Pond at the trailhead to Sunshine Mountain

Sunshine Mountain
Elevation: 3,154′
Total Mileage: 2

Trailhead Map (32.99130, -116.68375)

I had been wanting to get back to this part of San Diego since my hike to Eagle Peak. I also was eyeing this area when I was driving through on the way to Cedar Creek Falls. It looked great on the map and I had a feeling that it didn’t get much traffic. I also thought that the views would be outstanding. I was right.

I got a late start, but that didn’t keep me from making my way through Ramona, Santa Ysabel and Wynola. After seeing families of turkey and quail along the road, I got to the “turntable,” which is a hairpin turn in Boulder Creek Road, and also the trailhead for Eagle Peak and Three Sisters Falls, and the way onto the rustic Cedar Creek Road. There were cars parked at the trailhead there, undoubtedly going to Eagle Peak or Three Sisters Falls, but my sights were set on a different trailhead. I turned right through the gate and headed west on Cedar Creek Road.

When planning this hike, I wasn’t sure how close to the trailhead I was going to be able to get. The condition of Cedar Creek Road can be unpredictable and I didn’t know how passable the side road to the pond would be. It turns out I was able to drive right over the earthen dam of the pond and park in a wide area adjacent to a stream and a grove of oak trees.

My feet over Clevenger Canyon in Bloom

Peak 1755
Elevation: 1,755′
Total Mileage: 4.4

Trailhead Map (33.08537, -116.92236)

Things have been a little busy since my last hike. If I do one peak a month, it’s going to take me years to finish this. Once again, I had to dust off the cobwebs as I parked at the trailhead and made my way up the trail.

San Pasqual Valley has a special place for me. I’ve been visiting the Wild Animal Park (now Safari Park) for years, love to spend some time at Orfila Winery, pass ostriches on the way in, and have considered moving to the area. Sometimes I take this highway into Ramona and the scent of orange blossoms blankets the valley.

This time, I needed to get a hike in. Any hike with a peak. I chose something near the house so I could get a relatively late start. I was tired from a long week of working and wanted to sleep in a bit.

The day was overcast, but I knew the sun would threaten to join me. The trailhead was a little noisy, as it is adjacent to the 79 freeway as it ascends into northwestern Ramona. There was also a helicopter that was crop-dusting the citrus groves below.

Whale Peak Summit Sign

Whale Peak
Elevation: 5,350′
Total Mileage: ~10

Trailhead Map (33.05165, -116.36605)

This hike was supposed to be a grand day of hiking involving up to six Southern California bloggers. I was supposed to be the knowledgeable host, guiding my guests around the San Diego backcountry. I had hand-picked two hikes to show two distinct regions of San Diego to my guests from the north.

However, hiking is all about being flexible and taking whatever comes your way with a smile, and sometimes, a sigh.

It all started with a simple tweet. I tweeted a picture from one of my hikes and Casey (@ModernHiker) tweeted back that he should come hiking in San Diego. I tweeted back that it was a great idea and we should calendar it or it would never happen. Then Kolby (@TheHikeGuy),Jeff (@SoCalHiker), Peter (@ADKinLA) and Kam (@CampfireChic) all got into the mix. The SoCal Hiking Blogger Summit, as Kolby called it.

Then Kolby lost his job and decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way through. Understandably, he had some planning to do. Casey and Kam also had other plans get in the way, and we all know that feeling.

So it ended up being Jeff, Peter, and I to meet and hike in San Diego. The plan was to meet and drive out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park together, hike Whale Peak, a short 4-mile hike with 1,500’ of gain. Then we were to drive back towards Julian for an easy stroll to Volcan Mountain.

And then have apple pie.

