Category Archives: Travels

Trail Report- Havasupai Falls, Arizona

Posted on by
Reply

The Quick and Dirty:
Location: Havasupai Falls, Arizona
Distance: 20 miles round trip
Terrain Type: Trail is flat most of the way to Supai Village and the waterfalls
Difficulty:  Moderate when the weather is cool, difficult in the summer heat
Best Time: Early summer, late fall
Special Conditions: Advance permit reservation needed for over night camping and lodging. Water is not available throughout the hike into the campground, drinking water is available inside the Supai village and campground.

Duration: 2 days for us, 3-4 recommended for less experienced hikers looking for a more relaxing trip.

P1070257

Havasu Falls

Continue reading →

Trail Report: Sequoia National Park/Mineral King – Timber Gap to Sawtooth Pass

Posted on by
Reply

The Quick and Dirty:
Location: Sequoia National Forest, Mineral King
Distance: 28-29 miles (we looked at 3 maps, all different mileage)
Terrain Type: Rolling, high, and long elevation climbs and descents
Difficulty:  Strenuous
Best Time: Late summer and early fall, the road is closed when there is snow fall   Special Conditions: Permit needed for over night camping. Windy and difficult road to reach the last 20 miles to the trailhead. Aggressive marmots in the spring and early summer.  Bear canisters required.

Duration: 4 days

Every labor day we try to hit the trails.  This labor day, and to celebrate our one year anniversary, we spent it backpacking one of our favorite locations in California.

Continue reading →

Japan- Tokyo

Posted on by
Reply

We spent the last four days of Japan in Tokyo. It was the city our friend Chris spent the most time while working in Tokyo so naturally, he became our default Tokyo tour guide. For such a dense city, it covers a surprisingly large amount of area and takes a long time to navigate. We went back to the Prince Sakura Hotel since it is conveniently located next to the Shinagawa train station.

Continue reading →

Hiroshima

Posted on by
Reply

From Kyoto, we decided to take a day tour of Hiroshima via the Shinkansen train. We left from Kyoto on the Shinkansen train at 7:40 in the morning and arrived in Hiroshima a little after 8:30. For those who are familiar with WWII history, the U.S. government dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in an attempt to end the war. We wanted to pay homage to the bomb site and also tour the Mazda factory in town. From the JR station in Hiroshima, we had to make one transfer to the local train near the Mazda factory. The factory tour started at 10AM in the morning so we had time to stop by the pastry shop inside the train station for a little snack before heading to the tour. The pastries are made fresh in front of you and they are served warm. The shop we bought the pastries from had two flavors, red bean and white bean. I preferred the red bean because it is less sweet compared to the white bean.

Hiroshima

We became addicted to these red bean pastries near the train station. They are about $1 each or 100 yen, they are delicious served warm!

Continue reading →