Friday, September 19, 2014

Black Mountain - Nighthawk Trail

Black Mountain - Nighthawk Trail

I realized, living in San Diego that I can access a public park with an accompanying hiking trail within 10 minutes drive from Downtown San Diego or wherever part of the City you live in.

Be it a hiking trail along the Beach such as Torrey Pines Trail, or the Mountains as far away as El Cajon, to Escondido, or Peaks along San Marcos- San Elijo - Vista, a combination of Trails are out there for enjoying. Just take out your running shoes, hiking shoes, hiking poles, a decent and wide brimmed hat, and adequate water, set aside a couple hours of your busy schedule and you're all set.

Anyway, I joined the Hiking for Fun in San Diego Meetup Group for a four mile hike to the peak of Black Mountain in Penasquitos. We took the Nighthawk Trail whose Trail head starts from Hilltop Park.

Its a good cardiovascular workout after spending all day at work.

Difficulty level: moderate
Elevation Gain: 800 feet
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 2 hours

Trail head:
Hilltop Park
9711 Oviedo Way
San Diego, California 92129

Trail head GPS Coordinates:
N 32 degrees 45 minutes 26.703 seconds
W 117 degrees 12 minutes 22.747 seconds

Directions to reach the Trail head:

  1. Take Interstate 1-15
  2. Head West on Freeway 56 Ted Williams Parkway
  3. Exit Rancho Penasquitos Blvd. and head North x 1 mile
  4. Turn right to Black Mountain Road x 0.4 miles
  5. Turn right onto Oviendo Street x 0.2 miles
  6. Turn right onto Oviedo Way x 0.5 miles
  7. Park in Hilltop Park parking lot
The Trail:
Catch the Nighthawk Trail from Hilltop Park parking lot. Trail immediately follows a steep grade hiking trail through chaparral and coastal sage scrub up to the peak of Black Mountain . Trail is shared with Mountain Bikers so watch out for mountain bikers riding the rough trail downwards returning to the trailhead.

Click on image below to view a larger version of trail map. Follow the yellow line as shown in trail map below.

Black_Mountain_Trail
Click on the image to view my pictures of the trail.

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Friday, September 5, 2014

Iron Mountain Hike

Iron Mountain Hike

September 4, 2014

I joined the Hike For Fun San Diego Meetup Group for a two hour hike to Iron Mountain at Poway California after a busy day at work. I was late by 15 minutes to catch up with the group as I was stuck in afternoon rush hour traffic coming from Point Loma headed towards Poway on the 163rd and 15th Freeways,

This hike is also featured as Hike # 16 Iron Mountain in Henry Schad's 50 best Short Hikes San Diego book published by Wilderness Press.

This Out-and-back type hike is a good cardiovascular workout type as it climbs 1085 feet from the Parking lot by the time you reach the peak of Iron Mountain. Atop Iron Mountain, it affords a 360 view of much of San Diego County from the Pacific Ocean, Point Loma, Palomar Mountain and its Telescopes, San Clemente island and Mexico.

If the hiker wanted to add more distance , then an alternate return route is available (see Map) which adds an additional 3 miles, be cautious however of steep turns, climbs and drops which increases the difficulty level of this hike.

Time: 2 hours
Distance: 6 miles, more if alternate route is taken on return leg
Terrain: steep terrain with a 1085 Feet elevation gain.
Gear: Hiking shoes preferred, water

See Map below for Trail's route. Click on the image to view a larger version of Map.

Iron Mountain Trail Map

Getting to the Trailhead:

There are multiple routes to the trailhead depending on where you are coming from.
    Coming in from the North
    From Rancho Bernardo Road and I-15: Head east; RB Road turns into Espola. When road ends, turn left (east) onto Poway Road. When it ends you are there.
    Alternate Route
    Take I-15 south to the Poway Road exit and then drive East till the road ends.
    From the South
    Take I-15 to the Scripps-Poway Parkway / Mercy Road exit and then drive east til the road ends. Turn left and the parking lot is on the right at the first stoplight.
As I hiked this trail on a late afternoon and alone, I didn't have the chance to take pictures. I'll do a repeat hike of this trail, by taking the longer route and take pictures next time.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Double Peak Trail Hike

