Hiking Mt Woodson

Mt Woodson is another local hike in San Diego that is easily accessible, yet hiking its trail feels like an escape from civilization.

Potato Chip Rock, Mt Woodson

It is littered by giant boulder outcrops, and from the summit, one can enjoy the ocean-to-mountain views. Near the summit is the now famous Potato Chip Rock, which is the result of exfoliation and weathering. There are many ways to reach Potato Chip rock or the summit of Mt Woodson. The three different trailheads for this hike is what I will be sharing in this post. source: Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: A Comprehensive Hiking Guide

Best Time to Hike:  During the cooler months, November to May. If hiking in the summer, start early of the day, or choose the cooler days of summer, because most part of the hike is on exposed trail.

Option 1: Mt. Woodson from Lake Poway

Lake Poway from Mt. Woodson Trail

Mileage: approximately 7.2 miles roundtrip

Change in Elevation: 2300 ft gain and loss

Parking: Lake Poway Recreation Area Parking, there is parking fee of $5.00 for non-Poway residents during the peak months April- October.

On Reaching El Cajon Summit

"You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place ? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know." -- Rene Daumal

Hiking is one of the enriching and inspiring activities I and hubby do together. We do longer hikes on weekends, and short hikes on weekdays. We always plan our travels centered around exploring nature's wonders, where the greatest artwork and beauty could be found. Thankfully for us, our love for nature and photography inspires us to keep fit and take care of our health. I can't stress more than enough the benefits of hiking on one's health and fitness. So our backs, arms and legs won't hurt from all the weight we carry when we hike, we do a lot of stretches everyday! Aside from stretching, we do other exercises at home to improve our strength, flexibility and endurance. We aim to be hiking as long as we could, for there are just so many beautiful places to explore and be awed by nature.

Thankfully, San Diego is littered by so many mountains in its backyard to serve as our outdoor gym and local training for more strenuous outdoor adventures when we explore other places. Reaching the summit is always a celebration for us, of finding what is above. We do all sorts of more fun activities instead of turning around right away. After all, we deserved a much needed break at the summit since we hiked 5.5 miles with a climb of 4100 ft to the top. Round trip hike is 11 miles, which meant, we needed to hike another 5.5 miles on our return. Unlike most other hikes, where the return would be downhill, El Cajon Summit hike is an up and down hike. We still needed to conquer some steep uphill climbs in our return.

So, what are some more fun activities we do at the summit? Boulder scrambling! We love to conquer rocks, and rocks do bring out the child in us. But probably, more obvious in one of us, who do you think strike a better pose bringing out the better child within? Haha!

Is it me?...., I was making thumbs up sign for a great hike!

Finding Refuge and Healing In Nature

Though it is heartbreaking to see the wrath and unforgiving forces of nature, but....nature has and will continue to be my haven, my source of rejuvenation, a place where I find healing....calming me down in the midst of turbulent winds and seas.

These may be same old, same places I frequent here in San Diego to take refuge....to get healing from everyday's toll....but nevertheless, they never fail to bring me a sense of peacefulness, and thankfulness.

My weekend is a routine I know, a routine of finding strength and energy in nature. We planned to hike to a canyon between Gliderport and Scripps Coastal Reserve from La Jolla Shores, but the tide was so high we could not walk on some areas for the waves were crashing right next to the cliffs that we ended up retreading and took a relaxing walk instead on top of the cliffs.

Torrey Pines Gliderport (top) and La Jolla Shores (bottom)

Then, we took a relaxing hike at Lake Poway. 

Lake Poway from the hiking trails

A little boy I met at the trails asked me, " did you catch a lot of fish?" I told him, "no, I am simply hiking." Then, a few yards after passing him, hubby pointed out to me a school of fish swimming.

Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail

Hiking @ Los Penasquitos Canyon

Last weekend was our first time to hike at Los Penasquitos Preserve and Park. I wonder why we never hiked this trail before. But I am glad that at least we were able to finally find another nature park that feels like an escape from civilization, yet, still is within San Diego City limits and very near the comforts of home. 

