100 Peaks

Trail to Tooth Rock in Poway

Elevation: 1,167′
Miles: 2.12
Trailhead

Well, it’s been about a month and a half since I hiked any peaks here in San Diego. Not that I haven’t been hiking, mind you. I did a nice trek to Mount Whitney last month which put some perspective on things.

What I mean is that the hike this morning seemed more like a warm-up than an actual hike. However, I am writing a guide book in the hopes of getting not only the adventurous seasoned hiker out on the trail, but also the inexperienced person, willing to give hiking a try.

That being said, it was really nice to get back out on the trail here. San Diego is great. You usually don’t have to drive more than a few miles to find a trail. The PD and I got up at around 6AM and headed out to Poway after grabbing a quick bite. We strapped on our day packs and headed out. We encountered a woman walking a dog, which is pretty typical when the trailhead is near a suburban area, and, in this case, in a neighborhood.

It’s been over a week since I’ve been back from the Sierras as I am writing this. I’d hate to wax poetical, but the landscapes that the PD and I hiked and scrambled through have permeated my thoughts, resonating within me each time I close my eyes.

Days of Hiking: 3
Total Miles: 33.42
Total Elevation Gain: 7,473 ’

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Mount Whitney from the Lone Pine Visitor Center

The PD and I left San Diego Thursday at 4AM. Due to getting some work done and preparing for the trip, I was able to get to bed at 3AM. So, on one hour’s sleep, we avoided most of the traffic through Riverside and San Bernardino and were speeding over the rolling landscape of the 395 by the time the sun rose.

At almost exactly 8AM, we arrived at the southern end of Lone Pine. We stopped by the visitor center to pick up our permits and ask some questions about snow in the passes. The extremely helpful people at the center let us know that people had gone through all the passes on our route (New Army Pass, Crabtree Pass (we would question this one later), and the route up to Mount Whitney Summit Trail), and that all was clear. There would be no need for any special gear.

We had rented a bear canister at REI here in San Diego, so we didn’t need to rent one at the Visitor Center. It was slightly more expensive this way, but it was nice to be able to make sure all the food we needed was going to fit within the confines of the canister.

San Jacinto Peak sign

From time to time, I will be “re-publishing” some old posts from other blogs here. Some of them will be travel posts, some will be hiking or camping posts. For whatever reason, I think my readers may be interested in the content. I will post a new blog linking to the blog that is posted to the old date. This is the first of them.

This particular retro post is a “reprint” of an older post that was originally posted on my personal blog, posted here since it is relevant and a very memorable trip for me. This trip succeeded in giving me a fitness wake-up call, finally getting me to join Joe Decker’s workout group, which jump-started my fitness and ultimately led me to conceive of hiking 100 peaks as a possbility. I am also planning to hike the same trail soon as a day hike, and this report serves as a baseline of sorts.

The Post:

Mount San Jacinto – October 2007 – A Wake Up Call

Cuyamaca Peak from Japacha Peak

Cuyamaca Peak
Elevation: 6,512′

Japacha Peak
Elevation: 5,825′

Airplane Ridge
Elevation: 5,000′

Total Mileage: 14.22 miles

Getting to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park always takes longer than I think it does. I left the house at 6AM and didn’t get on the trail until 8AM, as I have to take into consideration picking up the PD, getting breakfast to go, and driving out to the park.

Regardless, we arrived at Paso Picacho and were instantly chilled by the wind blasting through the valley. I was glad that I had brought extra layers, even though the weather report indicated that the high would be hovering near 70 degrees.

Twin Peaks from the trail

Elevation: 1,306′
Miles: ~2.4
Trailhead

I only had a couple of hours and I drive by this peak all the time. I’ve been wondering what it’s like at the top, so I squeezed this hike in.

I parked in a neighborhood and was greeting with a sign asking dog owners to clean up after their pets. Right under the sign was a fairly fresh pile. Ironic.

This is a pretty straightforward hike, but the trail to the summit could be pretty easy to miss. It has all the signs of a suburban hike with dog and horse droppings as well as its lion’s share of graffiti. Actually, this was the most graffiti I’ve seen on a trail before. The tagger covered almost every large rock in one particular area, which is pretty disappointing.

The view from the trail to Peak 4159, Oak Benchmark on the right and Viejas Mountain in the distance

Oak Benchmark
Elevation: 3,965′
Miles: ~1

Peak 4159
Elevation: 4,159′
Miles: 1.5

Ant Benchmark
Elevation: 3,920′
Miles: 1.8

Peak 1546
Elevation: 1,546′
Miles: 3.4 (4.5+ total to the falls and back)

Once again, I set out to summit multiple peaks in a day. The hiking distance to each peak would be fairly short, but, over the span of the day, the mileage would add up.

In my trip reports, I will use the name of benchmarks as the mountains themselves, though I do understand that the benchmark itself is a marker permanently fixed into a rock, I will use the benchmarks names and the mountains interchangeably, since I like to call the mountain something in my descriptions. This is specifically true when the benchmarks are at the highpoint of the mountains, since this benchmarks are not always at the summit.

