I had hoped to squeeze in one more desert peak, but with my daughter leaving for DC for the summer, I could not afford the time. Instead, I opted to knock one of the San Diego Six-Pack of Peaks off my list. Corte Madera would fit the bill nicely–not too long and not too far of a drive to the trailhead. I pulled into an empty parking area and hung my Adventure Pass from the mirror. While the car’s thermometer read 37, it did not feel that cold, plus I knew both I and the day would be warming up.

I grabbed my new trekking poles, as I had worn the tips down on my previous pair, and set off. The route to the summit began along a nicely shaded road for about 1/2 mile before I reached the Espinoza Trail. Now I would begin climbing up toward the saddle, with some nice wildflowers scattered along the trail. Once at the saddle, I got my first view of the impressive rock face of Corte Madera. A warning sign had been posted for anyone continuing on the Espinoza trail, to be careful from the fire damage. Off to my left stood the Los Pinos lookout tower and to my right was the road I would follow for a short while.

Another sign pointed to the trail branching off to the left from the road. This portion of the hike would have the more “challenging “ portion of the hike. The gentle climb up the Espinoza would be replaced with a steeper and rockier one. In addition, the overgrowth was also heavier through here as well. 

I passed by a jacket and bag off to the side, which I assume were left by a migrant. After climbing down the rocky section, the trail would now roller coaster toward the summit. My left calf was starting to tighten, so I slowed my pace to give it some relief. I recognized that I was almost at the summit and would have a chance to give it a rest.

As expected, I had the summit to myself. A new wooden sign had been left next to the register. I signed in and snapped my photos, then found a spot to enjoy my orange and take a breather.

I pulled my pack on and began to retrace my route. Not long after leaving the summit, I met my first other hiker. He looked a little lost, as he was staring intently at his phone. I gave him some guidance for the last bit. It turns out he started at Corral Canyon. We each went our separate ways. As I neared that one climbing section, I met the second set of hikers. They recognized me from my blog, and we chatted a bit before continuing. I would encounter another 10 or so by the time I reached the saddle.

Once back on the road to the Espinoza trail, a truck passed me, as did a motorcycle. I had wondered about driving back here for some car camping. Given that the truck looked almost stock, I could probably get my Subaru back here for an evening.

As I made my way down the Espinoza trail, I could feel the day getting warmer and my calf getting tighter. I knew I didn’t have that much further, plus the last 1/2 mile would have some shade and was mostly flat. The car said it was in the low 80s and I would believe it. This time my tracker logged me traveling 7.0 miles in 3:41 with an elevation gain of 1,633 feet.

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The original plan was to meet up with someone I used to admin with on the San Diego Hiking Society Facebook group. I left that role a few months back and wanted to catch up with her. Unfortunately, work got in the way and she had to cancel. I had never done the West Side Road Trail and still wanted to cross it off my list. I drove out through Ramona and toward San Diego Estates. Mt. Gower loomed over me to my north as I made my way to the trailhead. I parked and grabbed my gear. The trail begins along a paved road next to a house. I crossed over the road-closed gate and continued making my way up the road. Some bits of graffiti lined the road. The paved road became dirt as it still climbed up. I was rewarded for this effort with some nice views of the mountains. I could see Cuyamaca, Middle Peak, Viejas, and Volcan with ease. With some care, I could spy Eagle Peak and Peak 1546.

The road eventually turned northward and I could see more of Gower off to my left. While I had passed another hiker just as I began, I encountered one more out enjoying the trail. We chatted for a bit. He moved down from Riverside and was getting to know the area. We said our goodbyes, as he still had a ways to go to return to his starting point.

Eventually, the road came to an end, and the trail turned into a single track before coming to a very clear No Trespassing sign. I snapped a few photos and retraced my route. Soon I found myself back on the pavement and nearing my car. I could see a couple of miles away from the trailhead to Cedar Creek falls. That is one hike I have never done. In part don’t want to deal with the crowds and when it is flowing it usually means it is desert hiking season. I logged this hike at 4.5 miles and I covered it in 1:39 (including the time spent chatting). There were almost 848 feet of gain, so I did get a nice workout from it.

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As I continue to work toward the 25 hikes goal and the patch, I wanted to grab a hike before work. I decided to revisit another one of the hikes that I had done for one of the Coast to Crest Challenges, Raptor Ridge.

