Mission Peak

Yesterday I went hiking with a couple of friends as it's on my list of things to check out before moving to LA. Mission Peak is infamous among the locals as a tough hike and it's always brought up on facebook. I made it my mission to see if this peak was as intimidating as people made it sound and there's only one way to find out!

I'd say we took too much time looking for the actual entrance and an unlocked bathroom on campus of Ohlone College. We walked around the campus which was pretty big and reminded me of an M.C. Escher drawing with all the stairways and railings. After 30 minutes, we asked someone who knew where he was going and was pointed to a porto-potty. Then we probably took another 30 minutes walking up a paved road into a construction zone then turning around and spotting another friend driving into the wrong road. On the journey back to the parking lot, we found out the entrance was right across the lot entrance next to the cows and horses....

Upon entering a few cattle gates, we were greeted with cow pie and horse crap explosion. Then we started up on a gravel path where we crossed paths with rolly pollies and stink bugs. some stink bugs went up into stink position. We then saw 2 puppies finishing their hike all dirty and dusty. They left brown pawprints on our pants.

Then we spotted a cave! Photo Op!

Forest part means possible ticks and poison oak!

No more trees means no more shade! We also decided to take a shortcut which is steeper yet a more direct route than the actual trail. The trail became more zigzaggy.
Trail became flatter and straight forward until we hit a rest stop with a restroom and a picnic table. We took a break, refueled, and waited for 2 people to catch up.

Afterwards, the path got steeper and rockier. I enjoyed the rocky parts the most!

Finally the peak of Mission Peak! Time to break out the Astronaut ice cream!

Marked our names and date!

Now the journey downhill!

We saw hanggliders and paragliders! I slid a few times going downhill which was both thrilling and scary!

Uphill time: est 3 hr 15 min
Downhill time: estimated 1 hr 18 min
Total time: est. 4 hr 33 min

iFly Indoor Skydiving

This was done August 21, 2011 at iFly, the Union City location. We were briefed with a short instructional and safety video along with a recap with our instructor. Then black suits with bold colors, goggles, ear plugs and helmets were provided. On this day, I donned my new Tokidoki/Marvel Storm shirt, hoping she would bestow her incredible wind powers upon me.

Turns out the shirt matches the suit given to me. Nice!

Then, the instructor started checking us if everything is in place and fits right. We sat a bit, waiting for the group ahead of us to finish. As we waited, I started getting nervous. while waiting, I watched the other participants go before me, taking mental notes of what to do and what not to do.

Before I knew it, it was my turn. On the first bout in the wind tunnel, you get one minute. I braced myself and let my instructor flip me horizontal, spread out my arms and attempted to fly. I kept having trouble staying up. The instructor placed me in front of the mirror to tell me to how to position my arms and to keep my chin up. He seemed to have a hold of me for most of the time, giving me hand signals to bend or straighten my legs and relax.

Once I finally processed the meaning of the hand signals, I knew I was flying. I went higher up above the instructor's head, spun around, then my feet hit the walls of the tunnel. That's when I was gently pulled down and flung to the door. The wind was so strong that I had trouble getting to the exit, which made me laugh a bit too much.

Once I got out, the mother of a family that's part of my group gave me thumbs up and said I was in the air by myself for a good while. Of course, I felt proud.
Waiting this time around, I wasn't as nervous. Soon, it was my second turn. This time I tried not to think so hard. Just relax.

Finally I got a handle of it. I didn't need the instructor as much. It was incredible flying freely and spinning around getting a good view of the place. At one point the mom and her two daughters gave me thumbs up. I tried to give the thumbs up back, but I dropped a bit and I couldn't stop laughing! As I laughed, saliva was flying up and I could feel the slobber on my face, which led to more laughing. I had to keep my mouth shut from now on. So I was given an extra minute since I had the "Spread your Wings" package.

Two minutes of awesome flying!

At the end, we each got a certificate from the instructor. He said that I was pretty good in there and wrote "Wonderful Flight!" on my certificate.

Definitely, something I would do again!

More pics here!

Thrills to be had

I made this blog to keep up with my bucket list and share my experiences as I cross out each item. Mostly, I want a place where I can look back and remember those experiences.

My online bucketlist