including bikes. Boat was ok, at least it took us out in waters away from traffic. I wish it was away from pollution also, but there was lot of pollution of all diesel engines of the boats. It was still enjoyable, somewhat relaxing. The backwaters were definitely very beautiful.
I had a really bad night on the boat. It was A/C, and that's usually worst thing for my cold. I could not sleep much at night, and got up with headache and bad throat. I could not wait to get this over with.

Day 9: Varkala - Kollam - Amritapuri: 40km biking

We started really early, before dawn. The plan was to reach Kollam, and then from there take ferry to Amma ashram at Amritapuri. I had never seen ashram and wanted to see what its all about. The ride would have been great, but we did most of it in dark, at least the fun parts. We could feel that road is lined with ocean and backwaters, but could not see much. Still terrine was so much flatter now, it made for a good ride. Soon we had to join NH 47 though, and it was back to traffic. Good thing is that at least we were getting narial pani now. We also enjoyed some other fruit on the way.
There were some nice bridges over backwaters on the way. Ride to Kollam was ok, not as great of east coast ones due to traffic, but better than previous 2 rides because we started early. We reached Kollam well before time, around 8:00. We took a stop at Railway station to book some tickets and then headed off to take the ferry. I had proper cold by now, and could feel a fever coming. Due to whole NH traffic and pollution condition, I did not have much interesting in riding anymore. We had the option to go all the way to Alleppey in ferry. That will almost end our ride there. But I wanted to see Ashram, and I thought I will be ok if I can get away from pollution. So we stopped at Ashram.
Amma ashram was quite disappointing. It was nothing like what I had expected. It was small and crowded, and my cold did not help either. I got a dorm room, we could not get a place together. The room was terrible. Overall, the experience was not at all what I expected. I had a fever by now and it felt like I won't be able to ride to Alleppey tomorrow. If the ashram was nice, I might have wanted to stay there and take boat later. But it was not. So I took medicine and slept.

Day 8 - in varkala

Finally reached here after two days of really hard biking on rolling hills on kerala coast. It was totally unexpected. By end of yesterday I was completely exhausted and not enjoying it anymore. So we took a day break here. This place reminds me of Mindo in Ecuador. The place is very touristy. Not my type of place. The beach was beautiful though and we desperately needed the break. Thanks to Vaibhav's friends, we got a decent room, not over-priced, at a quiet place. Rahul took a Kerala massage here.

Day 7: Kovalam - Varkala: 60km

I got up early as usual. Some of the tiredness was gone. Rahul and I decided to check out the beach. So we went to the beach and played in water for some time. Today we had to go up to Varkala, which was another 60km north. I did not really want to ride, especially since we were gong to leave in the afternoon in lot of sun. But I guess we had to. So we again started after 11:00, under full heat of sun. On top of that we were not going to take the beach road, but fact NH 47 traffic. I knew its not going to be good, but after yesterday, beach road option was also not looking great. I just hoped that we reach Varkala fast, and then able to start early in morning from there. At least that will take out the heat element from the ride. It was clear here that the fun riding part is over, it was only on the east coast.
As expected, we joined NH 47 and its traffic. The road was still up and down, though a bit less than yesterday. We were still going slow due to accumulated tiredness. At some point we left NH and went into side road to Varkala. On this road, traffic was less, still it was really hot, and I had going slow. I had to walk some of the hills as I had no energy. Finally we reached Varkala beach. We met Vaibhav's friend there and they suggested a really good quiet place to stay. I liked the place, and I wanted to take a day's break here. If we have to ride on NH at least we can make it a bit pleasant by started early morning.
The beach here was very good. Today I had no energy to do anything. So I just went to beach, sat there, then had a huge dinner and then slept. Saw a really good sunset on the beach where suns becomes smaller and smaller. We don't see that in Seattle ever due to all the mountains (and also its cloudy 277+ days)

