10,000 steps walk at Downtown LA - Sunday, 2/25/2018

As of late, I've been making it a habit to meet my goal of walking 10,000 steps for at least four days a week in addition to other exercise activity for the sake of maintaining my health.

Since weather in Southern California in February is moderate , I took Coney with me for a walk in Downtown Los Angeles on a nice, blue sky kind of Sunday morning.

I've lived in Los Angeles area for the past four years, also four years during late 80s/early 90s and I've really never explored the roots or history of the City of Los Angeles.

I thought to myself, well why not take a walk for exercise and explore the historical places of Los Angeles? This Sunday 2/25/2018 I decided to set aside the time, bring Coney along and drove to Downtown Los Angeles. During this walk, we've visited several interesting places:

* Paseo De La Plaza and Olvera Street, birthplace of Los Angeles, where the City of Los Angeles started as an Agricultural Community;
* Union Train Station;
* China Town,
* several Federal and State buildings and of course
* Our Lady Queen of Angeles Cathedral

It would be an amiss if I didn't mention the odor of urine along some sidewalks and alleyways in Downtown Los Angeles. That's probably attributed to the presence of homeless people living in downtown Los Angeles. So it you take this walk, keep an open mind, focus on the significance of historical places along the walk.

If you live in the Southern California area, I invite you to put on a good pair of walking or running shoes and take this walk.

Total Miles: 2.67 miles
Elevation gain: about 150 feet
# of steps: 5900 steps
Calories burned: 550 calories

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.


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

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.

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.

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 Hike Map

Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures.

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


Click on the image below to view our Hike pictures.

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.
     
     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.
     
   • The trail starts going up the mountain. Pursue that trail.
5. Head East to pursue the trail.
   

   Poway Creekside East 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:

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.



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



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.


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.


A Torrey Pine Cone.