Double Peak Trail Hike

Monday, September 1, 2014, I took Trevor and joined the Hike Mania San Diego Meetup Group to hike the Double Peak Trail in San Marcos California. This is an out-and-back hike which starts at the parking lot of Discovery Lake in San Marcos California. The trail starts out on an asphalt road and through residential area for about half a mile and turns into a gravel path and enters through burnt chaparral as a result of the severe Santa Ana Wind conditions and a heat wave of May 2014 throughout the San Diego County. The trail goes through steep grade gravel trail which has an elevation grade of 1000 feet in about two mile distance.

Time: 2.5 hours at moderate to fast pace hiking
Distance: 6 miles
Terrain: mostly steep trails with an elevation gain of about 1000 feet over a two mile distance.

Hiking gear: Running shoes or Hiking shoes, water

GETTING TO THE TRAILHEAD:

  1. At San Marcos area, take the Freeway 78.
  2. Exit South Twin Oaks Valley Road and head South x 0.8 miles.
  3. Turn Right on Craven Road x 0.6 miles.
  4. Turn left on Foxhall Drive x 0.4 miles
  5. Enter the Discovery Lake Park and park your car.
  6. Access the Trailhead and pursue Double Peak Trail.

Trailhead: Discovery Lake Park

Double Peak Trail Getting There Map

Double Peak Hike Map

Double Peak Trail map
Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures.
Atop Double Peak, San Marcos California

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Torrey Pines Preserve - Guy Fleming Trail Hike

Torrey Pines Preserve - Guy Fleming Trail Hike

Sunday, August 31, 2014, I took Trevor and Kristen and joined the "Hike Mania San Diego Meetup Group" to Torrey Pines Preserve Trail.

This is a loop hike which starts out relatively flat on sand trail through the Torrey Pines Preserve. We approached the Trail from its south entrance - Broken Hill South Fork Trail. Our hike meandered down the canyon and approached the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A landmark visible was Flat Rock (see pictures). As the beach was on high tide, we decided to avoid hiking on the Beach to avoid getting wet instead looped back and hike up the canyon using Beach Trail, towards Razor Point, passing through Razor Point Trail to Red Butte then out to the visitor center. For added distance, we also hiked the Guy Fleming Trail.

At that point we decided to separate from the group. Thanks to Watson for hosting this beautiful hike with breathtaking views of the Pacific Cost, steep cliffs, butte and Torrey Pines Preserve and Beach.

To find free parking, drive to the intersection of Torrey Pines Place and Callan Road. Walk back to North Torrey Pines Road, heading North. You'l pass the Torrey Pines Golf Course then into the Torrey Pines Park Road. You find both the North Fork or South Fork Trails.

Time: 3 hours
Distance: 7 miles
Terrain: combination of flat and steep trails

Hiking gear: Running shoes or Hiking shoes, water

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Approach the Torrey Pines Preserve Trail by accessing it from Torrey Pines State Beach and exiting to Torrey Pines Park Road. Park at the lot. An entrance Fee of $8 is required.
  2. An alternate access would be to park along the street at Callan Road and North Torrey Pines Place in La Jolla and walk up to the Trails though North Torrey Pines Road then to Torrey Pines Park Road.

Torrey Pines Preserve Map


Map courtesy of www.mappery.com
Torrey_Pines_Reserve-Guy_Fleming_Trail

Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures.
highres_404453212

Poway Creekside East Hike

Thursday, August 29, 2014, Coney and I joined the Hiking for Fun San Diego Meetup Group to hike the Poway Creekside East Trail.
This is an out-and-back hike which starts with a moderate slope climb gravel trail that follows the contour of the Poway Creek out in the City of Poway. The trail turns from gravel to rocky so its preferred to use Hiking shoes to protect your ankles. For your information about some history on the trail, it traces the original route where horse driven Stage Coaches passed though between San Diego and North County.

