Downieville

Last weekend, I went with Karthik to Downieville. There we joined the family of my supervisor Doug and some of his friends for camping and biking. We did the 4 hour drive on Saturday morning. In the evening, Doug borrowed me his mountain bike to do a short test, whether I would be able to do the 16 miles downhill trail. Unfortunately I failed the test. I must admit that I'm just too much of a coward for downhill mountain biking. It was difficult for me to make out the fun part of the ongoing fear on the 20 minutes test trail. Additionally there was a helicopter landing at the trail head to transport a heavily wounded mountain biker to the nearest hospital. If you wonna know how the trails look like, just search for "Downieville" in YouTube. Despite it was Karthik's first mountain bike experience too, he did a lot better and decided that he can make the long downhill trail on the next day. By the way, he looks awesome when he sits on his bike with all the armor on...


In the evening we made a camping fire. The children Maya and Tobi could have their Marsh Mellows... I think those things are pretty disgusting and would have rather grilled some sausage. Cindy also enjoyed the warmth of the fire.

I decided that I like my life and therefore not join the others on the next day on the downhill trip. I'm just more of an up-hill-hiker than a down-hill-biker ;-) So, Cindy and me went to the top of the highest mountain in the area. It is a pretty impressive peak with a fire lookout tower on the top.


The last few steps to the top were pretty scary, as you had a lot of air beneath your feet ^^


Before going home on Sunday afternoon, Cindy and me refreshed ourselves in one of the small lakes that were around the campsite. But no Cindy! Don't jump! Noooo...

Good bye, Ford Focus

As my rental car contract ended a few weeks ago, I had to look for some alternative vehicle. It was a hard farewell to the car. It did a perfect service for more than 5000 miles, so I more than doubled the total mileage of the car in less than 2 months - Californian style ;-) So the selection of the replacement was hard, but there it is. I proudly present my road bike that I could lend from one of my working colleagues... To keep the bike and Cindy safe, I bought a lock and a helmet!

Mount Tamalpais

Today we went to the Tamalpais State Park, which is a few miles north of San Francisco. Just short after you go over the Golden Gate Bridge. On the picture below, you can see my two hiking companions: Christian and Giacomo, who is from Switzerland.

There were a few big trees in the park that seemed to be quite an attraction for the visitors. As I have seen the trees in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park before (see former post), they were far less impressive for me.


Checking weather forecasts is just senseless here, because it is sunny and hot every day. We did a long dayhike. First we went down to Muir Woods and then up to Mount Tamalpais. A few hundred feet below the top of the mountain, we encountered the American way of hiking. First there was a street plus a parking lot up there. So for a 6 dollar fee, we could have spared a few hours of hiking, if we only had known! Well, but as the last hundred feet up to the peak can be so exhausting for people who are used to drive everywhere, there was of course a cola machine up there... I bought a small refreshment for Cindy, as you can see on the picture below.


The height of the peak was only 2571 feet, but we got an impressive view of San Francisco and the north part of the bay. Below, Cindy is enjoying a rest, in the background you can see a very long bridge over the north part of the bay.


On the last photo, you can see Christian, Giacomo, Cindy and me with a view of San Francisco from the north in the background. It was again a hard day and we were glad to get free softdrink re-fill at the stakehouse that we went to in the evening...