Cowles Mountain - Notheast Approach

DISTANCE: 4.5 miles

TIME: 2.5 hours

ELEVATION: 1,592 ft

DIFFICULTY: Moderately Challenging

Cowles Mountain's central location within San Diego city limits and it's elevation relative to lesser peaks nearby make it a great viewing spot to survey the county's major landmarks, peaks, and the Pacific Ocean. The southwest approach on the intersection of Navajo road and Golfcrest drive is the easiest and the most popular hike in San Diego county. The northeast approach, described here, is longer in distance and steeper in elevation, and although less popular of a route, it's a great alternative to beat the crowds and enjoy a change of scenery. The trail is well maintained and well marked.

The trailhead off Mission Gorge Road on Mesa Road near Big Rock Park in the Santee/Mission Trails area. Park on the side of the road as there is no formal parking area. The trail heads east and crosses Big Rock Creek, which was flowing from heavy rains occuring just before the date of this post. Continue on this path for about 1.5 miles until reaching a wider service road. Turn right on the service road and head .8 miles on the slippery granite surface of the road which has a steepness that increases exponentially as you near the top.

Upon arriving at the top, as you catch your breath you'll likely be met by other hikers who chose the easier route up the west face. However, your choosing the more difficult path will likely make the view and your sense of accomplishment all the more sweeter.

Oakzanita Peak

DISTANCE: 6.0 miles

TIME: 3 hours

ELEVATION: 5,054 ft

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Cuyamaca State Park offers some of the best hiking in San Diego County and many hikers are familiar with Cuyamaca Peak and Stonewall Peak. A lesser known mountain, Oakzanita Peak is just as noteworthy as these other two peaks which are located just to the north. In fact, Oakzanita Peak has been on the San Diego Chapter Sierra Club's Hundred Peak's Section list since 1962.

This hike is comparable to Iron Mountain in Poway. It begins with a gradual climb in a steady direction for the first 2 miles or so, through thicker oak and manzanita brush and crossing occasional streams. After about 2 miles of gradual uphill, the trail comes to a saddle, and heads around the back side of the mountain for the final ascent to the summit.

To arrive at the trailhead, head east on I-8, then north on Highway 79 for 6.1 miles toward Cuyamaca State Park. Just after crossing the park's southern boundary on the right side of the highway 79 is a turnout area with a large sign that reads "Oakzanita." Park here and look for the trail marker designating the Lower Descanso Creek trail, and start heading uphill to the right.

Follow the Lower Descanso for 0.5 miles, which crosses the creek a few times before emerging from the woods and arriving at the East Mesa Fire road, a wide dirt road. Turn right and head 0.1 miles, looking for the start of the Upper Descanso Creek trail marker on the right. Glancing east through a meadow, you will see the summit of Oakzanita, the destination of this hike. Turn right and leave the East Mesa Fire road, following the Upper Descanso Creek trail for about 2 miles up the right side of the canyon. We noted both deer and mountain lion tracks on this section of the trail.

After about 2 miles, the trail comes a fork in the saddle and a marker designates path the the right is a 0.6 mile climb to the top of Oakzanita Peak. Passing a wide meadow on the left, the trail gradually ascends up to the peak and the brush becomes thinner and thinner, while the trail becomes rockier and rockier until it arrives at the boulder-studded summit.

The view from the top is spectacular, with the Lagunas to the east, Mexico to the south, Downtown and the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Stonewall and Cuyamaca to the north. There is a plastic container which contains a climbing log, hidden in a space under one of the large boulders.

Note that "Afoot & Afield in San Diego County" says this is a 4.6 mile round trip hike. Both times I have done the hike my GPS measured about 6 miles round trip (and we didn't take any significant detours).

McGinty Mountain

DISTANCE: 5 miles

TIME: 3 hours

ELEVATION: 2,183 ft

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Located east of the 94 near Jamul and the Sycuan Indian Reservation, the McGinty Mountain Ecological Reserve is most likely the "go-to" hiking spot for Jamul residents. If you're not a resident of Jamul and not a botanist, or geocacher, McGinty may not have anything extraordinary to offer. It's certainly not the highest peak in the area, as it is surrounded by higher peaks almost double in elevation to the southeast in Alpine, Otay Mountain to the southwest, and Viejas mountain to the northeast. Still, despite it's comparatively low elevation, it offers decent views within the county.