Time: 2 hours
Distance: 3.5 miles
Terrain: combination of flat and sloping trail

Hiking gear: Hiking shoes, water

DIRECTIONS:

  1. From Interstate 15, take the Poway Road exit heading east.
  2. Turn Right on Springhurst Drive
  3. Locate Creekside Elementary School on your right and park in its parking lot:
    Creekside Elementary School
    12362 Springhurst Drive
    San Diego, California
    92128

  4. Locate the Poway Creekside East Trailhead:
    • From the Creekside Elementary School Parking lot, go back to the entrance driveway to the parking lot where auto mobiles go into the lot.
      Creekside elemetary School parking Lot
      Entrance to parking lot.
    • Cross the street from that point.
    • Across from the Parking lot driveway, is a gravel hiking pathway which meanders upwards towards a mountain. You just found the trailhead to the Poway Creekside East Trail.
      Trailhead to the Poway Creekside East Trail
    • The trail starts going up the mountain. Pursue that trail.
  5. Head East to pursue the trail.

    Poway Creekside East Map

    Poway Creekside East Trail Map
  6. The trail goes up the mountain then meanders down to a Meadow clearing and a pond.
  7. Cross the pond foot bridge then follow the trail as it continues on and follows the contour of the Poway Creek heading East.
  8. Edge of the trail is the StoneBridge Building along Old Pomerado Road. This site used to be the stopover for horse drawn wagons which travelled from San Diego to North County.
Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures:
SAM_1088

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Torrey Pines Extension - Del Mar Hike

Its a sunny Summer Blue-Sky type day, a perfect day for a hike at the Beach. Coney and I went for a hike at Torrey Pines Extension Park and Crest Canyon, into a Del Mar neighbourhood and back to where we started passing through Del Mar Beach and Torrey Pines Beach. All in all it was a five mile hike into protected Torrey Pines habitat and on soft sand by the beach.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 2.5 hours at moderate to fast pace
Terrain: mostly flat

Getting to the Trailhead

Take the Ted Williams, Highway 56 or Interstate 5 and exit on Carmel Valley Road and head West towards the Pacific coast. As you reach Torrey Pines State Beach, instead make a right turn to Del Mar Scenic Parkway to reach the Trailhead and park by the street. Take note though that you can't park there between 7 AM - 3: 30 PM on weekdays. You might be forced to park along Carmel Mountain Road or find a spot inside the paid Torrey Pines State Beach parking lot for $8.

Getting_to_the_trail

Hike up the Del Mar Scenic Parkway road to reach the Trailhead.

Torrey_Pines_Extension-Del_Mar_Hike_Map

First venue is Torrey Pines State Park Extension, a protected habitat for the endangered Torrey Pines tree. Take note that dogs, food, bicycle and smoking are not allowed inside the Park. As you hike through the gravel pathway and finish your first venue, you'll briefly walk through a posh Del Mar neighbourhood and hop into the Crest Canyon Park. More gravel trail through Canyons, vegetation, protected plants and wild habitat.

The tricky part is finding the trail to catch Crest Road while you're still inside Crest Canyon Park as you find your way down to Del Mar Beach. There are no signs to remind you of the trail going back to Crest Road. A quaint foot trail which is only marked by a rock with two pines cones on top of it reminds you to take that barely unused foot trail to climb up the canyon so you can catch Crest Road.

20140823_135545
A rock with two cones, a marker to remind you of a quaint foot trail to Crest Road

As you hike down the mild sloping roads to Via Alta, 15th Street in a Del Mar neighbourhood, you'll cross Camino Del Norte into Del Mar Village, Seagrove Park , and catch the Del Mar Beach and Torrey Pines Beach for your homeward stretch. As you reach Torrey Pines Beach, hike till you reach the Lagoon which prevents you from hiking further, left turn up to the public Restrooms , into the Torrey Pines Beach parking lot and back to where you parked.

Click on the image below to view our Hiking pictures.

20140823_132358
A Torrey Pine Cone.

Poway Creekside West Hike

Poway Creekside West Hike

Today Thursday, August 21, 2014, Coney and I did the Poway Creek Trail Hike.