The hike here can be as short or as long, depending on anyone's interests. One can hike at the vast open space ( canyon's meadows) or in the rich oak woodland lining the Penasquitos Creek.

Cell Phone Photography (3): How To Have A Fun and Inexpensive Staycation

Note: the pictures below look so pixelated. I noticed that the same pictures uploaded directly from my cell phone to Facebook have better quality than pictures uploaded directly from cell phone to Mobile Blogger. I hope Mobile Blogger will not continue reducing the resolution and quality of pictures if they want us to continue using their apps. So frustrated looking at the distorted resolution here, which is not the same if the pictures are viewed in laptop's wide screen through Photo Stream.

Cousin Doing a Resting Pose :)

What can be more fun than a staycation? :) A most fun- filled vacation does not always have to be far from home. Fun starts when family and loved ones get together. My cousin from Los Angeles joined me and hubby for a 3-day Memorial Weekend Staycation. There were no plans, no itineraries, because the most important thing for us was time spent together enjoying the activities we love to share. Here is how we spent our 3-day weekend adventure staycation in a very inexpensive way but having the most fun.

Day 1:

1. Hiking at Iron Mountain. 

@Iron Mountain Peak

I purposely chose a medium hike, 7 miles round trip, 1300 ft change in elevation. I chose this so that we would have more time and also energy to have fun rock scrambling and boulder hopping.

Cousin in a Stretching Pose

Cousin and I

My Resting Pose :)

Where is Iron Mountain? Please visit my post on my top 5 San Diego hike to learn more about Iron Mountain hike.

2. Vietnamese Lunch at Pho Ca Dao in Rancho Bernardo Road. It was all about shrimp for me. :)

Grilled Lemongrass Shrimp with rice and veggies

Shrimp Paste in Fried Tofu Skin

3. Relaxing and Chilling at home for our next activity. I and cousin met up common friend from Los Angeles who was also visiting her family in San Diego. Since our friend was at Fashion Valley, one of the upscale shopping malls in San Diego, for some shopping, we decided to meet up there. After Fashion Valley Mall, we went to have dinner at East Buffet in Miramar Road. I was craving for sea foods, and Asian sea food buffet is always the tastiest and cheapest way to go.

Oysters and Clams ( and there were more sea foods )

After dinner, we went to my ftiend's cousin's house for a dessert. We had Red Ribbon's Rocky Road Chocolate Cake. It was very yummy! Went home late, as hubby predicted. :) He understands however, that we three get together only once or twice a year, despite San Diego and LA are only 2 hours away from each other.

Day 2:

1. Hiking and Bird watching at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve- my most favorite San Diego hike. We were entertained and awed by juvenile peregrine falcons as they celebrate their first few days of flight. This time, cell phone camera could not capture easily the fastest animals on Earth. However, I already published a post on Juvenile Peregrine Falcons from the pictures I took with my camera in my previous post. 

2. Lunch at Gliderport Cafe and then, hike to the canyon and slot South of Gluderport afterwards. We had fun watching soaring paragliders and hangliders during our hike. 

@ the top of cliffs, South of Gliderport 

Going Down The Canyon

Down The Canyon to the Beach

Hubby Dancing, Getting Bored While Waiting For me Slowly Maneuvering Down the Canyon

in between the cliffs @ the canyon

The Way Down To the Beach

Finally Down

Looking Up Where We Came From, What Went Down Must Go Back Up

My Number 1 San Diego Hike: Torrey Pines State Reserve

The Rare Torrey Pine Tree

The torrey pine is the rarest pine species in United States, growing naturally only in San Diego and Santa Rosa Island, one of the Channel Islands. These trees are probably remnants of an ancient coastal forest which has been reduced during the drying period of the last ten thousand years. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve has been established for the preservation of these rare trees, and the more than 330 species of plants and the wildlife that find refuge in this coastal wilderness that is actually within the limits of the city of San Diego. Very few Southern California coastline would look as quiet as it was centuries ago, thanks for the preservation of this place that people could experience nature at its best within the city. 