Day 6: Kanyakumari - Kovalam: 120km+

We got up early to see the sunrise. It was a cloudy day, still we saw some sunrise. Then we went and saw other memorials in Kanyakumari. We could not go to the main attraction Vivekanand smarak as it took 3hrs to get there. I enjoyed the beach in morning and then later at the meeting of 3 seas. I am sure water of Indian ocean was bit colder than Bay of Bengal.
It was almost 11 by the time we started out for Kovalam. According to the plan we had 80+km to go. In the beginning, I saw first road-side nariyal pani. The road was still good.
It was hot, but I was expecting we take the beach road which will be flat. Little did I know what was in store. We somehow ended up on NH-47. There was moderate traffic, but it got worse as we got close to city. Nagercoil city was just terrible, traffic jam, not sure where what road is going. I thought if we took the beach road, we will be away from traffic. So we asked around and got up to the beach road. The road was much longer, but I expected us to make faster progress as we won't have to deal with traffic. Starting out it was good. It was along the oceam with glimses of backwaters. But soon that road just turned nasty. The road was completely potholed, and on top of that it was long rolling hills. This road was not flat at all. Add to that the heat of day and fatigue from dealing with all the traffic before. It made for a very unpleasant ride. It was clear that we were not going to make into Kovalam before dark. So we aimed at getting into Kerala at least. We had a very short bad lunch, and then just kept riding on. I was just really getting tired of the hills. Uphills were bad, but downhills were worse because the road was so bad, we could not go fast. It was scary at places. We just had to keep riding on. At one place, finally too tired, I asked where we were, and it turned out to be last town in Tamil Nadu. That was a bit heartening. We will be in Kerala soon. And we were, and it was quite clear. Its one long village, and constant noise of loud speakers playing bhajans never leaves you. The road was better now, but still all ups and downs which were really tiring. We reached the first town in Kerala - Poovar. Rahul and I wanted to stop here, I was clearly tired beyond fun. But Vaibhav wanted to push on to Kovalam which was another 20+ km. So we decided to push on. It was soon dark, and I had really slowed down. Somehow we managed to get into Kovalam. The beach is a long downhill and I had to walk it because I was just too tired to ride carefully. This ride was no fun.
Vaibhav found us a hotel on the beach and we stayed there. I was too tired to even eat, so I just had some bars and slept.

Day 5: Rameswaram - Kanyakumari: 62km biking

e woke up to a very heavy rain, in fact it rained all night and our bikes were completely drenched. Rahul and I were not prepared for rains at all, our bags were not waterproof.
We had decided to cut short the bike ride and take the bus from Rameswaram to about 60km before Kanyakumari. Since KK is southermost tip, I wanted to ride there and not arrive in bus. We were also fighting against time. So we took early morning local bus to take us out of Rameswaram. Ride from hotel to bus stand was only about a km, but in the rain we were completely drenched, head to toe, not to mention the bags were covered in mud as bikes did not have a mud guard. Getting bikes on the bus was interesting. I missed that fun because Rahul and Vaibhav took care of it while I watched the bags. We were not sure how much we wanted to ride given that we were running against time, rain and tiredness. But I really wanted to ride to KK. Vaibhav nicely agreed to stay with us till we are ~60km from Kanyakumari.
The road was not great and very bunpy. With every bump I wondered if something broke on the bike! Finally bus stopped at a place for lunch where it said 62km from Kanyakumari. So we decided to stop there and start biking. We got the bikes down and I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was intact on all 3 bikes. We fixed the bikes back, had a lunch and then headed out. This road was not completely flat, but had rolling hills. Still road condition was good and hills were not so bad. The road also hugged ocean and we could see glimpses of it on the way. Thankfully it did not rain, and remained cloudy preventing us from heat. The scenery was beautiful and we were able to ride fast. As Kanyakumari came closer, we also started seed windmills. Near Kanyakumari, we also had a short section on golden triangle road. That road is just great, smooth, it was like gliding! The section was short lived though :(. We reached Kanyakumari before dark, and it was definitely the best ride of the trip.
In Kanyakumari, we found a hotel with very good view from balcony. It was facing east and we could see sunrise. Like Rameswaram, here also there was no lack of good north Indian food. We again ate a lot. I had aalu parathas. At night we saw great full moon from balcony. It had been a tiring day, so we slept early.

Day 4: Thondi - Rameswaram: 110km

We started really early, before day break around 5:30. We had a total of 110km to cover today. Starting early was a great decision. Morning ride was great. The road almost hugs the coast, though we could not see any ocean. It was a very good road and completely flat and in morning devoid of any traffic. We had lot of fun riding on that road. We saw good bridges and good birds. As we neared Ramnathpuram, traffic also increased. Getting in to the city was bad, but we had to since we were meeting Vaibhav here. We reached really fast, and then took a break in Ramnathpuram. Rameswaram was another 50+km from here. Heading out to Rameswaram, we met some traffic and it was also hot afternoon. Still nice flat road made ride good. As we neared our destination, we could feel the ocean coming closer. Rameswaram is a island, so to get into it, there is a long beautiful bridge. I loved riding on that bridge with water all around. From bridge its another 10km into the city, and that was very long 10km. I was quite happy to finally reach Rameswaram. It was smaller and dirtier than I thought. The temples was also not as impressive as some others in Tamil Nadu. After parking our bikes we roamed around a bit. One great thing was good north Indian food. Its a big pilgrimage place. so they had loads of great north Indian food. I ate so much, especially after the 110km ride. We checked out the 'beach', got a bit wet in rain and then ate some more. Next day we planned to leave early again in order to gain a day in our trip.

