Piedras Pintadas Trail

Since I was working from home, I decided to knock off another trail on the WBC challenge, Piedras Pintadas. I pulled into the parking lot, pulled on my fleece and set off down the trail. A light fog hung over Lake Hodges as I made my way along the trail.

I made the small climb to the summit, then took the required selfie. As I made my way back, I took my daily stand-up call. This short hike was a nice way to start the day.

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.

Otay Mountain

Two of the peaks that Susie needed to summit in her quest to complete the San Diego Sierra Club 100 Peak list are Otay Mountain and Tecate Peak. Both of these peaks are hiked by following an active dirt road to their respective summits, something neither of us enjoy hiking. So instead I offered to drive us up both peaks. I had done this not too long ago with Ted Markus, but Susie was out of town at that time. We began with Otay Mountain. Starting from the RV park, I drove up the long dirt road to the summit. Partway up, I pulled over to let a Border Patrol truck pass. I parked about 1/4 mile before the summit. The skies were very cloudy and we were not going to enjoy anything more than simply crossing this peak off our list. We walked up the road to the cluster of towers, then poked around a bit. We found a reference mark, and I pointed out the new rescue box that had been installed since the last time Susie was here. Once done with the summit, we hopped back in the car and headed down the east side of the mountain.

Partway down, two road signs informed us that the road was closed. What? Thay would have been much more useful to know back at Doghouse Junction. I could see a staging site for the work, as well as a good place to possibly turn around. There was a worker sitting in a truck, so we asked if it was possible to still use the road. She said that while she did not have a radio to talk to the crew, where they were working should allow us to pass by. We thanked her and continued on. Not too much further, we saw the skip loader working. We spoke with another worker who let us squeeze by. I will say, the road is in great shape. Continuing on down, we spotted more Border Patrol just as they were escorting migrants up to the road. A bit past that bit of excitement, a cluster of campers were scattered about. The biggest shock was yet to come. While two of the vehicles that were involved with the migrants passed us, we soon came upon a new Mercedes sedan driving very slowly down the road. Now the road isn’t horrible, but I don’t think I would want to take a sedan on it. Susie and I looked at each other with so many questions…

Tecate Peak

Once back on the 94 after successfully driving up Otay Mountain, we headed for our second peak of the day, Tecate. I pulled onto the Tecate Mission Road and began working my way toward the base of the peak. I actually missed the primary road, so instead I just followed the border fence until I reached a point where I could rejoin the correct route. From there it was a long slow climb to the summit, and this road was not in great shape. There were a few spots where we needed to take some care, but the Subaru did just fine.

Once at the summit, a Mobile Vehicle Surveillance System was stationed there. It was stationed by a young Army soldier, who we chatted with for some time. Since she was new to San Diego, Susie and I gave her the 411 on the peaks that she could see from her post. After chatting a bit, and grabbing a few photos, we said goodbye and headed back down the road. We had talked about trying to squeeze in Buckman Benchmark, but the timing was too tight. I dropped Susie back off at her place, then grabbed lunch to share with my daughter before she returned to college later in the day.

Mule Hill

We tentatively hoped to squeeze in Buckman Benchmark after crossing Otay Mountain and Tecate Peak off Susie Kara’s San Diego Sierra Club 100 x2 attempt. But we did not feel that we had the time given Susie needed to get back in town to teach yoga in the late afternoon. After dropping her off back at her place and grabbing lunch, I was itching to get some actual hiking in. The San Diego Sierra Club-North County group had kicked off a Wilderness Basics Challenge, so I decided to explore one of the hikes on that list. One that caught my eye was the Mule Hill Trail. This relatively flat-out and back hike was just about 15 minutes from my house. I parked in the large lot near the Sikes Adobe, grabbed my gear, and set off.

After passing by the restored farmhouse, the trail arches around the shoreline of Lake Hodges before heading mostly east. This trail passes by the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Mexican War. A number of interpretive signs along the trail tell the story of a group of US soldiers surrounded by enemies after the Battle of San Pasqual. This is where US troops (including Kit Carson) retreated after the Battle of San Pasqual a few miles away. The US troops held the hill for four days awaiting reinforcements, while surrounded by enemies. They had to resort to eating their mules, and thus the small promontory earned its name. The US troops had just about given up all hope of rescue and were about to try and fight their way out when a group of Marines came to their aid.

After cresting a small rise, the fields of the San Pasqual Agricultural Preserve spread out before me. The trail continued straight along the edge of the fields for over a mile. Around 3.2 miles I came to a “Y” junction. To the right was a connector trail leading to the Old Coach Trail on the opposite side of Highland Valley Road. The Coast to Crest Trail continued to the left, heading to Raptor Ridge. I took my required photo for the challenge and retraced my route. There were a few folks out enjoying the trail, but for most of the hike, I was able to enjoy the solitude. I am guessing that this trail will be on next year’s Coast to Crest Challenge.

Kwaay Paay

Another peak I needed some more photos for my trail guide on SoCal Hiker was Kwaay Paay. Kwaay Paay, meaning “chief” in the language of the Kumeyaay people who called the area home for thousands of years, stands alone on the southeast side of Mission Gorge. This is a short 2.8-mile hike, so I decided to do it over a long lunch break. Ted Markus was off, so he joined me in doing this peak.

We cruised up the trail to the peak, encountering a few hikers here and there. Ted did comment that he wishes he brought his poles (hum, might have mentioned that in the trail guide…).

