Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Washington Hikes: Part I

Snow Lake
It is probably one of the best hikes I have done so far. Snow Lake is in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and is drop-dead gorgeous. Cliffs rise to Chair Peak on one side of the lake. The other side is forested where the terrain drops abruptly to the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River valley. It is a photographer’s dream.
Distance: around 4 miles one-way
Beginning Elevation : 3100 feet
Ending Elevation: 4100 feet
Difficulty level: Difficult



Lake Ozzete trail
This is a fascinating, picturesque walk. One of my favorite trails. It's a long trip from Seattle, about 120 miles plus a ferry ride, all of which can take 5 hours or more. Trail starts in a forest and ends at coast 9 mile loop, insignificant elevation change.



Boulder River Trail
This is an awesome trail. At 1.2 miles there are a series of cascades and waterfalls seen across Boulder River on the opposite bank. Just the drive to Darrington, Arlington is superb.
Getting There:
From Darrington, Take Hwy. #530 west for 8.2 miles to mile post #41. Turn left onto #2010. At 0.9 mile the road passes the campground. At the fork, continue on the road to the right for 2.8 miles. Where the road switchbacks sharply up the hill, the trailhead road continues straight ahead. This road is not passable for vehicles, so park at road beginning off Road #2010.
Elevation: 1400 feet, length: 4 miles

Mount Little Si

Elevation: Gain of 1,200 feet
Length: 4.4 miles out and back - about 2.5 hours with limited stops
Be prepared to arrive very early on weekends to avoid the crowds.
Getting There - Take I-90 East to Exit 32 (436th Street) and turn left. Upon reaching North Bend Way, turn left -- then right on Mount Si road. After about a mile, the main trailhead is located on the left.
This site is also famous for rock climbing.
http://www.mountsi.com/

Wallace Falls:
Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass – East

Lower Wallace Falls is at 1.8 miles on the hiking trail and has a picnic shelter. Middle Falls is at 2.1 miles, and Upper at 2.75 miles.
Elevation gain: 1,200 feet.


Chirico trail
Described as "moderate," this hike was actually quite difficult for me. But somehow, I found it in me to keep on going to the top. If you go on a clear day then you can get an awesome view of Puget Sound – from the Poo Poo Point. This area is also famous for paragliding.
Getting There:
From Seattle, east on I-90 to exit 17, Front Street. Turn right off the freeway and travel 2.8 miles to the gravel parking area on the left. The trailhead is across the field.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter


Why every person from all age groups including my father likes children's book Harry Potter... I always had this question.

It was answered when I watched all Harry Potter movies. After watching half blood prince I just could not wait for another 2 years for the last part of the movie to be released. I was too curious to know the ending. So I started reading last part of Harry Potter - deathly hallows (with 800 pages). I thought it will take me months to finish it but to my surprise I finished it in 2 weeks because I just couldn’t stop reading…
Then I understood why people would wait in lines to grab the book on the first day of book release and regretted for calling them crazy.

J.K. Rowling has a startling writing style, splendid imagination. In the world of imagination she could have very well crossed the line and made it gory like lord of the rings or weird like Alice in wonderland...

But she maintained the balance and did not lose the subtlety of the story.
It is better to deserve a thing than to have it rather than having it and not deserving it...J.K. Rowling deserves the fame and success she has...

I really hope that she keeps writing and keeps amusing her fans.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Love Aaj Kal - Movie Review

Imtiaz Ali's third film. The quality of his films is degrading with time.

His first film 'Socha Na Tha' was a movie about a guy 'X' in love with a girl 'Y' but his parents want him to marry some other girl 'Z' and finally he falls in love with the girl his parents choose for him - 'Z' and the story ends.

His second film 'Jab we met' was on similar lines where a girl 'X' is in love with a guy 'Y' and on her journey to convience him she falls in love with some other guy 'Z'... and story ends

Both were light hearted movies.

In 'Love Aaj Kal' boy 'X' and girl 'Y' both are in love with each other but they realize it on the day the girl marries someone else - 'Z'!
And then Y dumps Z and gets back to X. Some crazy stuff... I found it very immature.

I wonder what Imtiaz's next film story is... X and Y in love with each other and X gets married to Z has kids and all and 10 years down the line realizes he actually loves Y!

Love aaj kal is a pathetic movie with stupid story and an actress who doesn't know how to act...

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The old man and his God


I think the best books by Sudha Murthy are:
'How I taught my grandmother to read' and 'Wise and Otherwise'

After reading this book I thought how can a person have so many varied, interesting experiences in life full of coincidences... there is no way to know if the stories really happened or are imaginary.

Almost all stories are similar to other two books... there is nothing special about it if you have read 'How I..' and 'Wise...'

I admire Sudhar Murthy and her work but I did not like this book.