US Incarceration rate: is it a plan of suppression

US Incarceration rate the highest in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate a whopping 743 prisoners per 100,000 population. For comparison, India has 32 for every 100,000 population!! 1 in every 32 adult is in prison or on probation...

Some aspects / interpretation

1. US has lesser tolerance to differences with in it's own population. Why can't we let some one who commits non-violent crime continue to be part of the society?
2. Privileged, Richer and intelligent people, don't want to and don't like to live among the under privileged people - who tend to be incarcerated more often than the rest of the population.
3. US condemns the rest of the world (Most of the world population) for 'freedom' and 'human rights' violation. Isn't incarceration a form of extreme deprivation of 'freedom' and 'human rights'? Who will fight for this cause?

This data was highlighted by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on one of his speach.

Big Basin waterfalls Visit 2011/01/08

Big Basin water falls trip

Drive from home is 1 hour - I forgot it 2 times in a row

Started at the trail head at 8:00am - when it was very cold. all 10 digit (finger) tips were in pain

Forgot food. Picked up tender pine needle - rich in Vitamin C. Relieved my cold in winter!!

Returned at the HQ at 11:45am

Went through washed out trail...

There is checkin/checkout slip available - where you can give emergency contact info. I wrote down my exact plan of trail.

Alamere Falls: lessons learned

Visited Alamere Falls on 1/17/2011.

Meeting time: 6:00am on Monday 2011/01/17 South Bay. Leave before 7:00am
Nearest town: Bolinas, ca
Weather: Partly Cloudy, Max 63°; Min 51°. Should be 55-60F when we are on the trail. Also, Sunday rain.
Map: http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/maps/showmap.cfm?alphacode=pore&parkname=Point%20Reyes%20National%20Seashore
Map info to note: Just make sure you are able to recognize the trail head and the waterfalls and few thing in between.

Tide: Could have been better :-( The tide will be receding from it's peak... So, view from the beach might be tricky/difficult...
2011-01-17 1:47 AM PST 3.20 feet Low Tide
2011-01-17 7:26 AM PST Sunrise
2011-01-17 7:58 AM PST 6.57 feet High Tide
2011-01-17 3:31 PM PST -0.82 feet Low Tide
2011-01-17 5:18 PM PST Sunset

Trail Head:37.934242, -122.747442 (Google map)
The Falls: 37.953889, -122.783611 (Google map)

One possible Driving Directions:

From US 101 in Marin County, exit CA 1/Mill Valley/Stinson Beach
Drive on Shoreline Highway to the junction with Almonte, about 1 mile
Turn left on CA 1 and drive about 2.5 miles to the junction with Panoramic
Continue straight on CA 1 about 13 miles to an unsigned junction with Olema-Bolinas Road (just past Bolinas Marsh)
Turn left. Drive 0.1 mile to a T intersection with Olema-Bolinas Road, turn left,
drive about 1 mile to the junction with Horseshoe Hill Road, and again, turn left
Drive to the next stop sign, then turn right onto Mesa Road
Drive about 4 miles, then continue the last 1 mile on the dirt road to the trailhead at the end of the road

Hike

0.0: From the parking lot, head up the stairs, then turn left onto Coast Trail.
2.0: Junction with Lake Ranch Trail. Stay to the left on Coast Trail.
2.76: Junction with Crystal Lake Trail. Continue straight on Coast Trail.
3.24: Junction at far end of Pelican Lake. If you don't want to go to Alamere Falls, tturn around and retrace your steps back to the
trailhead. Otherwise continue straight on Coast Trail.
3.27: Junction with Alamere Falls Trail. Turn left.
3.67: Grassy knoll and first scramble down rocky shoot to falls area. If you like, cross Alamere Creek at the top of the second fall,
head north a few yards, then descend a rough notch in the cliffside to the beach. When ready, retrace your steps.
7.54: Back at the trailhead.

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Boots on the ground:

1. Started at 7:30am from south bay
2. Stop in SFO for coffee
3. 10:30am start from the trail head
4. 12:30 start from the falls
5. 2:00+ start driving
6. 4:30pm back home (GG bridge toll : $6:00)
7. Fog did have negative impact of driving and also visibility on the trail
8. The parking lot was overflowing when we returned

• My muscles are sore for 2-3 days after any long hike. One of my friend who accompanied me yesterday said he always pops Ibuprofen 6 hours prior to hikes - so that he will avoid any knee/muscle inflammation due to additional workout he gets.
• When visiting tidal falls (Waterfalls that fall directly in to the Ocean), you need to be aware of the tide cycle (high/low tide) when you visit. We were extra lucky - as we got delayed 2 hours later than the plan - when the tide was receding. (While, I knew the exact timing and the phenomena, it was real first hand experience)
• California coast - during winter - on sunny days, can have less visibility due to fog that is still on land (not pushed in to the ocean) well past noon. We were able to hear the ocean loud - but could not see the waves - at 10:30am - while we were walking along the coastal clifs. If the fog did not burn out soon, we would have been forced to not get the Tidal Fall - from the beach....