Woodson Mountain (via Lake Poway Trail)

Since I have a hiking trip coming up in Arizona, I wanted to get a few harder miles in and see how my right knee felt. When descending San Ysidro East Peak, it had become painful. I figured Woodson Mountain would be a good candidate for this. I debated between taking the Fry-Kogel route or the Lake Poway Route. I opted to take the Lake Poway route, just so I could compare my time from my last summit. The parking lot was fuller than I expected, but I could see some families scattered about, and several folks trying their luck fishing.

I cruised up the trail, a few hikers passed me returning from their summits. The knees were doing fine on the ascent. I took a short break just past where the Fry-Kogel trail joins the main trail. That is still one thing I need to be mindful of when hiking solo, I tend to not take proper breaks.

As I neared the Potato Chip, there were just a few people milling around. I thought about climbing out, but did not feel the need, so I continued to the summit. I also decided to skip scrambling up the actual summit block. After a short rest for a quick snack, I headed back down.

Making my way down, I passed a few groups heading up. The parking lot closes at 7pm, so I hope they pay attention to the time. My left knee did grumble a bit on descent, but nothing unusual and thankfully the right knee seemed fine. After a round trip time of 3:30 over 7.3 miles, I was back at the car. Got a light hike planned out in Anza-Borrego on Sunday, then off to Arizona to try to summit some of their Six Pack of Peaks,

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 both the Arizona-Winter and Arizona-Summer). 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.

Del Dios Highlands

I had done this hike as part of the Coast to Crest Challenge in the past, but I did it again as part of the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trail Challenge. This hike is all climbing to the overlook of the Olivenhain Reservoir and Lake Hodges beyond that.

Wilderness Gardens

Another pleasant surprise in doing the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trails was Wilderness Gardens County Preserve. I had driven past it several times returning back from some adventure in the desert. I pulled into the parking lot, paid my fee, and set off to explore it. Most of the trail is flat and follows the San Luis Rey River (dry at the time), but I decided to add in a short climb to the overlook. This park is closed during August, so be aware of that.

Stelzer Summit

After exploring some of the Old Flume Trail, I made the short drive to Louis A. Stelzer County Park. I had driven past this park numerous times when I was headed further up the road to climb El Cajon Mountain. This was another stop on the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trails Challenge. The trail would follow the creek that runs through it before making the climb to Kumeyaay Promontory where the required photo was to be taken. But looming to the east was Stelzer Summit, so I continued on to its summit. I was glad to have my trekking poles, as it got steep as I climbed the road. This entire hike was such a lovely surprise.

Flume Trail

Continuing to work on the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trails Challenge, today was going to be a “two-fer”, the Flume Trail at El Monte County Park, and after a visit to Louis A. Stelzer County Park. I parked in the lot and began working my way up the switchbacks toward the remains of the old flume route that served as an early water transportation system.

El Cajon Mountain

I needed a good hard hike to keep training for upcoming my Red Top/Sawtooth attempt. I considered some of the harder desert hikes as an option, but Ted needs most of those peaks and he was going to be unavailable on Sunday. I was able to convince my friend Dave to tag along for some company. Initially, I wanted to hike Agua Tibia again, but Dave’s time constraints were tighter than mine, so that was not an option. Since I signed up for the San Diego Edition of the Six-Pack of Peaks and am doing the Tour Our Trails challenge as well, I figured why not just do “The Hardest Hike in San Diego™”, aka El Cajon mountain.

We wanted an early start as we both wanted to be home to watch the game. As we drove out to the trailhead, I snapped a photo of the morning sky for Ted, one of his favorite parts of our adventures. The parking lot was not open yet, and a modest amount of cars lined the road. We quickly geared up and set off. The fruit stand was open and looked tempting.

We shed our jackets after about a mile. I was all set to stuff into the sleeping bag compartment in my pack, only to discover I never took out the windbreaker from last weekend. So into the main part of the pack it went. The miles ticked off fairly well as we made our way up and down the trail. A few folks passed us returning to the car from probably being at the summit for sunrise.

Stopping for a quick snack just before the old jeep, we hear the sounds of someone sharing their music. This behavior annoys me to no end. I came out here to enjoy nature, not your favorite jam. We let them pass, along with their unleashed dog, then waited a bit before resuming. Finally the summit came into view and we began the last bit.

Once at the summit, there were a few people scattered about. I found a spot off the side and enjoyed my PB&J and a few orange slices, while Dave had to take care of some work-related issues. The summit sign was no longer in the ground, but it was still attached to the pole. I snapped a few photos and was ready to head out. Since folks were hanging out where the marks are located, I skipped them this time.

As we headed back down, we encountered more folks making their way up. Also, the day was warming up a touch. I had to think some of the folks are not going to like their hike back to the car. El Cajon is known as a hike that is “uphill, both ways”. I did regret not wearing a lighter shirt and pants, as I was starting to feel a tad warm. We plodded our way back to the car without any real issue. All told our active hiking time was 6:15, not too bad. I think if we had stayed longer at the summit, and I had some more recovery time before setting off our time could have been under 6 hours.

Ramona Grasslands

This is probably my fifth time hiking the Ramona Grasslands. I have taken friends here when they were looking for an easy stroll, or as part of the Coast To Crest Challenge. This time I was here for the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trails Challenge.

Sycamore Canyon/Goodan Ranch

It had been some time since I had hiked Goodan Ranch, so I was looking forward to doing it again. I got there early and enjoy the quiet as I made my way down to the remains of the ranch. From there I had planned to make a big loop back to the car. But Covid had turned some of the trails into one-way routes. While I doubted I was going to encounter anyone, I wanted to be respectful of the rules.

Guajome Regional Park

Another one of the ‘easy’ hikes on the San Diego County Parks’ Tour Our Trails Challenge, is out at Guajome Regional Park. My wife, our dog, and I drove up to Oceanside to take a nice stroll around. We did a nice loop, seeing both the south and north ponds.

Boden Canyon

Decided to complete the 2020-2021 Coast to Crest Challenge today. The final hike I needed to do was a flat-ish 6.6 mile hike that starts in the Pamo Valley, then follows the San Dieguito River through Boden Canyon. I pulled into the same parking lot that you would use if hiking Pamo Valley, just before 9am, but instead of heading north, I set off to the west.

I knew this hike would be another good test of my knee, as it had some minor elevation gains, but also a nice amount of distance as well. The hike began with a gentle and short climb before leveling out for a while. I cruised along the wide trail as it weaved its way along the south side of the canyon. I was surprised at the beauty along much of this trail. Boden Canyon is certainly a hidden gem of a hike. My only regret was not doing it when the river might be flowing to add to the experience.

After about 3.3 miles, I reached the junction with the Orosco Truck Trail and the start of Clevenger Canyon. This was the designated “selfie spot”. The trail continued westward for a short distance before reaching Highway 78. In fact, there was a small trailhead there as well. I took my photo and began retracing my route. I encountered several groups of hikers and mountain bikers as I made my way back to the trailhead. When I got back to the car, the lot was mostly full. I have really enjoyed this year’s Coast to Crest Challenge.