Me, Celebrating Happiness @ Torrey Pines :)

I know I have said it before, but let me say it again, Torrey Pines is my little piece of paradise and slice of heaven here in my adopted hometown, San Diego. I come here almost every weekend, and almost everyday (in the summer), but never get tired of. I may travel far to enjoy the wonders of nature in other places, but each time we go back home, I always long to go to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. You will find me both on land and in water. This post is about hiking, so I will skip the water part. Instead, I will share how we hike Torrey Pines most of the time, if not all the time. Torrey Pines has a lot of little trails, about 0.5-1.0 mile loop, but we do not limit ourselves to these little trails, instead, we take almost all the trails, so this hike could be as long as 8 miles, with maximum change in elevation about 450 ft (but you climb up and down several times when combining the trails).

Let me take you to our hike. I must warn you there would be a lot of pictures that follow here, since we combine almost all trails in Torrey Pines whenever we hike. From Los Penasquitos lagoon- Flat Rock- Brokel Hill- Red Butte- Razor Point- Yucca Point- Guy Fleming Trail-Lagoon.

We usually start our hike from North Torrey Pines Beach Parking area, adjacent to Los Penasquitos Lagoon.

Los Penasquitos Lagoon and Natural Reserve @ North Torrey Pines State Beach Parking

( vital to migrating sea birds )

 Terns and Sea Gulls In flight @ Los Penasquitos Lagoon

The start of our hike here is very similar to my Top 3 San Diego Hike, Torrey Pines State Beach to La Jolla Shores. From the lagoon, we walk west towards the beach.

Once we reach the beach, we start walking south towards the reserve. Walking on the beach, you will see so much happiness, from the kids.....

Kid Boogie Boarding at Torrey Pines State Beach

to the birds.

Sanderlings running Away from the Wave

You may wonder why I do not jump into the water instead and enjoy the waves, actually, I do most of the time after hiking, when it is summer. Thus explains why summer is my most favorite season, because I could combine hiking and the ocean without suffering from too frigid water. Anyway, I'll go back to the hike. In maybe half a mile from North Torrey Pines State Beach, you will now reach the bottom of cliffs of Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Bottom of Cliffs, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

The walls of the cliff show colored layers, which reveal their geologic past. The layers are divided into formations, from the oldest to the newest. The oldest formations is Del Mar Formation and Torrey Sandstone, of Eocene era about 48,000,000 years ago as revealed from the fossils these foundations reserve. As you walk past these cliffs, if you look up, on the crevices of the walls, you may find some white droppings, they may be of the fastest animal on Earth, the peregrine falcon.

Finding A New Trail

 Sunset near Torrey Pines Gliderport

 About a week ago, while watching sunset at Torrey Pines Gliderport, we saw several people walking on the trail below and East of the cliffs. Not familiar with the trail, and it was already dark, we decided to go back some other time to explore the trail where it seemed a lot of students and surfers take. Today, we got a chance to explore this non-formal trail near Torrey Pines Gliderport.
Our hike started at Gliderport, but instead of going down the formal trail, we first walked directly south on the trail which parallels the ocean. After a while, it was up and down, quite steep in some sections, but not yet intimidating.

 the very long quiet shoreline from La Jolla Shores Beach to Torrey Pines State Beach

( quiet because there is no car access below the beach, except at La Jolla Shores Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach )

 looking south towards La Jolla Shores

The top bluffs area here are actually some of our favorite spots in San Diego for sunset watching, and also for cliffs and ocean photography. Each time we are here, we are reminded how beautiful but fragile our world is. It also feels like we are transported to some other place, like Patagonia, haha, and not San Diego. For a while, our traveling minds wander somewhere as we see the scenery. 

 looking north towards Torrey Pines

( this may look scary, but hubby was pretty safe, he was on the trail actually which was not really that close to the edge, but it looked like he was at the edge )

