Weekend Hike!

Tags

bay area, cataract falls, exercise, hiking, nature, weekend fun

Hello lovelies!

I’m a bit sad that the weekend is almost coming to an end. However, I am so grateful to have spent a beautiful Saturday hiking with my boyfriend who drove down just so we could spend time together. We decided to hike Cataract Falls, which is a popular hiking spot by the mountains in Marin County in California. It was definitely a beautiful and memorable experience; let me share some highlights and struggles. 🙂

started out with some decaf coffee 🙂

One thing I loved about this hike was the constant change in scenery with each trail we took. Each one was equally as breathtaking as the next. The first trail took us along Cataract Creek as we hiked through lots of stairs and rocks. It was quite a challenge to climb up the rock steps with my short legs LOL. We were surrounded by nothing but towering trees, overflowing small creeks and ferns, and cut down tree stumps and logs that seem to decorate the trail.

Suddenly we heard it. The sound of water falling. It was such a comforting sound. We saw a series of beautiful waterfalls – my first time seeing actual ones! Each one was unique in the way the rocks allowed the water to fall.

At this point, I was really grateful for being on this hike, because it felt great to get away from the city and take in some unpolluted, fresh air. It was a wonderful stress-reliever for me since I haven’t been feeling the best recently.

At the end of the first trail, we were already pooped and made a quick stop for lunch.
I told my boyfriend that, knowing myself, I’m not sure if I’m up for the next 6 or 7 miles that was left. (We could’ve chosen an alternative shorter path that was 2.5 miles in total). The first part was already pretty tough. But with some encouragement, I made through the whole thing! I was actually about 10 miles in total! We didn’t see that coming HAHA.

fuel for the hike

snacks for our hike. Fritos twists are so addicting!

we were so high up in the mountains! I love the warmth from the sun that we felt here.

The next part of the trail took us into a wide open space with a grand view of the valley that traversed through the giant green hills and mountains and led us straight into the woods lined with red manzanita trees. Towards the end, we caught beautiful views of the lake.

Alright, as someone who does not do regular exercise on a daily basis, my body was absolutely drained by the end of the hike. The hike was intense not only because it was long, but also because we were constantly hiking uphill as well as downhill. Sometimes to shorten the struggle of going uphill, we would make a sprint for it. That was so fun! The downhill part was eventually started to irritate our knees from the force of impact. The hike is definitely not good for those with bad knees haha.

At the end of our hike, we were so pooped that we took a half hour nap in the car.

THEN we indulged in some delicious SUSHI for dinner! We worked for this.

Takoyaki – fried dough with octopus.

This was delicious, with hints of sesame oil and sea salt

Besides salmon, my favorite fish is unagi. Drool-worthy.

This roll was humongous! And also my favorite dish of the night. Tried to fit the whole thing in my mouth…and failed.

We demolished everything. Nothing wasted. 🙂

After dinner, we went to get some boba milk tea in downtown SF. Didn’t snap any pictures, but it was nice take a short walk after our meal. 🙂

Today, I woke up feeling sore all over my body. I tried very hard to not fall alseep during Sunday service LOL.  I haven’t felt this sore in a long time. I love the feeling!

Thanks for reading through this long post! I hope you had a beautiful weekend!

What are some of your weekend highlights?
Do you like the feeling of soreness after a good workout? How do you deal with it?