Sunrise Over Anza-Borrego

Bonny Benchmark
Elevation: 4,574′

White Benchmark
Elevation: 5,326′

The Thimble
Elevation: 5,779′

Ysidro Benchmark
Elevation: 6,147′

Total Mileage: 7.96

Trailhead Map (33.210596, -116.49509)

It’s amazing the difference that weather can make on a hike. About a month and a half ago, I attempted this same hike. The weather was cold, but the wind, combined with some icy precipitation and some snowy patches made the trip very challenging. Therefore, I decided to pull the plug and turn around, only completing half the peaks that I had wanted to on that day.

This time, it was still cold (26F on the way to the trailhead), but the winds were calm and the sky was devoid of any clouds. This would make all the difference in the world.

East Mesa Fire Road

East Mesa High Point
Elevation: 5,178′
Mileage: 8.8
Trailhead Map

Once again, I was going to be racing weather. The report said that high winds, coupled with heavy rains and snow at Mount Laguna and Cuyamaca Peak would be unleashed at exactly 5PM. I’d say that would be a motivating factor in getting off the trail, wouldn’t you?

The plan was that Level3 and New Jersey George would be running Noble Canyon to Penny Pines and back, a total of 20 miles with plenty of gain. Since there were no peaks on that route and I wasn’t going to be doing 20 miles, I recommended that the She-wolf and I head over to East Mesa in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park and hike to the high point. I had seen the high point from my trip to Sugg Peak and it looked like an easy enough hike up a not-too-densely covered mountain in the middle of the grassy East Mesa.

After waving goodbye to the two ultra-runners, we drove through Guatay and headed over to the East Mesa Fire Road trailhead. It’s easy to miss, apparently, since we had to turn around and drive back to it after passing it. We got out of the car and were instantly reminded that it was going to be a chilly day. We added a layer or two and headed up the trail. I’ve been in this area twice already, once for my aforementioned Sugg Peak trip, and once for my snowy trip to Oakzanita Peak. I liked it a lot and so did many others, since the East Mesa Fire Road is a pretty popular hiking area.

As we started the incline, we took note of the many tracks in the dirt, mostly human, horse and some dog. We could hear Descanso Creek rushing below us, swollen from the recent rains. We then saw two healthy-looking coyotes with large, bushy tails, standing in the trail in front of us. They would trot ahead a little bit and then turn and look back at us. After a couple of bends in the road, they disappeared and we never saw them again. Truly a wild experience in San Diego County.

Sunrise over Anza-Borrego Desert SP

Bonny Benchmark
Elevation: 4,574′

White Benchmark
Elevation: 5,326′

Total Mileage: 5.26

Trailhead Map (33.210596, -116.49509)

Sometimes the stars align and everything makes for a perfect hiking day. This was not one of those times. Granted, any day of hiking is better than doing almost anything else, but some conditions can be more challenging than others.

We got an early 4AM start. When I say “we” I mean the friends I will refer to as the She-wolf and Level 3. I’ve hiked with them before, on my trip to Villager and Rabbit Peaks. I was kicking around the idea of squeezing a hike in before I would have my daughter (Sophia) solo for about 2 weeks while my wife (Hoa) travels for business.

I mentioned taking a day off work to Level 3 and he asked if I wouldn’t mind if he came along. That sealed it. We had a plan and were going with it. Leading up to the day of hiking, I looked at the weather several times a day, and all signs said that all hell would break loose over San Diego on Friday afternoon.

We decided to get an early start. 4AM is pretty early, even for me, even when excited about hiking, which I was. We drove through Ramona in the dark, searching for someplace to get some pre-dawn breakfast. Jack-in-the-Box did the trick and we took a left in Santa Ysabel and continued north past Lake Henshaw.

Sunrise on Morena Butte from the Pacific Crest Trail

It’s amazing the excitement and anticipation I get when I am getting ready for a hike. I kick around the idea of whether or not to go throughout the week. I am conscious of the fact that whenever I am gone, I am not with my family. So it is always a trade-off.

However, the thought of exploring a new area, of seeing what the mountains look like from a new peak simply drives me forward and makes the idea of waking up at 4 or 5AM seem like a great idea.