Botanists will love it as according to Jerry Schad, it contains many rare plants native to San Diego county (keep in mind that "rare" doesn't necessarily mean aesthetically pleasing - we didn't see anything but dry shrubs on this hike). I say that geocachers will love it because one of San Diego's top geocachers, fisnjack,was the first person to recommend this hike to me, so I am assuming it is laden with caches.

There is a small parking area off the side of the road on Jamul drive near I-94. The trailhead is marked but somehwhat obscure, to the right side of the parking area. It wanders east for about .5 mile before meeting with a narrower switchback trail that ascends for about .5 mile to the first summit in view (not McGinty). This trail emerges onto a wider fire road, which is characteristic of the trail for the remaininder of the hike. Beyond the first summit about 1 mile to the east the peak of McGinty is within view, as is the fire road that leads to it. You'll pass a custom home or two on the left within 50 yards of the trail, which kind of takes away from hiking experience (you wonder why you've already hiked over a mile and you're right by some guy's house).

The final .5 mile to the summit is a bit steep. At the top are several large rocks, none of which clearly stands out as the highest point. To the east is the Sycuan indian reservation at the base of Sycuan Peak. To the south is the town of Jamul, with many scattered custom homes; McGinty separates Jamul somewhat from the rest of San Diego suburbia.

Mt. San Jacinto

DISTANCE: 11 Miles
TIME: 6 hours

ELEVATION: 10,834 feet

DIFFICULTY: Moderate

COORDINATES: 33° 49' N; 116° 41' W

Mt. San Jacinto is #11 on the highest peaks in California, and is the highest peak in Riverside County and second highest in Southern California (next to San Gorgonio). It's prominence in between the dry desert floors of the Hemet and Palm Springs areas makes it viewable from many other peaks within San Diego and Riverside County, and as one of the few mountains above the 10,000 ft mark, it is often covered in snow during the winter months. The peak and the surrounding wilderness area are popular destinations for hikers.

There are several approaches up Mt. San Jacinto. This post describes the easiest route which begins with a ride up in the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway, which takes you from 2,643 ft to 8,516 feet in just 12 minutes. Because of this quick ascent and because the entire hike is achieved above the 8,500 ft. elevation, hikers should watch for signs of altitude sickness. At the time of this post the cost of a roundtrip tram ticket was $22.95. On weekdays the first tram leaves at 10 am, and the last tram comes down 9:45 pm

I had been to the San Jacinto Wilderness Area twice when I was younger and camped overnight, so this was my first day trip attempt, and I was joined by Steve Fenn and Byron Fisher. After we got off the tram, we headed down a ramp to the wilderness area where the dirt trail starts. It is a very wide, well maintained trail. All hikers must have a wilderness permit to be in the area. We got our permits by filling out a slip of paper posted on a door of a ranger station located a short distance into the hike.

The first two miles of the hike meander through dense pine forests on a gradually ascending trail to Round Valley, one of the permitted camping spots. Round Valley has bathrooms and running water. From Round Valley, the ascent steepens a bit until you reach Wellman's Divide at about mile 3. This is the first spot to enjoy the view to the Southwest, and is a good spot for a rest. The remainder of the hike is a continual ascent with little shade.

I was feeling a little lightheaded with a mild pounding in my head for the first three miles of this hike. I never felt nausea, though I did feel a little faint at Wellman's Divide. It was at this point that I think my body acclimated, because I felt fine the remainder of the hike. After leaving Wellman's divide, we ascended upward from the valley floor along a ridge toward the summit. Just below the summit is a cabin shelter, which is fully stocked with food, first aid, and other supplies thanks to the contributions of hikers. It also has four bunk beds and some religious reading material; I guess the people who left that knew that if you were in a bad enough situation that you had to stay in that cabin, you would probably be doing a lot of praying and religious contemplation. I have heard stories of unsuspecting hikers being caught in surprise snowstorms, as early as the fall months, so be sure to check the weather as it can be drastically different than the desert floor below. On the day of our hike it was a clear 70 degrees.