Day 3: Sivagange - Thondi: 67km

We started really early in the morning. The day was still cloudy and we were expecting some drizzle. Getting out of Sivagange, we met some really bad road, completely potholed. Thankfully, the road was flat and there was no traffic. It still made a pleasant ride. On the way we were coordinating with Vaibhav to see where we can meet him. Bad road was followed by really good road, and then some more bad road. We also saw a temple in between, it was flooded, so could not go in. Today was also a very pleasant ride, road lined with fields, some snake and bird sightings. Thondi was a very small fishing village. We found a small place to stay, cleaned our bikes, washed clothes, has good lunch. After some sleep, in evening we decided to go out and explore the village. Finally saw waterfront. Went to bed early and next day was a 100+ day.

Day 2: Madurai - Sivagange: 57km

Next day morning, we checked out early and waited for the luggage place to open. They opened and surprise, the bikes were still not there. One more talk about they will arrive in an hour! I had had it by now, and I said tell us where the bikes are and we will go get them. No more relying on those idiots. So they told us the place and we got out to the godown to finally get our bikes. Good they were there and intact. We loaded the bikes and started our trip.
First destination was Sivagange. Getting out of Madurai was not nice, had to deal with all traffic and route finding. It was also middle of day, but thankfully cloudy. Somehow we managed to get out of the city and on small state highway to Sivagange. Biking was pleasant from the beginning. Road was almost empty and quite good, and we were making good time. Road was lined with water filled fields. We reached Sivagange soon, not much tired, found a small place there to stay. We wanted to leave early next day to avoid any traffic and sun. So there was not much to do, but eat and sleep and wash clothes. So that's what we did.

Trip Day 1 - Madurai

We started our biking trip in Madurai. Getting to Madurai was interesting. We had booked Volvo bus tickets and its truck is suppose to be bog enough to fit in the bikes. At the last moment though, the bus operator caused problems and asked us to send the bikes in 'luggage' separately. We went to luggage place and things appeared very dicy. I don't know why they cause so much problem, probably just wanted some more money. It did not look right from the beginning. But we sent the bikes in luggage. They promised that it will arrive right in the morning with us. ok. As I will learn multiple times, Indians have no sense of time, or of meeting any expectation. Tomorrow never really means tomorrow.
We arrived Madurai very early morning, and then roamed around to find a hotel. Found a not so cheap place. Then we headed out at promised time to check out the bikes. No surprise, the bikes were not there. The guys at counter had 20 different stories - it will come at a different place, it will come in afternoon, it will come in evening and then finally it will arrive tomorrow! I can't help wonder if this type of non-commitment is the reason why this country is still so backward even though there is no shortage of talent. Honesty and sincerity are missing big time.
There was not much to do in Madurai. We saw the main temple, which is great. And then some other temples.

70 mile ride - last weekend practice ride

Today was last weekend of practice ride. We had decided to go to Hosur, then some other small place and then return by Benarghatta road. It was a good almost 100km loop. Once on hosur road, I started cribbing about traffic and pollution. At that time I really thought it was bad, I was not enjoying the ride at all. So we decided to take a detour to Jigni, expecting to follow the scenic route we took last time. It was not the way, we ended up in Jigni industrial area. The road was nice and paved, not much traffic. It was also mostly downhill. We were able to go quite fast there. Reaching Jigni, we had breakfast - dosa and idli at the same place. (I can never get tired of Idli and dosa and looking fwd to 8 days of that!).
From there we asked for directions to Ankele. Finally we were able to reach this nice 12km stretch, low traffic and beautiful. I had a feeling that we had been there before. Reaching there we asked for directions to Benarghatta. People pointed us back towards Jigni! The way to benarghatta was through Jigni!. So we retraced our steps. I did not mind because that 12km was the most beautiful stretch so far. From Jigni we almost recognized the way, taking the detour from benarghatta road to a less traffic better road.
In all we did only 70km, but it was good that we were not tired. I guess we will reach the 100 km mark only during the trip.

Weekday practice

We have been biking the same 2 hour route, and did the same today. But today I was just not in mood to bike, and today I was trying a new shorts and they were somewhat uncomfortable. Today traffic was less, and that was good, but we had to return few meters short of usual turn around point.

Biking 80km with hill

After 2 weeks of practice, it was time to bump up our weekend ride. We wanted to do 100km, but the 100km loop had 3 long hills. So we decided to go for the route which was ~80km with a long hill. Starting out it was mostly downhill. This road was not so good, pot-holed etc. The route was such that we go downhill, and then come back up the hill. This was part of the 100km circuit. While going downhill, I could see it was so steep that it was almost scary. Steep down and windy road. I could see how going uphill would be killing. Little bit down the road we turned back to go up the hill. Gear had to be 1:1, even at that I was not able to pedal and move the bike up. I was so wishing for the time when all I had to do was run up, far better than the effort I was putting with that bike. I had to stop 2 - 3 times to catch my breath, re-engergize and start again. I don't know how, somehow I reached top of that really long hill. From there on also it was a bit flat, bit also quite a bit gradual uphill. After that gargantuan hill, even the small uphills were feeling too much.
Good thing, on the way we found a coconut walla and had some fresh coconut water. This was so good, so much better than what we had in the city. This was also with malai, sweet!
After that point I was tired and just wanted to get home. On the way we had seen quite a few trucks, and so much pollution. My nose and eyes were all hurting. I would need to find something to cover my face on the trip.

