I was able to convince Susie Kara to join me for a before-work hike, even though she had the day off. We settled on doing a loop through the Torrey Pines State Park Extension. Neither one of us had hiked it in a few years, so it was time to visit it again. As I got to the Gully Trailhead, the parking area was blocked off, probably due to the construction underway at the school next to it. Thankfully there was some street parking and it was early. I got some pre-hike stretching in, something I need to be more mindful of before she pulled up behind me. We decided to do the Red Roost loop first, to warm up our legs and technically hit the high point. It had been a while since we hiked together, so we had some catching up to do.
After the loop, we took the Gully Trail down. The low clouds made the hike a bit on the damp side, and the middle section of this trail was a tad overgrown.
Once we reached the gully, we turned north and began making our way up. From there, we turned to the west to make the short climb to the West Ridge overlook. With the low marine layer, not much of a view was to be had. We retraced our route, passing only the second person thus far. Our next stop was the D.A.R. Trail, which seemed appropriate given it was the day before July 4th.
From there we continued northward until we reached the city streets and worked our way back to our cars. We said our goodbyes, as I had a work call in ten minutes. All in all, another good test of the foot at just about 3 miles of hiking.
I am an avid peak bagger, sometimes backpacker, and former sea kayaker living in San Diego. In 2019, I became the third person to complete the San Diego 100 Peak Challenge. Not stopping with that accomplishment, I set my sights on the harder San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list, which I completed in 2021. In addition, I have conquered several Six-Pack of Peaks challenges (SoCal, San Diego, Central Coast, and Arizona-Winter). Beyond attempting the San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list a second time, I am looking forward to exploring new summits and new adventures across the southwest.