Friday, November 06, 2009

Seems like a shitty world, doesn't it?

So many things are going on these days... Most of them pretty crappy for a lot of people in the world. Economy, terrorism etc etc. It sure seems like this is the worst time planet earth has seen, ever! A lot of people are immune to what is going around in the world. People are dying and many don't give a damn. People are hungry but no food in sight. People are sick, but no health care in sight. The ones that have the resources don't want to share it with others since that will reduce their wealth. Right now might seem like a really good time to a lot of people for the Judgment Day to arrive.

Sure there are lots of good things going on in the world. But there is so much more good that we as humans can do if we actually act like humans. It doesn't take much to listen to someone and give a shoulder, maybe volunteer some time, or just pray.

Life is short, don't make it shorter by trying to help yourself only. Help others and your life will seem longer and happier than you ever thought. I pray that these crappy days end soon.

Posted via email from Hassaan's posterous

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Just a Thought...

If we stop breathing, we die...
But with every breath we take, we are losing a breath out of our lives.

It's important that we make every breath count!

Posted via email from Hassaan's posterous

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Back To Hike


Finally we start hiking again! Summer seems to be around the corner here in Colorado and we just started our regular Sunday morning hikes. The weather was great and the air seemed clean. It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be after such a long time. I guess the skiing trips helped.

We started the season with the same hike we did the very first time with the group. Mt. Sanitas (natural stair master, as some people call it!) is always a fun hike. But this is just the beginning. This year, our goal is to get to at-least 3 14ers which should include Longs Peak . Good luck to me and the group in trying to achieve our goals :)

I will start adding more blogs from now on and you will see at-least one per week for the hike update.

Happy Hiking!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Hassaan's posterous

Monday, December 22, 2008

Ski Fun in Colorado Rockies


Skiing is always fun, but it's funner when there is a lot of snow and the weather is COLD! 


See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Hassaan's posterous

Friday, December 12, 2008

State of Muslims

I have been thinking about writing this for a very long time. Too much contemplation retards the process of progress.

I have kept the title simple and straight forwards since that is exactly what I wanted to write about. I might cut my post short this time but will try to continue with more later on, continuing with the same topic.

Current state of Muslims as a whole is below any level previously known of a society or community. It is mostly just the perception, but nonetheless, it is. Money is the driving force in our society, although Allah says do not let it drive you. Allah says stand up for truth and we try our best to keep away from it. Allah says fight against injustice, but we don't.

Lots and lots of Muslim men go to pray at the Masajid (Mosques) at-least for Friday prayer. They listen to sermons from the community's religious leaders. This is a great institution in Islam. If used properly could bring about change that nations can only dream of. What do we use it for? Nothing! We say we are using it to spread Islam. I always wondered why are we spreading Islam to those who are already Muslim. What the people standing in front of hundreds and sometimes thousands of Muslims are doing is forcing their interpretation of Islam. "You wear a chain on your neck... You are going to hell!" I have heard this in a Friday sermon. I have yet to hear someone say "You came to the masjid for this prayer... you will probably to go heaven". It is so easy for people to say so and so will go to hell because of such and such act. I have never ever ever ever heard a Muslim scholar say so and so smiled at his neighbor and helped him clean his yard because of no reason and thats why he will go to heaven! We have assumed that if we don't do everything exactly like some of the leaders of Islam say, we will go to hell. Why is it that doing one bad act will lead us to hell, but doing one or even multiple good acts will still not confirm heaven.

Allah has said, do good deeds and stay away from bad ones. Believe in oneness of Allah and believe in Quran. This will surely take you to Heaven. It seems like the people giving sermons in Friday prayers are using the shock and awe theory. Keep the people in fear and they will do good! We have been using pessimistic approach for a very long time. Isn't it time that we change that since we know for sure it's not working for us.

Why don't we hear our leaders tell us how to live better in life. How to be better human beings. How to respect life. Of ours and of others. I have never come across an article from a Muslim scholar or a religious leader saying that the killing of innocent people of any country, be they Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists or of any other religion or don't even have a religion, is against the teachings of Islam. Are they afraid to raise their voice? Not standing up against injustice is against Islam.

Collateral damage is not Islamic. If you can't fight the culprit, stop abusing the ones who merely look like it.

More late....

Monday, August 11, 2008

Heck of a time!

What do you get when you get a late start from home, amazingly bad road, heated automatic transmission, very late start from trail head, amazingly cold weather, snow in early August, not proper clothing for the weather, and above all... totally infuriated wives!

A 14er hike worth writing about!

Our plan was to get two 14ers down. Grays and Torreys via the standard combination route. The plan didn't work out as expected. Our late start and lack of proper clothing for the cold weather was the biggest hurdle in getting to the second summit. In one of my earlier posts I had said that preparation is the key to success. None of us took that point seriously!

We started off about 20 minutes late, but with fast driving from Kamal, caught up with time a bit. It wasn't until we hit the really really bad entrance road to the Grays peak parking lot at the trail head that we lost a lot of time. The automatic transmission on his Honda Pilot had heated up quite a bit and was smelling really bad so we had to wait a bit before moving on. Finally at the trail head, we started our hike.

The hike itself is very smooth. The trail is well maintained and the views are nice. Nothing much to note though. Just a long winding trail going up the mountains. When we did finally get up top, it was cold and cloudy. I didn't have gloves and my fingers felt like icicles and I was pretty sure I was going to get frost bite, in the middle of August. The clouds were moving so we could get a few glimpses of the amazing scenery behind the summit. It always great to get up to the top and view the world!