Bike day 2 - 30km

Today we decided to do a shorter ride on our own. The plan was to ride for 2 hrs. We decided to take the same road as last time. Traffic was usual now, not much on the way out, and since we were coming back earlier, not too much on the way back also. Once we entered the city, we decided to take inner road instead of the higway we took last time. This was good. Inner road was nicer, much less traffic and we got few extra miles also.

Bike day 1 - 40km

Today was first long ride on the bike. We had to leave at 5:00am in order to avoid traffic. It was dark, but nice as there was no traffic on road. We met with Kiran on highway and then started to go out of the city towards Benarghatta. After a bit we reached close to Nilgiris. The smell of mountains was over powering, and it felt good to be back near nature. Then we reached a forest road that will take us into real forest, A forest where there are elephants. Kiran was quite excited about elephants and had taken many trips there to spot one. Thankfully we did not spot any, I am still not fan of wild wildlife. Forest road was good, narrow but no traffic. We could ride much faster here, and also try out the hills. The turn around point on top of the hill was interesting. I could not place the semi-dense forest I was seeing anywhere. Usually when we see natural beauty, we are able to relate it to other exotic place we have seen before. This was just different, and I was of course not impressed, being spoiled by beauty of Seattle.

Still, it was cool to be able to get out of the city and breath real fresh air. We stayed there for about 30 min, then started back. The way back was different, it was light and there was lot more traffic than before. Kiran asked me to not get off the road, and keep my ground. I did not know if I could trust that truck driving down at me to brake at right time. Mostly they did, I was driven off the road only couple of times. Still I cannot call it good experience in any way, only the crazies would venture out like that. I don't know how we reached at turnout of apartment safely. To celebrate that we had idli breakfast outside and then took the final easy road back to the apartment.

Getting the bike

As soon as I landed in Bangalore, we did not waste any time and got my bike. I had already decided on Shwinn Sporterra sport, had seen and tried it at Performance bikes in Redmond. The bike guy Kiran put together the bike in front of us, it was interesting to watch. We rode the bikes home through Bangalore traffic at peak time. That was a life threatening experience. Of all the adventures I have been into, cycling in Bangalore is going to turn out to be most life threatening, on occassions I felt, this is it, I am going to be the next road kill. But somehow half walking, half riding we got back to the apartment.

Biking in India

If someone told me a month ago that I will be thinking about doing a multi-day cycling trip, and that too in India, I would have said no way! clearly no way! I am not into biking. But as it happened, I did end up signing for one. After unsuccessful Rainier, this year end was looking glum. I was going to spend my birthday, december and new year in India quietly. Somehow that is not want I wanted to do. But just as I was getting used to the idea of spending quiet time (after a highly adventurous year), I saw Vaibhav's status message talking about biking southern coast of India. hmm, I will be in India! So that is how it started. I seriously started thinking about doing part of the trip with him, it was new, exciting, uncertain, fun! I did not know if I am going to make it more than 1 day, and the logistics seemed huge, but I wanted to try it.

Mt Rainier story

Sometime in March 2010, I started training to climb Mt Rainier, a 14000+ highly glaciated peak. I hiked on the trails covered with snow where I would never have gone before, I hiked in rainy weather, and with 30lb packs.
Finally after lots of canceled plans, we started for Mt Rainier on 4th September. Weather predictions were not good, it was going to be cloudy and windy. It was already late in the season, so we just had to make the attempt.

Day 1:
Starting from Paradise, it was already cold and cloudy, but they assured us that clouds go away once you get up to Camp Muir @10,000 ft. So we packed our bags and started. Beginning was nice and easy, it was very different landscape from our previous hike to camp Muir when everything was covered in snow. We encountered some snow just before pebble creek, but nothing difficult to navigate. We refueled at Pebble Creek and got ready to get on snow. It was softer by now, so we did not need crampons. Grade got a bit steeper and going little slow here. As promised, we got glimpses of the peak among clouds and it got clearer and clearer as we got closer to Muir. Finally Muir hut was in view, though we knew its a long way away.

At Camp Muir, we took a short break and got ready to travel on the glacier beyond to Ingraham flats. We put on all the gear, crampons, harness and roped up. The first part to Ingraham flat is flat :). Soon we got to a rocky section on Cathedral rock. This was harder to climb with crampons as there were loose rocks and steeper grade. After the rocky sections comes a bit more trickier part, steeper and icier section to get up to glacier. I was quite tired by now and was having some problems in the couple of steep icy parts. Finally, we reached Ingraham flat, a flat area where we could camp.

