Today I did a nice hike with my wife in the morning. Unfortunately it didn't quite go as planned.
If you check the map (sorry for the reflection) you will see that Hayward Reservoir has a 16km (10mile) hike in a nice loop.
The goal was to go around the park with my wife and dog then have a nice snack at the end.
It really is a beautiful walk and has a nice waterfall. The last time we were here it was raining and the crossing over the dam was closed for maintenance.
Today was going to be different (or so we hoped).
The path was well maintained for the most part. It started off very well groomed like this image. There were lots of ups and downs. Lots of roots making for walking hazards. However, there were also bridges and stairs which made the path fairly easy to traverse.
There were actually 5 different rivers that we got to cross over along the way. Some larger and some smaller but all very pretty.
There were some interesting places to stop and rest along the way. This chair made out of a stump was certainly one of them.
Unfortunately the path to the waterfalls was restricted. Seems the stairs were destroyed when a landslide went through.
It seems that those stairs weren't the only casualty along the pathway. It didn't install a lot of confidence when I saw the max 4 people on bridge sign.
Even less confidence when I saw a tree fallen onto the bridge.
I had to take this picture because those little tiny trees on that one stump....Those are actually big trees, the stump is just so big that it makes them look tiny!
Now once I saw this one I just was baffled. How did the stump of a full sized tree get so far in the air??? What toppled it over?
Then we have to either go over or under this major tree obstacle. My wife wanted to turn back but onwards it was. No chickening out for one gnarly tree.
Or even this tree that we had to go underneath. A lot of work to go over and a lot of work to go under. But we made it. Oh yeah. More work to go under because I sprained my wrist bowling yesterday night.
Just as a side note the lake we are walking around is actually a manmade lake. The area was flooded to make a hydroelectric dam. You can see the remains of the trees that were flooded in this photo.
Once we got to this point we knew it was end of the road. The train was washed out and even I wanted to continue I just knew it was a bad idea. So at this point we had to turn around and trek 6km back to where we started from. We only did a 12km trip today but 4 hours on the trail was enough.
However some last photo's from the day.
Our dog had lots of energy bounding up and down the trail. At the end of 4 hours though we was slowing down which is a good thing.
There was lots of forest and vegetation. Lots of sounds from the forest too. Especially the crows and eagles. They made a lot of noise. The play of the sun through the trees was really pretty.
While the forest is the star of the show on this hike. The glimpses of the lake and the mountain were pretty as well.
Some parts of the forest were very thick. Going through here was pretty because of all the green but very closed in on the path.
When I saw a leaf this big how could I not stop and take a pictures?
Of couse at the end of the walk my wife and I traditionally have a sit down and a little snack.
I always look forward to a nice cold coca-cola. Unfortunately when we went to the car to get it my Coca cola and my peanuts weren't there.
I didn't mind my biscuit and banana...but nothing to drink after a 4 hour hike? I wasn't super happy with my wife about that. (I gave her the drink and she insisted she didn't get it).
The mystery was solved when we got home though. The Coca Cola had fallen out of the bag and rolled under the drivers seat.
Had a nap when I got home. Watched some TV and wrote a bit on Hive. Then in the evening yet another walk for the dog so he could do his business.
Overall a pretty good way to get those 25k steps in for the day.
Thanks for reading,
Until tomorrow,
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