Parking at the trailhead, I grabbed my gear and set off. I had my headphones in my pack just in case I was not back in time to dial into my first meeting of the day. I cruised along the nice flat trail for about 1.5 miles before it would begin the climb up to the viewpoint. Once there I snapped my photo with a blank sheet of paper. I forgot my sign and would have to paste it in later. After taking in the views of San Pasqual Valley, I retraced my route. Met three others out enjoying the trail with their dog. Made it back to the car just before my meeting, I tossed in my gear, called in, and began the drive home. The hike was 4.6 miles in 1:35 and had 362 feet of elevation gain.

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Having mostly recovered from hiking the Trans-Catalina Trail, it was time to set my focus back on some of the ongoing challenges I am working on. So, I scanned the remaining hikes on the Sierra Club NCG 50th Anniversary 50 Hike Challenge list and settled on hiking up Twin Peaks again.

I parked near Silverset Park, grabbed my gear, and set off. I followed the same route as I had done twice before. As I neared the summit, another hiker was making his way down. So much for checking the “Only Party On The Mountain” box on peakbagger.com. I got to the summit and snapped my photos. It seems the summit sign disease has arrived here as well. Leave No Trace…

I really did not linger and opted to return back down following the same route this time. Previously I had made it a loop but wanted to get home and start grilling my birthday dinner. Just 10 more hikes and I can get the patch. I am a sucker for a patch…

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After the quick stroll along the Questhaven Nature Trail, I headed to my second hike of the afternoon, along the North Shore of Lake Hodges. According to the WBC 50 for 50 Challenge, this hike was to start near Hernandez Hideaway and head north along the shoreline. I had used this trailhead before for one of the Coast to Crest Challenge Hikes down to the Rattlesnake View Point. 

Since it was a workday afternoon, the parking lot was almost completely empty, but I knew from past experiences this area is a popular mountain biking area, so I was thankful not to be as worried about sharing the trail. There wasn’t a specific spot where I needed to take my photo, so I just wandered a bit until I found a nice view of the lake and took one. I then retraced my route back to the car and called it a day.

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One of the trails I had never hiked that is listed on the WBC 50 for 50 Challenge, is the Questhaven Nature Trail. Since the trail is short and (sort of) on my way home from work, I decided to explore it at the end of one work day. I found a spot to park at the south end of the out-and-back trail and set off. The trail is actually the former road that passed through the area, but was closed back in 2006. 

I enjoyed the shade from all the trees that lined the sides of the road. A dry creek was off to my right, and after a rainstorm, this little jaunt could be very pleasant. The trail ends at the gates to the Questhaven Retreat, Church of the Holy Quest. I retraced my route back to my car, passing a few others out for a nice jog. The other aspect of this hike is the local lore that this area is haunted, but I will leave all that for you to explore on your own.

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Really did not feel like making the long drive out to Anza-Borrego, plus Ted could only hike in the morning and Susie had out-of-town guests. So, instead, we decided to do a nice loop that combined 3 WBC hikes into one. We pulled into a moderately full parking lot at Daley Ranch about 7:30, grabbed our gear, and set off. After the short climb under the sign, we continued north until we reached the turnoff to the Boulder Loop Trail. After another little climb, Ted shed a layer before we continued on. At our next junction, we debated taking the slightly shorter route but opted for the longer one. I finally found a spot to snap my required photo. Some mountain bikers were resting at the gazebo near the junction with Cougar Ridge trail. 

We descended down to almost where we turned off to start the Boulder Loop Trail, then made a left turn to head to the Ranch House, my second spot for my photo. After a quick snack and helping a mountain biker with some directions we headed toward the Sage Trail and eventually to Stanley Peak.

We had another short climb before the trail leveled off for a while. One of the ponds lay off to our right. As the peak drew nearer, we had to decide to take the longer route or the shorter and steep route past the water tank. The longer route won again. We began our climb to the summit. Partway up a mountain biker passed us, but just a few minutes later he stopped to catch his breath. This happened twice more until we reached the summit nearly at the same time.

The summit was crowded, so we found a quiet spot to snap a few photos. We commented that we are not used to crowds given our usual hiking adventures. Most of the crowd left en masse, so we popped over to the eastern view for a quick look, then the west view before beginning back down. 

We opted to take the water tank route, just to avoid some people. Our route had a small amount of backtracking but we soon made it to the junction with the Diamondback trail that would take us to the Coyote Run Trail, then onto the East Ridge Trail, and finally onto the Creek Crossing Trail. We could see Dixon Lake to our left as we neared the now very full parking lot. We tossed in our gear and changed our shirts before heading over to Burger Bench for a well-earned lunch and brew.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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