It was really cold by now, and my hands and everything was freezing. I was almost out of energy and had to get inside a tent to warm up a bit. I could not help much with tent setup. Once the tents were setup, I just wanted to get in my sleeping bag and sleep. So that is what I did, after some food.

Day 2:
Today was sort of rest day here. We were going to do some self-arrest etc. training and then start the climb at mid-night. But the day started late and with bad news. Weather was not getting any better and it was expected to be very high winds and low temperatures at night. It was looking like we were not going to start our climb. So around 10:30am, it was decided that 2 rope teams should attempt the summit. Some of us were going to get left behind, and being slowest member, I volunteered. So 3 of us got ready to prepare food and water of rest of the 8 who were making an attempt. We knew it was late, wind was strong and they would have to go really fast. Rest of us were going to do some training, in the hope that we can start next day. But I knew from beginning that it was not going to happen.

We spent most of the day melting water for drinking, and preparing food. We did some training, but it was just cold and windy. Finally one of the teams returned from mid-way, it was too windy to go further. They headed down to Camp Muir and we waited in tents for the second team. The finally arrived around 9:00 after a successful summit and we all went to sleep.

Day 3:
As expected, we woke up to a proper winter storm. Snow was flying everywhere and it was a whiteout. Inches of snow had fallen overnight and everything left outside was buried. It was clear that we were not going to make summit attempt and top priority was to packup and get everyone back to Muir safely. So that's what we did, geared up again, wearing everything we brought, roped up and started back. It was interesting going down with so much fresh snow. Fortunately route was still marked and we could stay on trail. I think fresh snow made it easier to get down, especially in the rocky part where snow made for a bit more traction space for crampons. Finally other side of Cathedral rock it was completely different story, clear blue skies, calm winds. We reached Camp Muir with no problems. On the way I got to see crevasses up close.

At Camp Muir, we regrouped. We had no water and everyone was just dehydrated. So we boiled some water, drank a little. It was also time to get out of snow gear, crampons, ropes and everything. Mood was good, and somewhat excited to finally go back. I was of course disappointed to not be able to make summit attempt. But there will be other mountains! Going down from Camp Muir was interesting. Snow was fresh with a ice underneath. So it was skidding and slipping. We tried to glissade many times, some successful and some just too much effort. We saw the famous Muir whiteout were it was impossible to see anything. We stuck together to not get lost. Finally Pebble Creek, were we filled water and drank our fill, finally. From there on it was easy going down to Paradise.

Mailbox Peak

Elevation gain - 4000ft
Distance - 5.0 miles
Pack weight - 10 lbs
Time: 3hrs up, 2hrs down

Finally a check on Mailbox! I decided to do this hike today as it was warm, clear and dry. I decided to not take the pack as I was going with meetup and needed to maintain my speed. The hike starts out ok, but then wastes no time in becoming outright steep. Its literally cable line times 2. But I soon realized that I was lot more scared than I needed to be. It was steep, which is usually ok going up and I kept thinking about way down. First 1/3rd is dirt trail. After that it becomes full of roots and becomes a little confusing. Just follow the white diamonds. Roots help as they make it more of a stair master. After a long time you get out of the trees and reach a rocky section that can be scrambled, but I decided to take the trail. There is still about 30 - 40 min of hiking left after that. Towards the end its Bandera Mtn style scramble, a little less steep. This is where I found some tricky spots, especially going down.
In this last section there were great display of wild flowers, tiger lillies were just everywhere! And so were paint brushes. Finally reach the false peak and from there can see the mailbox which was awesome!
Coming down was easier than I had imagined. Couple of tricky spots in the beginning and then towards the end, rest was just slow careful stepping to not trip on roots!

Squire Creek Pass

Elevation gain - 2400ft
Distance - 6.5 miles
Pack weight - 10 lbs

The hike starts at Eight Mile trailhead. It used to be one-way hike with car shuttle, but part of the trail after Pass got washed out. It starts out quite steep, almost too steep for 2400ft hike. Mid-way we saw the 3'o clock rock and saw some climbers. After 3/4th of the way you get into meadows where the grade eases out. There were couple of interesting creek crossings and muddy patches. There are no real clear views on the way, its all in the forest. Only when you get to the pass you see 4-fingers and other mountains. In all I was not very impressed, too much work for such little reward.