The summit was nice, I had not been here since the new summit marker was installed. This was one of the reasons I needed to do this peak again. We hustled back down, grabbed lunch at Mi Ranchito in PQ, and enjoyed their fine Mexican food in my backyard.

Monserate Mountain

I needed to return to Monserate Mountain to take some updated photographs for a trail guide I am writing from SoCal Hiker. Since I had the day from work, I thought would make the short drive up and snap a few photos that I needed.

After taking a few versions of the new sign, I started up the trail. Since a portion of the trail is closed until December 2022, I was hoping to photograph the closure signage at the junction for inclusion in the guide. Plus, I need some ‘trail’ shots to reflect what the trail looks like. My two previous times up this peak were a bit light on photos.

At the first junction, there was no signage, but I was really enjoying the hike, so I kept going. Finally, at the final junction, there was a closure warning. I continued onto the summit and snapped more photos. San Gorgonio and San Jacinto’s snowcapped summits stood off to the north.

I certainly had a much better set of photos for the guide, so I headed back down to the car. All in all, a nice hike of 3.1 miles in 1:34 with an elevation gain of 1,148 feet.

Morena Butte

I wanted to hike out to Diablo Benchmark, but since we could not head out until 11, it was going to be too warm to attempt it. Instead, I looked at some of the peaks Ted needed to complete on the San Diego Sierra Club 100 peak list. But I really did not want to go bushwhacking up Middle Peak, Manza Benchmark or Sheephead Mountain. That left Morena Butte as our best option for a nice afternoon hike. We stopped at the Ranger station and got our parking permit ($3). We parked next to the trailhead and set off down the service road to the dam. A light breeze kept the temperatures pleasant.

The road worked its way around the edge of Lake Morena, until after about a mile, we turned off onto the trail that would have us connect with the PCT. The Butte loomed over us to the west. We cruised along the PCT for a bit until we reached the turn off to the use trail that would lead us to the summit.

The trail would now weave its way upward through the manazatia. We continued working our way toward the north butte. Once on the slabs near the summit, a nice collection of cairns pointed the way. There is no benchmark on this peak, and we did not locate a register. I found a nice spot to enjoy a late lunch. We debated working our way over to the west butte, but Ted had already run 13.1 miles in the morning, so he was ok with skipping it. Plus, I was feeling a little bit from my ascent of San Ysidro the day before.

We made our way back down without incident, opting to take the trail on the west side of the small valley this time. After tossing our gear back in the car, we stopped at the market just outside the county park and treated ourselves to some nice milkshakes. I logged the hike at 6.5 miles in 3:17 and 1,100 feet of gain.

Old Survey Road 97

Just around the corner from the Ramona Grasslands, is the Old Survey Road. Old Survey Road 97 was once the main thoroughfare connecting Ramona and Escondido. This trail is only opened for about 3 months out of the year by the county. You need a free permit to do this hike and only 50 hikers per day are allowed on the trail. I convinced a couple of other friends to join me on this adventure.

The trail is not too challenging, although it has some elevation gain toward the turn-around point. Unlike the last time I did this hike, we had a nice cloud cover to keep us nice and cool. We got to the trailhead just before 8 am. Once the ranger was set up, we checked in and set off down the trail.

At the trail’s end, some grabbed a snack before making the climb back up. Partway up, I stopped to see how they were fairing and spotted a nice rainbow to the west. One of the primary features of this hike is passing the nesting area for a pair of Golden Eagles. Unfortunately, their nests are a fair distance away. Some folks had come to this spot with some seriously long lenses to try to capture them. One photographer shared one photo he grabbed earlier in the day. Once back at the car, we headed off to have some lunch at Mi Ranchito.

Big Black Mountain

After summiting The Thimble and bailing on San Ysidro, we decided to drive up Big Black Mountain just north of Ramona in Pauma Valley. Susie had hiked this long exposed road hike back in 2017 and I drove it twice before. So we hung a right once we got back into town and set off up the dirt road.

The road is rough and rocky, but the Subaru handled it with ease. Passed a couple of cars working their way back down from the summit. Finally, we reached the end of the road and parked. A nice grove of pines stood just to the south. We grabbed our gear, even though the summit was a short 1/4 mile walk.

Once at the summit, we again took in the views. The day was getting long, so we did not stay too long. Plus we had the long drive back down. Another car had joined us at the summit and was having a picnic in the shade. Three cars passed us as we drove down the road. With that, Susie was two steps closer to completing the list and we all had a great day.

McGinty Mountain

Since it was my daughter’s last weekend before returning back to her college campus, I opted to stay local rather than continue to work on the SoCal Six Pack of Peaks. Since Ted was free, we decided to go hike one of his remaining Sierra Club 100 peaks. He has about 7 peaks left that are not out in Anza-Borrego, so it made the choice a bit easier. We settled on McGinty Mountain, a nice 4.5 mile hike out near Jamul. We parked in the lot, and there were three other cars already there.

We set off along the trail, enjoying the shade while we had it. Once we left the shade, we could feel the heat as we climbed up the middle section of this trail. Just about when the mine comes into view, we again had some shade. We took a short break here to recover a bit before pushing on to the summit.

Once at the summit, we took in the views. A nice marine layer was spread out before us to the west. We did not stay long as it was starting to really heat up. We passed three other hikers making their way up. Once back at the car, the temperature were already 82°F at 9:30 am.