This is an out-and-back hike on mostly flat terrain gravel trail that follows the contour of the Poway Creek out in the City of Poway. The trail is located near the Interstate 15 and Poway Road Exit. For your information about some history on the trail, it traces the original route where horse driven Stage Coaches passed though between San Diego and North County.

Time: 2 hours
Distance: 5 miles
Terrain: mostly flat

Hiking gear: Hiking or running shoes, water

DIRECTIONS :

  1. From Interstate 15, take the Poway Road exit heading east.
  2. Turn Right on Springhurst Drive
  3. Locate Creekside Elementary School on your right and park in its parking lot:
    Creekside Elementary School
    12362 Springhurst Drive
    San Diego, California
    92128
  4. Locate the Poway Creek Trail which is just under the bridge.
  5. Head West to pursue the trail.
Poway Creek Map

At a place where we considered the end of the trail, we found something interesting: Cara Knott Memorial Garden. The place is eerily quiet, seemed remote and hidden among trees and bushes, under the Los Penasquitos Bridge and Interstate 15 above. We didn't know what and who were all the people memorialized in this Garden or why was it there. When we returned home, I searched Google about the history of the Garden.

It turns out, the garden is dedicated to Cara Knott, a 20 year old San Diego State University student who was killed by Craig Peyer,a California Highway Patrol Officer back in December 27, 1986. The garden is also dedicated to all victims of violence. It was started by the Knott family as a remembrance to Cara and a bench in the garden is dedicated to Sam Knott, Cara's father who died of heart attack at about the same location in 2000 while tending the garden. An interesting and unexpected find for us. Click hyperlink to learn more about the Cara Knott Memorial Garden.

Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures.
20140821_192809

Here's a video of the hike, courtesy of Trisha Conner. Thanks for sharing Trisha.

Palomar Observatory Trail Hike

Palomar Observatory Trail Hike

The third hike of this week August 16th, 2014: Palomar Observatory Trail Hike. Coney and I went up to Palomar Mountain off the Highway 76 in San Diego area and visited the Palomar Observatory Astronomical Telescope and hike the trail associated with it.

Its a place embedded deep into the Cleveland National Forest at Palomar Mountain. Its a 4.4 mile / 2.5 hour hike set at about 5000 ft above sea level. The trail has a 600 feet elevation gain from the Parking lot of Observatory camp site parking Lot.

Although we did this hike on a hot August day, it wasn't as dehydrating as other hikes we did since the hiking trail goes through the shade of numerous pines and oak trees at Cleveland National Forest thus protecting us from the sweltering heat of the summer sun. The trail is well graded gravel which means its not hard on the feet even with just running shoes for hiking gear.

Midway through the trail you'll see the Mendenhall Valley below, which feels like you've been transferred to some Alpine scene in Switzerland. Hike further up the trail and you'll reach the Palomar Observatory and its 200 inch Hale Telescope. If you're into Astronomy, you can perhaps explore how the telescope works and learn about billions of galaxies from our Universe.

Click on the image below to view our pictures

Palomar Observatory Trail Hike

Claremont Wilderness Hike

Claremont Wilderness Hike



I am seeing a health benefit of hiking challenging trails so this weekend (August 16th), I decided to invite my sister Christine to hike along with me and Coney.

Hike number two of the week: Claremont Wilderness Trail Hike.

Previously, several weeks ago, my sister took us out for a hike a Mt. Tibidoux out in Riverside area.

This time, we drove out to Claremont, a city along the Freeway I-210 corridor to challenge the Claremont Wilderness Trail. Its a five mile loop hiking trail that is quite a workout. I would say this was more challenging than Blue Sky Reserve - Ramona Lake Hike which we did two days previous.

Parking is provided at the foot of the trail which costs $3.00. Now that I think about it, as long as you visit the trail on broad daylight, you can park half a block away on the street and save your $3.

We started our hike at noon time on a hot Summer August day so we brought lots of water and sunscreen on our skins. We chose a clockwise direction of the trail called Burbank Canyon trail. Burbank Canyon trail starts out steep with a 1200 Ft elevation gain from the Parking lot so its definitely a good cardiovascular workout hike.It plateaus about 3.5 miles later at the summit of the trail. It affords a breathtaking view of the San Gabriel Mountings, Freeway 210 below, and even the smoggy skyline of Los Angeles from afar.