Bandera Mountain

Elevation gain - 3300ft
Distance - 8 - 9 miles
Pack weight - 35 lbs

Gorgeous day to hike Bandera. Beargrass was in almost full bloom, and so were lot of other wild flowers. I carried ~30lbs for conditioning. The trail is easy, so that was not a problem. First glimpses of Rainier were great, but main attraction was definitely beargrass filled slopes. We first went to the lake which is about a mile from junction. It was not really impressive, probably good to sit and eat lunch but nothing else. Then we headed up the scramble section to the top of Bandera. Its much longer than it looks, there is bit of climbing even after the scramble section ends. But the scramble was definitely the best, wild flowers and bear grass everywhere. I saw so many tiger-lillies, it was just delightful!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tulika.agrawal/BanderaMtn2010#

Mt Si and Tiger West 3

5200 ft elevation gain and 14 miles, that was the hike for today, and just 40 min away from Kirkland. I took Saturday off because I thought my leg needed rest. It was rested today so decided to go for Si and was prepared to turn back in case it started hurting or anything. Started the hike with 30lb pack. Around 2 mile mark, it felt that I should get rid of some of the water and lighten my pack. So I did, and down to 25lbs.
Made it to top in about 2hrs with a light pack. I did not want to run down this time as that puts too much pressure on legs. Walked down slowly. I started at 8:48 and was back before 1:00.
While going up Si, I was thinking, not yet challenged enough, especially with light pack, so how about Tiger. I remember from days of training for full marathon, how I really needed to push myself beyond what I could do. A hike up Si was not going to do that. So next I went up Tiger West 3. No pack this time, but it was still tough. Last 1/2 mile was really hard. Luckily I saw some tiger lillies. That totally made my day. Tiger lillies on top of tiger mountain :) I did the last 1/2 mile from one flower to other.
The way back was fast as I just wanted to get in the car, go home and relax.

Adams Day 2

We headed out @8:00 am. First task was to gear up in the cold, put on crampons, helmet, ice axe etc. etc. That itself felt tiring. The day was perfectly clear and we could see all the way up to the false summit, straight way up. The slop is steep at places where we were learning to traverse by making our own switch backs. At the false summit it was very windy and cold. The real summit was looking like in a full all white-out. It was also very cold at this point and I needed to put on second layer which was impossible to do in the cold and wind and with cramponed shoes. I had chosen a full pants as extra layer instead of proper rain / wind breaker pants that have side chain. Now I know why they make those special pants with side chains so that they are easy to put on and off. Not surprising I tore part of the leg of the pants with crampons, I did not care. Finally were on and provided little relief from the cold. I almost did not want to go any further. We did not take much break, just headed straight up. The way from false summit to real was much better, longer traverses, but I was able to follow. It also felt less cold, less exposed.

Finally a summit, one quick summit photo and then heading back. It was all ok to false summit but from here the way to go down the steep slope is glisade! There were a couple of glisading tracks made, you are support to just sit in one of them and slide down. Me, terrified of sliding of any kind, even never went down the phisal-patti in school, did not know how to do it. The alternative of walking down the steep slope was also worse. Somehow skidding sliding, sometimes making my own path, I made it down. Phew.

Adams Day 1

Gear check, permits etc.
Drive to trail head
Lunch Counter, no crampons, not icy, grade was ok, feeling good.
Dug to create platform for tents
Too windy, melting snow, not feeling great, too cold I suppose even with all gear. Did not eat too much.

Adams Day 0

Drove to Beacon State Park, camped

Ecuador!

Can't believe that I am visiting Ecuador trip advisor forum, less than a year after I was exploring Kenya and Tanzania. This seems to be turning into year of foreign travel. If I can make New Zealand happen at end of the year, I would have visited all 6 continents in same year! (yes, Antarctica does not count!) Just booked my tickets, but there are still so many unknowns in the trip. Though if I did end up going and doing something even of not much hiking, it will not be a waste of $1000.

4th-of-july-creek

Today was a beautiful sunny day in Leavenworth. I headed for 4th-of-july-creek with meetup group. Its a not so easy hike, so I decided to not take heavy pack. I needed to keep pace with rest of the group. This hike starts out steep, gaining lot of elevation in first 3.5 miles. After that you enter the ghost forest and its quite flat from here. After a mile or so of ghost forest, you climb up to Icicle Ridge with lots of switchbacks. There is some snow towards the very end, but its melting fast and was not a problem at all. I did not need to use my stabilizers also.

I do not know why, but I was quite exhausted in the beginning. I just could not make my legs move any fast on the steep uphills. Had to dump some of the water in the middle to keep up with the group.

The views were just amazing. Clear blue skies. First we saw the Cashmere range, then Enchantments. The hill sides were full of wild-flowers rigth from start. At places we were literally switch-backing through fields of flowers, mostly purple lupines. We also spotted a few tiger littles and bunch of unknown purple, while and yellow flowers. There were also some pink wild roses. After 4 miles, you enter the ghost forst, its a bunch of tress burnt down in a forest fire a while ago, it looks creept and ghostly. When you reach the Icicle Ridge, there were views of North Cascades behind, enchantments and cashmere ranges in front.

