With Ted away at his youngest son’s “Family Weekend”, I went out with Becca to help her slowly work through her 100 peaks. We had some time constraints, so we settled on Viejas Mountain. I picked her up bright and early; thankfully, we got an extra hour of sleep due to the time change. As we drove to the trailhead, we caught up on our recent adventures — her trip to Seattle to visit her best friend and my attendance at the California Outdoor Recreation Partnership meeting in Carmel Valley. Approaching the trailhead, various signs warned of trespassing on private property and the threat of towing. I pulled up my OnX app and confirmed that the trailhead and the trail were in Cleveland National Forest land. I later learned that the issue is around the road itself. The property owner maintains the road that cuts through the CNF section, and that is the source of the conflict. After the government shutdown ends, I plan to ask CNF about the issue.
Becca remarked, “How would you know there is a trail here?” I said, “Research on doing the various hiking challenges,” and we set off up the rocky trail. The trail scales the west face of the mountain, working its way upward at a steady but steep grade. The trail wasn’t too rutted, but still as rocky as I remembered. The upside of this time was that the skies were clear and the rocks weren’t slick.
When we reached the ridgeline, a fellow hiker and her two dogs were returning from the summit. We chatted a bit about the signs at the trailhead, and she said she had spoken to CNF about it, and they weren’t going to tow. She headed back down, and we continued along the ridgeline to the summit.
At the summit, we posed for a few photos, and I looked again for the actual benchmark. The last time I was here, it was half-covered by the wind shelter. This time, I could not locate it at all. Since we needed to be mindful of the time, we did not linger and began our return. Becca had never learned that you should extend your trekking pole length on a descent, and realized how much adding just a touch of length really helped. Finally, the car came back into view, and our adventure was drawing to a close. Back at the car, we were glad we started early, as the day had warmed up. This hike offers no shade except when the sun is behind the mountain. I recorded us hiking 2.9 miles with 1,455 feet of gain.
I am an avid peak bagger, sometimes backpacker, and former sea kayaker living in San Diego. I am the co-author of Urban Trails: San Diego, coming in Spring 2026!
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 both the Arizona-Winter and Arizona-Summer). I am looking forward to exploring new summits and new adventures across the southwest.