We always feel thankful that the scenery in San Diego is so geologically diverse. It feels like we are on vacation whenever we explore its outdoors, from the ocean, to the ocean cliffs, to the mesas and canyons, mountains and valleys and desert. We need not go far to explore various scenery.  Anyway, we continued on the trail that goes down eastwards, and then, turns southwest towards the ocean. Though this hike is short, but probably one of my most challenging hikes, haha. I had to walk on five a lot of the times here. 2 legs, 2 arms, and a butt. My hiking pants and backpack were too dirty after the hike from all my buttwalk. :(

 a tiny bridge to cross, haha!

 he was walking straight, but I was hugging the walls in this section

 one of the easier parts of the trail

 and then, we could no longer go down

From here, though we saw sole marks below, but we stopped because there was a sudden drop from the edge of the rock where hubby was standing. We wonder how those hikers were able to go past here. But anyway, despite we were not able to go down to the ocean from here, we still think the hike was so worth it since this is something we have not seen before in San Diego. 

 can you see the drop?

As we look down actually between these rocks, it was like a slot canyon, we wish we could explore the bottom slot, but we just have no idea how to go down, as the rocks were vertical and smooth, we could not find any foothold. So, we just took some time to enjoy the scenery from there.

 Looking at the ocean below, so near, yet so far ( we had to take another trail down )

If the hike down was very challenging for me, the hike up was a lot easier. I no longer have to do the butt-walk, I still needed to walk on four sometimes, but definitely I did not need to walk on five.

 the trail going back up

Cell Phone Photography: One Early Morning At Lake Poway

The photos of Lake Poway here were taken last Saturday when we hiked Mt. Woodson from Lake Poway. I was so excited to see fogs right above the water in the lake from afar. I knew the fog will soon be lifted because the sun broke in strongly. I ran to the shore of the lake as fast as I could, but I was LATE. When we reached the lake, the fogs above the water were already low lying clouds hugging the surrounding mountains. The photos here were taken at about 9:30 am. I know, we were not that really early :) . Hiking Mt. Woodson from Lake Poway is one of the local hikes we do most often, so, we were hiking light. Thanks to the evolution of cell phone, allowing us to hike light but still be able to take pictures.

Lake Poway

My Top 2 San Diego Hike: Mt. Woodson from Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

I Believe I Can Fly :) - near Mt. Woodson Summit

Hiking to the summit of Mt. Woodson from Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is my favorite peak bagging hike in San Diego. One of my first few posts in this blog is Hiking Mt. Woodson (May 3, 2009). That post discusses the several hiking options to reach the summit. Hiking Mt. Woodson is the ALL TIME MOST VISITED POST in this blog. The most researched keyword in this blog in various search engines is Potato Chip Rock.

Me @ Potato Chip Rock

My Top 3 San Diego Hike: Torrey Pines State Beach to LaJolla Shores

The Coast Between Torrey Pines State Beach and La Jolla Shores

There are not that many places in Southern California where one can have an unobstructed beach hike for miles. The sharp cliffs cut off the sights of highway, railroad tracks, power lines and civilization beyond. These sharp cliffs limit road access to about 3 miles of beach between La Jolla Shores and Torrey Pines making this section of shoreline feel so quiet and pristine as if somewhere in a faraway island, not in US 8th largest city. Each time I take this hike I feel so thankful I do not have to spend tons of money for a quiet island vacation. All I needed is to hike away from the crowds of La Jolla Shores Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach. 

For some hiking information:

Distance: 10- 12 miles round trip.

Best Time of Year: Year-round! The weather in San Diego is very mild. It does not get too hot in the summer nor too cold in the winter. It is mostly dry for a very pleasant hike year round.

Best time of day: During low tide ( if you are doing a round trip hike, must start 1- 2 hours before low tide). You can check tide data for La Jolla or Torrey Pines online or using cell phone tide apps. It is important to check tide in this hike since some portions may not be passable at high tide because there may be no beach to walk on since strong waves crash right on the walls of the cliffs.