Elevation gain - 4800ft
Distance - 11.5 miles
Time - 4:00 hrs up, 3hrs down
Pack weight - 20 lbs

http://picasaweb.google.com/tulika.agrawal/4thOfJulyCreek#

Rock'n'Roll Volunteer

A day of volunteering at Rock'n'Roll marathon expo! This is second year of Rock'n'Roll marathon in Seattle and they had 28000 runners. I chose not to run this year as I wanted to concentrate on hiking, plus I am not keen on running same course again. So I decided to volunteer this year. The Expo was less grand than last year's. There were more and more things for sale, than for give away. There was also an increasing number of energy bars and gels, things I have never heard of or seen at REI. They all tasted almost the same, the world as just become even more confusing!

Seeing the runners from other side of desk was interesting. Some were seasoned runners, just give me my packet and I will get out of here. Some were OMG, my first marathon, I have no idea what's happening. There were couple of people who (or their significant others) wanted to record every moment, even packet pickup. I think it was rude to take my picture handing the packet without asking me - bcoz I would have said no! Overall it was quite fun!

Mt Si - 32lb

Today was quite a sunny day and I decided its better to not waste it sitting in office. So I put the idea on meetup group to start the hike @2 and 3 other people joined. I am loving meetup! We started the hike @2:10. This must have been my first sunny Mt Si hike this year and I was glad for all the shade along the trail. View of Rainier and surrounding mountains was gorgeous! Temp up at peak was nice and warm and it was hard to leave and come down.

Pack weight - 32lb

Time up - 2hr 15min

Time down - 1hr 15min.

Tiger West #3

This weekend was totally miserable. Wanted to go to Bandera yesterday with meetup group, but just could not get out of rajai, tired and gloomy weather. Then got paged just when thinking of leaving, so good excuse to not go. Spent rest of the day sleeping. Today packed the backpack and lunch to do a Mt Si and then Tiger hike. It was raining on the way, lost interest and ended up just doing Tiger West. The trail is not as easy as I thought, or I was just struggling because of yesterday's comatose state. Hopefully sun will come out and will have better rest of the week.

Elevation gain - 2000ft
Distance - 6 miles
Time - 2:30 hrs
Pack weight - 30 lbs

Cable line

A quick hike up cable line today. Decided not to carry pack, the weekend and rest of week had been very tiring. Did not seem to have made any difference to timing!
Pack wt - 20lb

Lake 22

This was a easy hike, wanted to chillout before the weekly madness starts. Did not even carry a pack. The views were just great.

Data:
Elevation gain - 1200ft
Distance - 5.4 miles
Time - 4:00 hrs
Pack weight - 15 lbs

http://picasaweb.google.com/tulika.agrawal/Lake22#

Mt Washington - 3

ya, fine, call me crazy, stupid, why, what or whatever. I decided to go back to Mt Washington again this weekend. Last weekend was cloudy and I did not take heavy enough pack. This time I took 32 - 35lb pack. The view was as awesome as I had remembered on this clear day. This time went up the shorter 4 mile trail and came down the great wall trail.

Data:
Elevation gain - ~3400ft
Distance - ~10 miles
Time - 6:00 hrs
Pack weight - 32 - 35lb

http://picasaweb.google.com/tulika.agrawal/MtWashington#

Mt Washington - 2

Second trip to Mt Washington. The first one was a snowshoe, so this was different. I was carrying only about 25lb this time. We took the great wall trail up and regular trail down.

Data:
Elevation gain - ~3400ft
Distance - ~10 miles
Time - 6:30 hrs (a 40 min detour also)
Pack weight - 25lbs

At the first junction, we were suppose to make right, but we thought that we needed to go straight to go on the great wall trail. This trail led us to some sketchy trails which were clearly meant for climbers and not hikers. So we came back to the juction and followed the one on right. Soon we were at owl lookout point. Little bit ahead of that is second junction, the real one for Great Wall trail. So we took that one to summit. Its long and mostly flat. But there is a nice ridge walk with much better views that the shorter trail. Way back the shorter new trail. It was partly cloudy, some view of Rainier and surrounding, nothing as dramatic as what we saw last time.

Tiger Mtn Cable line

Yesterday we did the "short" after work hike to Tiger Mtn. Cable line to go up - 1 hr 13 min. I had a pack of about 20lbs. The trail is relentless climb of ~2000ft in 1.5 mile. I am beginning to find flat section on the trail now :). Back using the regular 3 mile trail - 50min.

Mt Si with 35lbs

or probably 40lbs. This was a long weekend, but weather had squashed all the plans. So I headed back to Mt Si. This time I opted to be brave and stuffed almost 35 lbs in my pack. I don't think I have ever carried more than 30lbs in any of my backpacking trips. And it totally showed. Even at the first mile, I was already tired and celebrating the quarter of way done. By mile 2, I was starting to doubt if I will make it, and I was playing with the idea of emptying half of the 5 gallon water. Then I told myself, the only difficult stretch is mile 2 - 2.5, rest is easy. So I went upto 2.5. I was doing 18 min per half-mile. After 2.5, there was no way I was going to give up. It actually became better after 3 mile, though the last section was getting really hard. I reached the peak in little under 2 & 1/2 hrs, what a disaster! I gave up at bottom of the rocky section, sat there and had my snack bar. It was strange that I did not see too many hikers with pack this time.
To make up for the shameful extra 20 min I took, I decided to hike down with same full pack. I really had to pace myself so as not to hurt my knees. Just one stop at the flat mid-way point and was down in well under 2hrs.