This Sunday was no different. Depending on which direction I am going, the sun usually starts glowing behind the Cuyamacas while I am driving over the Mission Trails Summit on the 52 Freeway as it drops down into Santee. The temperature outside was 41 degrees, which wasn’t too cold. I also enjoy the view of El Cajon Mountain, which dominates the landscape on the way east on the Interstate 8 Freeway.

For me, it’s the exploration of the unknown, the physical challenge, the sense of accomplishing a peak. But overall, it’s the collecting of a new experience. Someone once said to me that they were a collector of experiences. And I think this is the greatest way to be.

Sure, I like to collect things, such as technological gadgets, like my iPhone, digital camera, and I like reading my iPad, but they are all simply tools to allow me to collect more and varied experiences.

Each trail and summit is a new experience worth collecting.

Gut Check's King of the Hill Series

Since the start of the New Year, I started up my exercise routine. Rather than a weekly hike (ideally), and an occasional 3-mile jog from my house, I started working out again with the incredible people at Gut Check Fitness.

This has required me to get up early (5:15AM) to the point that I can no longer sleep in on weekends. While my body has been feeling stronger, and often sore, I realized this weekend that there’s a lot left to do.

I participated in Gut Check Fitness’ King of the Hill Series race, the first of which ran up and down Woodson Mountain from Lake Poway. I had an arbitrary goal of two hours, which I met, but along the way, I didn’t feel as strong as I should have. Also, I bonked in the last half mile of the race. It didn’t help that the last stretch was a steep uphill to the finish line, coupled with 10 burpee pushups before the final climb. I felt dizzy and nauseous, something I don’t often feel when being active.

I am happy that I finished the race and I wasn’t dead last. Understandably, I just re-started my new fitness regimen, but my performance really let me know that I could be doing a lot more. And I was doing a lot more before I hurt my back a year and a half ago. The pain still nags me and it really flared up while ascending Woodson Mountain this weekend. The downhill was easier, but I still ran out of steam near the end.

Manza Benchmark from the ridge

This topic has been coming up a lot lately in my conversations: Have you ever met an unfriendly hiker?

In all sorts of other recreational activities, it seems like there are hotheads and inconsiderate people. But hikers, in my experience, reach some sort of meditative state where they are at some sort of peace with themselves. Hiking to them is not a race or athletic endeavor; it’s a journey or break from an otherwise chaotic life. The act of hiking is a calming process that balances the focus inward with the focus outward.

I bring this up because I met some especially nice hikers on my trip today.

I got another early start. I love driving in the dark on the way to a trail. It might be cold when I get there, but I love to feel nature wake up in the morning. The quiet sounds of birds waking up and the wind blowing gently through the trees are typically what I find once I set foot on the trail. I didn’t get that today.

View from the Trail in Santa Ysabel

There is a group of people that I come in contact with. They pour over maps and make note of every little high point, some that are named and some aren’t.

They sit at home and close their eyes, imagining what it would be like to look at the surrounding landscape from that vantage point. They look at contours and imagine routes up to the top when there are no trails. They wake up long before the sun rises and look forward to the time on the trail, many times alone with their breath and the animals crunching through the scrub. They look at the trail and see tracks of other visitors, mostly of the four-legged kind.

They enjoy getting to the top of something and a few scratches or bruises from yucca or boulders won’t get in their way.

I am one of these people.

There is a subset of people within this group. They will summit a peak at any cost, including climbing fences clearly marked with No Trespassing. I am not one of this group.

Although I’ve occasionally crossed barbed wire fencing, it is because the map clearly indicates that I am on public lands and there is no sign indicating that it would be trespassing. My intent is different than most. It’s not only bagging a peak, it’s also sharing what I’ve learned with others and encouraging others to go the same way as me. I will not encourage anyone to break a law, much less put it in writing and charge people for it.