Gaskill Peak

Now that I am finding my trail legs again, it was time to go back and summit Gaskill. When Ted and I tackled Lawson Peak, we did not continue onto Gaskill, as I had a sick daughter to attend to.

We followed the same route as before, we looked at the trail leading up to Lawson and joked if either of us wanted to scramble up the chimney again…

The route follows the road for about a mile until the trail to Gaskill appeared. Along the way, a motorcycle passed us. We were not entirely sure why he needs a machete on his back.

The trail worked its way to up the steep slope to the peak. There we explored the first set of rocks. Ted went over to see if we could scramble atop the other set. Not finding a safe route, we opted not to attempt it.

We retraced our route, as the heat began to rise. Once back in the car, some well earned Mexican food and a fresh Alpine Brewery beer were in order.

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.

East Mesa High Point

I decided to tackle something a bit longer in distance today, East Mesa High Point. I convinced another friend, Steve Boyle to tag along. It was another early start to beat the heat.

For the most part, this was going to be a straightforward hike to the base of the Mesa where some actual bushwhacking would be needed to summit.

We followed the Harvey Moore trail until it met the East Mesa Fire Road. Crossing a meadow and then cresting a small rise, we joined the East Mesa Fire Road.

Steve opted not to join me in my bushwhacking, so off I went toward the summit. I worked my way through the bush without too much trouble. I did not locate a register nor a benchmark.

I headed back down the Mesa and began working my way to the junction where I rejoined Steve. We retraced our route as the heat began to rise. Along the way, we encountered two ladies out on their horses.

We finally made it back to the car, feeling the effects of the heat and miles, but it was still a nice day on the trails.

Guatay Mountain

Well, after a much longer time off the trails, I was finally able to start summiting again. After the plantar fasciitis emerged in the early part of 2018, I took a couple of months off to let it recover, little did I know that time off would extend for almost half a year. While on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, two of my discs in my neck silently herniated. I went from planning my next hike, as my foot had recovered, to now being in tremendous pain. After three months of treatment, I was able to carefully resume hiking. I had done some of the minor peaks around my house that I have never bothered with to test out the neck. Finally, I was ready to try a real peak, and Guatay seemed to fit the bill.

I drove out the summit fairly early to beat the summer heat. When I arrived at the trailhead, a couple was just waking up from spending the night in their pickup bed watching the previous evening’s meteor shower. We chatted for a bit, and I headed off.

I backtracked along the road until I spotted the trailhead, almost hidden from view. The trail follows the creek along the eastern side of the mountain for a bit. Just long enough to warm up your leg muscles before the real climb begins. Coming to a metal post, the trail turn left and begins its steep climb toward the summit.

After a bit, the steepness eases as you reach the main ridge to the summit. The surround peaks also start to come to view, primarily Cuyamaca to the north.

But, Guatay has more work to be done in order to reach her summit. Two more steep sections lay ahead before the top is reached!

To the west, you can see El Cajon Mountain and the surrounding communities, to the south is the Los Pinos Peak/fire lookout in the Pine Creek Wilderness, Cuyamaca Peak stand proudly to the north, and looking back to the east, Mt. Laguna.

After a short rest, and signing the register, I headed back down the trail. So far the neck was feeling fine, and the leg wasn’t too bad. Along the way, I encounter some younger hikers heading up. One of them informed me she left her poles back along the trail. I told her that the section toward the top is a lot easier if you had them. She declined my advice. We parted ways, and I wondered why did you even bring them?

The descent was uneventful as the day got hotter. I was glad for the early start. I found myself back at the car, happy to finally be back on the trails.

Bell Bluff

Ted and I were back at it. Today’s summit was Bell Bluff, located just a bit south of Alpine. We parked the car a bit away from the trailhead, as parking can be tight along the road. The trail passes better two homes before crossing the Sweetwater River. When we did the hike the riverbed was almost bone dry. However, the river bank was a bit steep, thankfully a rope was available for an assist.

As we crossed the sandy riverbed, we could not find the exit. We spent a good 20 minutes wandering looking for the trail. Finally we found it a bit further to the west. We followed what appeared to be an old Jeep trail for some time. Bell Bluff loomed before us in the distance.

Then the double cairns marked the turnoff toward the summit. The gentleness of the previous miles was replaced by some 700 feet of gain over about a half-mile. Partway up we have to work our way up one Class 3 section.

The summit had its benchmark still intact, and a register safely stored in an all too familiar red can.

We could see the north side of Lawson, which we recently summited, and Gaskill which still beckoned. Working our way back to the car, laughing at our earlier misadventures with the crossing…

Climbing back out of the river on the way back to the car.

Ant Benchmark

Well finally had the chance to summit Ant Benchmark after running out of time during my last time out near Julian. Ted was able to join me on this adventure. We drove down Boulder Creek Road to the trailhead. There is no parking at the proper trailhead, but there is a spot about a quarter-mile before, just past the cattle guard.

