The view from the trailhead

Mount Tule
Elevation: 4,649′
Miles: 2.25
Trail head (32.71269, -116.23672)
Agency: McCain Valley National Co-op Land and Wildlife Management Area

It’s always nice to be able to get away. Even if sometimes the hike is the same duration as the drive to and from the trailhead. Sometimes it’s the anticipation of the hike, of the view, of the experience.

After dropping my daughter off at preschool, I drove out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It’s a long drive and I had planned on bagging as many peaks as I could before I had to head back and pick up my daughter. I started to get a little worried when I drove through a lot of precipitation on the way to the trailhead.

Most of the time, as you drive east from San Diego proper, the weather tends to ease up and the clouds give way to sunny skies. This time, it didn’t happen that way. And I learned when checking the weather that one adjacent zip code could vary widely from another.

Lawson Peak shrouded in clouds from the Lawson Peak Trail

Lawson Peak:
Elevation: 3,664′
Miles: 4.5

Gaskill Peak:
Elevation: 3,836′
Miles: +2.5 (added to total above)

Trailhead

All week the weather report stated that Sunday was going to be sunny. However, late Saturday night, the weather report changed to showers and sun. On my way to the trailhead, I had to slow the car down on the freeway to 40mph, since was raining too hard to see anything out of my windshield. Since I could see some blue skies to the west, I decided to chance hiking the trail today.

Once I got to the trailhead, there were plenty of clouds, but no rain. I headed up the dirt road, which was also a stream more often than not. I could see some Jeep tread marks in the trail, but couldn’t imagine anyone trying to drive up this steep, muddy road today. I encountered plenty of small waterfalls and some giant puddles as I made my way up the contoured road that lead to the ridge line above. Lawson and Gaskill Peaks were above me somewhere in the clouds. Normally, I can get my bearing based on landmarks, but for much of the first portion of the hike, everything was enshrouded in fog.