The trail falls off just before the summit (either that or we lost it), and the final climb is scrambling over large rocks. The summit is a true summit with an obvious high point that makes a great picture. Take time to enjoy view and snap some panorama photos. We were the first ones to the summit that morning, and arrived 2.5 hours after leaving the tram station. We spent about 1/2 hour at the summit, and made it back to the tram station 2 hours later, so our round trip was about 5 hours. We took it at a pretty fast pace, so realistically you should plan on at least 6-7 hours for this day hike.

Upper Yosemite Falls

DISTANCE: 7.6 MILES

TIME: 3 HOURS
ELEVATION: 6,526 FT
DIFFICULTY: STRENUOUS

I was recently asked what the most challenging hike was that I have ever done. Upper Yosemite Falls is definitely toward the top of my list, and I would rate it even more challenging than Half Dome, which my brother and I had hiked two days prior to hiking to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls.

This hike takes you from the Yosemite Valley floor at about 4,000 FT up to the top of the falls, at almost 6,500 ft, but the elevation gain/loss over the 7.6 mile hike is actually much more than 2,500 FT. The elevation gain is twice the height of the Empire State building, and the climb is about as steep as going up hundreds of flights of stairs. So if you're not in good enough physical shape to climb the stairwells of the Empire State Building twice, this hike won't be very fun for you.

We attempted this hike on the last day of our trip to Yosemite, and after three days of hiking, biking, and other activities, our legs were pretty tired before we even started. The trailhead is at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls, one of the shuttle stops within the valley. If you plan to drive and park at the base of the trailhead, be informed that there are no free parking areas within the near vicinity of the trailhead unless you have a permit for one of the nearby campgrounds or the lodge (we took a chance and parked at the lodge without a permit, and fortunately didn't get a ticket).

The first section of the trail is a steep climb up a series of switchbacks through shaded oak groves. After about a mile, you emerge out of the grove, somewhere around the elevation of the top of the less spectacular but still amazing Lower Yosemite Falls. Your legs will be tired after a mile of stairstep climbing. At that point the trail starts descending. We thought it would just descend a little. But it kept descending. We knew we had to go up, so why were we going down? Were we on the right trail? It must have descended over the course of at least a half mile, before resuming it's upward ascend again. It was pretty frustrating to lose all that hard earned elevation gain.

More uphill, but this time, with no shade. We did it fairly early in the morning, after the ranger told us the best time to do it was in the afternoon because the position of the sun would allow shade on that part of the trail. But in the morning we had no such luck. The sun began to beat down upon us as we hiked alongside the towering cliffs. We just kept looking up but it seemed we weren't getting any closer to the top. Byron was booking it because he was anxious to get home to his girlfriend that day, so the pace was killing me. I tried my best to keep up with him but I had to take advantage of almost every bush that offered shade to rest. And for those of you that have hiked with me you know I take things at a quick pace and usually don't need to stop and rest. Not true on this hike. I don't know that I have ever pushed myself that far past the point of exhaustion, and my body kept screaming at me to stop, but I had to keep up with my bro as best I could. On a few occasions I felt I was going to pass out from the overexertion, and I probably would have had I not stopped to rest every now and then. I kept eating power gels and drinking water hoping to get some of my strength back. I just remember thinking two thoughts: "What if I pass out, how will they get me down," and "I've got to be almost there."

At last, at about 3.5 miles, the switchbacks leveled off and we found ourselves in a forested area at the top of the cliffs that overlook Lower Yosemite Valley. After some meandering through large rocks we came toward the edge of the falls. Then came the true reward that made this hike worth it: Several narrow steps are carved into the side of the cliff, with nothing but a metal rail separating you from the valley floor almost 3,000 feet below. It goes without saying that if you are afraid of heights this part of the hike is also not for you. The view is incredible with the roaring of the falls right next to you. Climbers had actually strung cables from the rail, across the valley floor, to some cliffs on the other side of the falls. Apparently some people just can't get enough adventure. As for me, this hike up Upper Yosemite Falls was adventure enough.