May 8, 2006

• Weekend update:

  
  

  Zakir Hussain...went to see a concert of the world's best tabla player (it's a drum from northern India) at Royce Hall in UCLA.  It was really enjoyable and unique...I especially liked the sitar player.  Had philly cheesesteaks at South Street in Westwood Village and dessert at Diddy Riese...can't beat an ice cream cookie sandwich for $1.

  
  

  Cactus to Clouds hike...22 miles from the Palm Springs art museum to the top of Mt. San Jacinto at 10,800 ft. elevation.  Started at 2am and finished around 7pm for a total of 15 hours hiking.  This was definitely a tough hike but what made it even harder was all the snow at the top (especially since I didn't have snow shoes or crampons).  People have fallen and died or gotten lost at the top before so it added an extra element of risk.  The hardest part is the Skyline trail (11 miles with 8000 ft elevation gain) which leads you to Long Valley at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the world's largest rotating tram.  Here you can stop and take a break, grab lunch/dinner/drinks, and refill for water.  After that it's a 5.5 mile hike to the summit and then the same back down to the top of the tram station.  Had dinner at Thai Smile in Palm Springs...good food but a little pricey.

  
  

  

  
  

  group shot at Long Valley

  
  

  

  
  

  The sunrise

  
  

  

  
  

  Proof that I made it to the top

  
  

  

  
  

  My zen moment at the highest point of the peak

  
  

  

  
  

  On the tram ride down

  
  

  Rockreation...did some climbing at the gym in West LA...boy am I out of shape...couldn't even get up a 5.10b   Need to do some more bouldering to build up my upper body strength.  Want to do more leading too.

  
  

  Mission Impossible 3...had dinner and a movie at the Arclight.  Nothing really stands out about the movie except Tom Cruise does a lot of running, lolz.  Lots of good action scenes though so it was enjoyable.

  • 4:11 pm
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