This time, I had the PD with me, as we both are getting some hiking in to train for our upcoming Mount Whitney trip. The only limit to what we could do was the fact that we were to meet some friends at Cedar Creek Falls in between 12 and 1 PM. For most of the day, Cuyamaca Peak loomed over us on the horizon, beckoning us to its slopes.

Kamalleunu Ridge from Waianae Valley

Elevation Gain/Loss: 3,500′/3,500′
Miles: 7.2 Miles Round-trip
Peak Elevation: 4,025′

While on a family trip to Oahu, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to really hike in Hawaii. I did some research and found out that the tallest peak on Oahu is Mount Ka’ala. I also found out that the creators of Hawaiian hiking trails generally don’t believe in switchbacks.

We flew to Hawaii and had a great time at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Resort. This morning, I woke up at 6:30AM, even though I thought I would have been up at 5:30AM. I guess my body was getting used to Hawaiian time already. I purchased four large water bottles (three for the pack and one for the car) from the market downstairs at the hotel, since I had forgotten my Camelbak bladder at home, as my daughter likes to use it as a hose to water the plants in our backyard.

Also, through a comedy of errors, I left all of my printed maps and trail reports at home. Let’s just say the fault was divided among people. Even though I didn’t have the maps with me, I remembered most of the trail from memory. I decided to go against my own rule, No Maps, No Hike, just this once, since I didn’t think I’d be back to Oahu any time soon.

Battle Mountain

Battle Mountain
Elevation: 803′
Miles: .42
Trailhead

Time to get to the trail has been hard to come by of late. This particular peak’s trail is short enough to be completed during a lunch break, if one worked nearby. If you’ve driven the 15 freeway in eastern San Diego, especially at night, you’ve probably noticed this peak, as it has a giant white cross on it.

I talk about the history of the cross in the video below, so I won’t restate it here, other than to say that the San Pasqual area has some interesting history attached to it and the mountain is named after a battle that took place not far from it in the 1800’s. I’ve seen people referring to a hill just to the north in San Pasqual Valley as Mule Hill, but the book San Diego County Place Names A-Z states that Battle Mountain was once called Mules Hill.

It took me a whopping 5 minutes of hiking to get to the top of this peak and 2-3 minutes to get down. This is a great hill if you need to do some repeats for conditioning and you live nearby.

The view is pretty good, especially into the San Pasqual Valley area and westward to Lake Hodges.

I searched for a geocache in the area but did not find it before I had to make my way down.

Dos Cabezas Water Tower

Piedras Grandes
Elevation: 2,601′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

Indian Hill
Elevation: 2,240′
Miles: ~2
Trailhead

On this Sunday morning, I scrambled atop a small rise and saw a large coyote turn and look at me, then run down the rise into the desert floor below, joining other coyotes to disappear among the cactus and chaparral.

The morning was beautiful, the sun was shining on my back and the breeze had enough chill in it to cool me from my exertion. Other than the birds, it was completely silent and I was the only person for miles. I was completely filled with the joy to be alive at that moment. I took a breath and continued up the mountain.

I found out later, that at roughly the same time, someone dear to me had passed away. It was sudden, and it wasn’t supposed to be her time to go. She was too young and too healthy. Random. Shocking.

Over the last few days, I have moved from denial to grief and acceptance. She was my favorite aunt. She gave me my first cassette tape, U2’s Unforgettable Fire, when I was 12. I was initially disappointed, since I didn’t know any songs on it. But it quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time. I learned every word and nuance on the album. Over the years, I felt like she always understood me. Her sons, my cousins, became my good friends throughout my childhood years.

She wasn’t my aunt by blood, but that didn’t matter to me, or to anyone in my family. She could always be counted on. Since my childhood, we grew apart, as people do, I moved away and I saw less of my cousins and my aunt. I still enjoyed her company on holidays and always knew she was there.

My wife had to break the news to me and I’ve made it very clear over the years that this aunt was very special to me. She took care of all of those around her, from her mother to her grandchildren.

As my emotions run all over, I’d like to think that the coyote I saw on Sunday was a message sent from the spirit world saying a last goodbye before she rejoined other spirits in the great desert basin of the sky.

Daley Ranch Trailhead

Elevation: 1,983′
Miles: 5.5
Trailhead

I was all set to go out to Anza-Borrego to bag some peaks and see some wildflowers, but the weather wasn’t looking very hospitable. Traveling on dirt roads after heavy rains isn’t advised, even with my all-wheel-drive Tiguan.

Instead, I set my sights on a “backup hike” that I’ve had in my mind for a while. This hike is in Daley Ranch in Escondido, which is pretty well visited. On this morning, however, the rain likely kept everyone but the loyal away.

On my way to the trailhead, it looked like the clouds were clearing up, which bode well. However, once I got about 15 minutes up the trail, the rain started and didn’t stop until I reached the summit.

The trail was nice and maintained, a welcomed break from my past few hikes. It dipped down past a rushing stream and meandered through what would have been a nice meadow, if it hadn’t been raining so hard on me.

In some places, the trail was pretty muddy and I could see where horses had recently sunken pretty deep into it. But overall, there were firm spots here and there, so I didn’t get the mud weights on the bottom of my shoes like I did for the McGinty Mountain hike.