Mountain Bike riders, Horse riders also share the trail so watch out for incoming traffic and for traffic coming from behind. People hiking the trail are cordial and respectful, people hiking with dogs keep their pets on leash.

City issued waste receptacles are spread throughout the trail and the trail is fairly clean and maintained. I saw a couple empty plastic water bottles littered along the trail, so I picked it and threw it on one of the garbage cans. I notice there are lots of hikers on this trail on a Saturday morning but turns into a empty trail at the later part of the day. If you want to hike this trail, definitely visit on a weekday or on a weekend during the later part of the day to avoid the crowd and congested parking. Bring a head lamp or flashlight in case darkness sets in before you finish the five mile trail.

Five mile hike on a hot Summer day was a tad too much for me. I felt my thighs ache with pain after the hike and felt dehydrated despite lots of water intake.

Next stop, Palomar Observatory Trail out in Cleveland National Forest.

Click on the image below to view our hiking pictures.

SAM_1040

Blue Sky Reserve - Ramona Lake Hike

Myself, Coney, and my two kids: Trevor and Kristen went out for a hike with the "Hiking For Fun" Meetup Group (URL: http://www.meetup.com/Hike-SanDiego/) last Thursday , August 14, 2014.

Its our first time to join this group and I know it won't be the last. They meet every Thursdays after work hours on a hiking trail within 15 miles of Rancho Bernardo and its pretty convenient for me because I don't live too far (Rancho Penasquitos).

The venue for this hike is Blue Sky Ecological Reserve Trail out in Poway along Espola Road.

We did the hike from the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve Trail-head all the way up to Ramona Lake which made it a four mile hike from bottom up to the top of the mountain / Lake and back. The hike was a 1750 feet elevation gain from the trail-head up to Lake Ramona.

The first 1.5 miles of the trail starts out flat passing through a well maintained gravel path and through shady trees. This is home to the San Diego horned lizard and several rare and threatened plant and animal species. If you're interested to learn more about the endangered plant s and animals in the park, go to http://www.blueskyreserve.org.

I was interested to hike the trail more because of the Cardiovascular benefits of hiking a path that elevates 1750 feet. Once we were at the top , we were awarded by the view of Lake Ramona. Well worth the view!

Once you pass the 1.5 mile mark, it start gaining elevation and challenge your heart rate and breathing which makes for a good occasion to burn body fat. Once you reach the top of the mountain and after trying to catch your breath and fast heartbeat, you will be greeted by Lake Ramona.

Friends in San Diego, if you have the time, visit and hike Blue Sky Ecological Reserve Trail, Lake Ramona sometime.

Click image below to view our Hike pictures.

20140814_183038

Friday, August 29, 2014

Welcome to my Outdoor Adventures Blog

Friends, family, associates,

I started a dedicated Outdoors Blog. I came to realize that I need to be more active and spend more time outdoors. And because of that, I decided to create a dedicated Blog just for Outdoor activities.

We all have our reasons and motivations to enjoy the Outdoors, whether it be to enjoy an outdoor leisure activity such as fishing, camping, enjoy a body of water such as a Lake, a river, or the Beach.For me, it is to be one with Mother Nature, of God's beautiful creation. To understand its beauty, its sensitivity is to understand God's gift to humankind.It is also a way for me to become physically fit by exercising outdoors, instead of using a boring treadmill or being stuck inside the confines of a Gym.

Julius Sinlao on a hike

I lived in San Diego, California for the past eleven years, Sacramento prior to that. After all these years, I haven't really explored what a place with the Pacific coast; miles and miles of beaches; mountains; desert; a Mediterranean weather twelve months out of the year; and everyday Southern Californians rolled into one; had to offer until now.

This Blog is about exploring my environment - the Outdoors, that which I failed to appreciate until now. The Uniform Resource Locator address of my blog is: http://JuliusOutdoorAdventures.blogspot.com/

Welcome to my Blog.
Julius

(Julius Sinlao)
e-mail: Julius@PlusWebDesign.US