Sunday on the hiking trail

Yang took today off from writing to spend time with Victor and me. Three of us went on the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline hiking trail. The air was cool today, a good day for hiking. We went much further than last two weeks when Victor and I were hiking by ourselves. Along the way we saw a beautiful sunflower plant. Sunflower is Yang's favorite flower. The soil surrounding the plant was very dry. We didn't know how this plant grew so healthy among other wildflowers.

Two deer were next to the trail and three of us caught a glimpse of them. They bounded away as we walked closer and before I could take a picture. A big black cow was nearby too. It chewed the cudd and watched us walking by gingerly.

When we were on the top of the hill surrounding by the trees and grass, my cell phone rang. It was a car dealer from the local Acura dealership asking me to buy a car. He was persistent but I managed to hang up after a minute of conversation.

Victor slipped a few times on the way down. We decided that we would find a flatter hiking trail next time.

Hiking Cow!

Why is this Cow in a hiking trail? Victor and I went on the same trail this morning. It was cooler than last Saturday. The ground was a bit wet because of the rain from the last few days. The trail was quite. We saw a large animal stood near the bench that we sat a week ago. At first I didn't know what it was. After closer inspection, we discovered that it was a huge cow. It was sitting and eating, and blocked the path to the bench with a view. We dared not get closer.

We continued for a while until Victor was tired. When we came back, the cow was still there, now facing toward us. We left in a hurry but took a couple of pictures.

We found an interesting wild grass on the ground. It repelled water just like a lotus leaf.

Victor’s First Hike

For about three years, Yang and I used to hike every weekend. We hiked all the major trails in the Bay Area. We used a community web site http://www.bahiker.com/ to find good trails and plan the hikes. Hiking was our favorite activity until we had Victor and Oliver. Since Victor was born, we have been to the hills only a few times and haven't had a real hike.

We cannot wait to get back there. This morning Victor and I decided to give it try. I found an easy hiking trail not very far away from us http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/carquinez.html. I jotted down some simple directions and packed water and food and drove away. Yang stayed home to continue her work on Chapter 12.

Twenty minutes later I had to call Yang. Although I wrote down the directions, I missed an important detail. There were two Rankin Park Trails, and I didn't know which one to take. After a phone call and some technical assistance, Victor and I took the left one. Now we were all set as I wrote down all the other details.

The climb was steep, and Victor struggled. I stayed right behind him. He was in high spirit but became tired immediately. I took a few pictures.

Ten minutes later we had to take a break. We actually had a bay view. I encouraged Victor to continue. It became hot for both of us.

Another ten minutes and another climb later, we were at a relatively flat area, there was a bench to sit and enjoy the bay view.

Victor and I decided to head back because he was really tired. On the way back, he picked some yellow flowers for Mom. I led the way and Victor followed me this time, the steep decent was a bit dangerous for Victor. We moved slowly and went down safely.

We hiked about 1.2 miles, a third of the recommended route. Victor agreed to do it again and hike the whole route next time.