At the bend in the road, the trail begins. We continued down the trail until we reached the meadow and our first real view of our peak. Upon crossing the meadow, the real fun began as we started our scramble up.

The brush was not too bad, and the boulders were manageable. The summit surprised us with her views.

We scrambled back down and called it a day as we had an event in the early afternoon.

Viejas Mountain

Although I did not make out to Ant Benchmark the day before, I opted to summit Viejas Mountain instead. This peak is just to the west of the casino, so it was an easy drive to the trailhead. Mark and I arrived at the trailhead a bit after sunrise.

There is no disguising what this hike is, it is just a steady climb upward. It was a cool morning with a bit of a breeze blowing. Soon, we reached the summit and took in the views while we rested. There is a rock wind shelter that has been built, sadly from rocks that used to denote the winter solstice by Kumeyaay Indians.

I was able to find two markers, but not the formal benchmark nor a register. A few others had joined us on the summit, and after chatting some, we headed back down the trail. In the distance, El Cajon Mountain beckoned for another day…

Peak 4159

So, Peak 4159…

This was the third peak that I was hitting that day. It was another short off-trail summit. The peak was not too far from the turn out that I used for Oak Benchmark. I reached the summit without incident. The views were meh, not that different from Oak Benchmark’s views toward Julian. A few months later when I hiking with Derek, he asked me what my least favorite hike was so far, and Peak 4159 was it.

But that is not the rest of the story. If you look at the official list, you will no longer see this peak listed, this is due to a dangerous property dispute. I catalog it here only for completeness.

I had planned to try to squeeze in one more summit but did not want to be late for The Last Jedi so Ant Benchmark would have to wait…

Oak Benchmark

The second summit of the day was Oak Benchmark. The light rain that started at the end of my hike to Peak 1549, had ended. I had originally planned to summit this peak back when I did Cemetery Hill but thought better since it was hunting season.

Parking in the same trailhead, I headed south along the road to a nice clearing. From my research with Google Earth, I knew that this should provide an easier route to the summit, as there is no formal trail to the top. The main warning I had read about was the amount of poison oak that exists. I was hoping attempting this in the winter would reduce my chances of encountering it.

I picked my way up toward the peak, I meandered through the brush until I reached the summit. I found the benchmark and register with no problem.

The skies continued to look threatening, but the views gave me a nice look back toward Julian.

I headed back down toward the car with no real issues. Just the crush of fallen oak leaves under my boots. With that, it was off the third peak of the day, Peak 4159.

Peak 1546

As I drove out toward Julian in the predawn light, I was hoping to summit at least three of my planned four peaks today: Peak 1546, Oak Benchmark, Peak 4159, and Ant Benchmark. I knew the last one was going to be a stretch as I had tickets to The Last Jedi. But the other three are all along Eagle Peak Road, so I thought they could be bagged together.

First up was Peak 1549. I drove down the dirt road until it ended. I parked the car and under mostly cloudy skies continued down the now overgrown road. This was another inverted hike, so I knew the hard part was the second half…

As I strolled down, the sun would illuminate the hills and the dry Mildred Falls to my north.

After about a mile or so, I came to the portion of the hike that requires a permit. This is one of two trails that lead to Cedar Creek Falls. This is a popular destination when the falls are running, but alas there was no water flowing. I can certainly see how the unprepared get themselves into trouble. I opted to be a rebel and continue on, in part, since I was not actually going to the falls themselves. The trail rose again, and soon my destination was in view, a solitary bump just to the west of the trail.

I followed the steep use trail to the summit. There I was rewarded with some incredible views of the San Diego River drainage.

I did not stay long as I had more peaks to summit. I began the climb back up the road to my car, enjoying the cool air. I can imagine what it must feel like in the summer climbing back up…

Just as I reached my car, a light rain began to fall. On the Oak Benchmark!

Lawson Peak

The final summits for 2017 were the duo of Lawson and Gaskill peaks. Ted and I drove out past Jamul to the trailhead just off Lyons Valley Road.

The trail follows Carvacre Road for about 1.9 miles, gaining about 1,000 feet of elevation. The road is somewhat rutted, so you do have to watch your footing some. The peak is not initially visible, but will soon loom before you as the road works it way up.

As we drew closer to the peak, we passed a massive granite outcropping near the junction with Wisecraver road. Here is where the real effort begins to reach the summit. A nice trail begins the steep ascent through the brush and boulders until we reached the base of the real challenge of Lawson peak.

Circling around to the north-west side, we found the 20-foot high chute that we needed to climb. We carefully tested the rope and work our way up into the cave at the top.

We worked our way through the small cave to arrive near the summit.

From there, we scrambled to the top.

There we were rewarded with sweeping views, Gaskill to the north, Lyons peak to the south.

I checked in with the family and my daughter was feeling under the weather, so I needed to head home. So, Gaskill was going to have to wait for another day. We carefully worked ourselves back down the chute and back to the main road. Soon we were back at the car, with time to shower and rest up before our New Years’ Eve celebrations.