I got up to the summit first and waited for others. Irfan got there after me and feeling really cold, I thought I should check with others when they will be getting up here. Not having my own cellphone with me, I called home to get Jarrar's cell number. Which triggered the panic back home. Why are these guys not together. What's happening with others etc etc. Finally, I got the number and talked with Jarrar and found out it will be some time before they get here. Too cold, I decided I cannot go to Torreys this time around. None of the others wanted to go either.

After everyone got up there, we had eggs and sandwiches and took some pictures.

Cold and miserable, we started back. Total, it took us about 6 some hours from start of trail to back. It was tiring and the wives were upset. It was all good! We had just done a 14er! Not many people do that. Although the trail was crowded, I don't recall seeing another desi there!

The joke of the trip I guess would be the punch line, it shrinks!

To sum it all up, the entire trip was a blast and I am sure all of us had a lot of fun. I hope we can do this again soon. With the hope that we piss of our wives a little less next time.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Exertion and Beyond - July 27, 2008 Hike

Bear Peak Trail via Shadow Canyon (South Mesa Trailhead) 6.8 miles that we accomplished this last Sunday was to date the toughest of the hikes for the group. A longer than usual hike for us on a dryer and hotter than usual day. It was tough on the body and on the mind. It did teach us (at-least myself) a few things though.

Getting up early on a Sunday morning (or night as the sun doesn't rise until after 5:50am) is not a big deal for the group now. We got up well before 5am and got to Junaid's place by 5pm. Highly motivated to make to the summit and complete a rather longer hike within a few hours so we could all get back to civilization and enjoy Khaba (that is food for free at someone else's place!!!) later in the day, we got to the trailhead before 5:30am. The light was just beginning to show. All ready for the hike, we started off on the trail. A long, straight forward, slow but gradual climb into the mountains. The sun started to show before we made our first stop to get some pictures. The views and scenes are the best part of hiking around Boulder and we make sure that we take enough pictures to prove that. Loaded with three cameras, we took a lot.

Watching wildlife is another reward you get during these hikes and we got to see quite a few deers and antelopes during this climb. Chipmunks are also found at most of these hikes.

After the first hour of hike, we had gotten into the middle of the trail and had broken in two groups, sometimes stopping to get together again. Everyone felt the toughness of the hike since the trail was getting steeper with no end in sight due to heavy tree population. Large boulders also hindered the view which was unusual for us.

Every so often we would check the time to see how far it still would be, although no one knew how far the summit actually was from that point. Tired, hot and dry, we moved on. Pushing each other to go further and further. The fact that the summit was not quite known to us and we couldn't see anything beyond a couple hundred feet due to the trees was even more disturbing. Nonetheless we kept our pace.

After almost 3 hours of hiking, we finally got to the point where we saw the final 100 feet accent to the summit. We were finally there! We took a lot of pictures of the western ridge, which we haven't seen in any of the other hikes around Boulder, CO.

The views from the top were amazing and the sun beating down on us was not a concern anymore. We were there! We had made it! Boulder and surrounding cities looked beautiful. We could see the Eldora Ski area and other mountains which we haven't see in any of the hikes. Taking our time, we just relaxed and chilled for a while.

On every other hike, including the one 14er we had done earlier this month, the descent s have always been easy, fast and go by without notice. This was not every other hike. This descent would prove to us that every path going down hill is not as easy as it sounds.

Taking almost 2.5 hours to get back to the parking lot, we walked slow, stopping often and losing a couple friends behind who were slower due to knee problems. We did keep in touch with them through cellphones.

The descent was unusually tiring and so tough on knees that we had to stop a lot. The steepness of the terrain was easy to blame, although it now seems that it was our own fault.

We were less prepared, we had less time and we had been arrogant! Getting a couple months of hiking experience under our belts, we thought we could summit the world. What's Bear Peak? We were told by nature what it really was. It isn't really about Bear Peak alone. It is about any hike that you do which you haven't done before. Next time we go on Bear Peak and make sure we are prepared well and have enough time and supplies (mostly water) wouldn't really cut it. It is not a matter of this particular hike or any hike this long or tough. It is about being prepared for a hike unknown.

All options need to be considered before you go on an expedition of any kind. Supplies are one important part. Length of the hike, toughness, weather, and knowledge of the area are all important aspects. Our knowledge of the area or lack of it was a very big disadvantage. Had we known that it would take us over 6 hours to get back to the parking lot, we might have skipped this hike for last Sunday or we would have started much earlier.

All things considered, this hike surely made us better hikers at-least in mind. If you are considering hiking, keep these points in mind. Make sure you have enough time to not hurry back and possibly hurt yourself doing that. Make sure you have enough supplies and that you know the area well. Talk to multiple people and ask them enough questions to know what to look for. Get weather information and prepare accordingly. Above all, keep in mind that you may not be able to complete it this time! If you have a feeling you can't, leave it and come back. You will be able to do it next time, or the time after that or... You know what I mean. Don't kill yourself, or get close to that fact. Be safe, not sorry.

The best thing we got out of this hike was that we are not sorry! Thank God.

Next Sunday we are going to Green Mountain! Hopefully we will apply the knowledge from this last hike to all other hikes to come.