Mt Si with 30 lbs

When it is rainy and cloudy and alone, I hike Mt Si for timepass :) This time I carried a 30lb pack. There were about 200 people at the trailhead and a group of high school boy scout something. I usually don't mind crowded trails, and definitely not when I am hiking alone. Though this time it was a nuisance. I started just about the time the scout group started. First they wanted to run, and overtake me, then like usually teenagers, lost all energy and I had to pass them all one by one. It was rainy, and still there were all lot of annoying young people on the trail, who have no idea that they are suppose to give way to folks going up.
After 3 mile, I started seeing snow. It was actually snowing there. A couple of slushy patches slowed my down a little. I made it safely to the top, and it was great, I was not tired at all, the pack seemed fine and I made it in 2hr 10min. It was a proper snowfall at the top, nothing to see. The rocks were covered in snow, so I decided to not scramble with my pack. My hands were getting numb and I could not find the stupid gloves. Somehow found the cap when I was almost about the cry and warmed my hands one at a time, while almost running down to get to lower elevation.

Camp Muir

On this perfect and sunny day, we headed for Camp Muir. Some of us started at 4:00 in the morning to make it a day hike. I was somewhat apprehensive if I would be at my best given before 4:00 wake up and 2 & 1/2 hr drive. But I was fine, driving was ok and I was in good spirits when we started. I took the bold decision to not carry my snowshoes, and see how that goes. Since we had a early morning start, 7:00am snow was still packed ice. The first section was easy, I soon got comfortable walking on the snow and there were quite a few boot tracks to follow. Then came a very steep section. Luckily folks before us had already dug steps and I could follow it like stairs. I got a little stuck at the second tiny steep section, but managed to scale it. Rest of the way was not that hard. Soon we saw the Muir hut and that made it easier.

At the top, it was cold and windy. Temp was def below 0. It was hard to find a spot away from wind, but we found a rock and settled there to make hot chocolate. Spent close to 30 min at Muir before starting down. The plan was to glissade as much as we can, ahem! I started first couple of glissades apprehensively. It was ok on less steep slopes, but definitely glissading down steep slopes is not my thing. Snow was much softer now and we were postholing like anything. Somehow managed to slide, glissade, walk down to Paradise. Total time close to 8hrs.

Whidbey half-marathon 2010

Another half-marathon down, this time 2:28:49, could have easily shaved off 5 more min from it, but the course was just way too beautiful to run though. I had to stop every few miles to take in the view and enjoy it. This was the first marathon, I really totally enjoyed. The course is all full of rolling hills. The hills did not bother me at all since I trained for the worst in Kirkland. I stopped took photos, maintained a steady pace, never really strained, it was a easy glide through!

10.8 miles in Kirkland

Running in Kirkland is pure torture and only for the insane! But then so is Whidbey and I signed up for that insanity months ago. So here is a 10 miler in Kirkland which will train you for Whidbey.
URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3565044

But after the short hike yesterday (I don't want to talk about it!), I thought I would give myself a treat and go for a quick 10 mile on Sammamish River flats. Managed 7 bcoz was not prepared for the rain, but it was good in the end.

URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3500116

--
tuls

8 miles

My first 8 mile long run after the full marathon. Now that I live in Kirkland, I ran this in Kirkland and running in Kirkland is always a mistake. The killing hills were just too much for the first run.

Walking on streets

walked from dinner place to apartment, 10:00pm at night, -4C temp.
URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3439478

I think hiking 2009 is over

and I have no complains, and its sort of high time! This has been a amazing season. I checked off more things from my list than I could put up there. We did the big Enchantments which was definitely the best backpacking. I finally finished St Helens too. Also checked off Half-Dome which was a nice surprise. There were some surprisingly nice hikes like Navaho Peak and berries at Shriner Peak. We managed to go everywhere this season starting from Columbia River Gorge, St Helens, Mt Rainier, Olympic, Baker, Wenatchee. Now its time to give legs some rest and concentrate on dancing before running begins. (ok, none of these is actually giving any rest to the legs!). Things left on list for next seaon will be - Lake Chelan, Glacier once more, Ingalls, a pretty short list :)

Weekly running route

So I am hoping to do a 7.5 - 8 mile run on weekly basis till I start training for next marathon. Here is the weekly route -URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3217262 through beautiful Kirkland waterfront.