Cowles, Santee side

Cowles Mountain might be the most popular peak trail in San Diego, maybe all of Southern California. The most popular entry point is from the Southwest, at the intersection of Golfcrest and Navajo.  Not my favorite -- too many switchbacks, too many people.  Instead, we opt for the north entry, at the end of Mesa Road in Santee (just turn south on Mesa from Mission Gorge and keep driving; the road ends at the trailhead).

The hike from this side is a little harder and a little longer, but far less popular.  Even on a weekend, you might pass a dozen people whereas on the opposite side you might pass a hundred.  For the first 30 minutes or so you wind your way through the chaparral, occasionally dipping into shaded areas and small canopies of trees.  Mostly, though, this is a dusty and hot trail in the middle of the day.  Early morning and late afternoon are probably best, but we always seem to end up there at the hottest time of the day.

After 30 minutes, give or take, you reach the fire road that leads in a westerly direction up to the Cowles Mountain peak.  It starts out pretty flat -- but quickly gives way to a challenging uphill slog.  Experienced hikers will have no problem, but I've seen the fire road take the wind out of a lot of people, especially on hot days.  It's good preparation for longer climbs, too.

At the top you'll almost always find people, most of whom have come up the Golfcrest side.  On a nice weekend day, there might be 50-75 people at the top, almost all of whom will at some point touch the Cowles marker in a ritualistic way.

Heading down is more like tumbling.  It takes half the time as you can't help but walk at a pretty good clip.  Bottom to top and top to bottom takes us about two hours, but it can be done in less.

Not a lot of wildlife to speak of here (lizards and snakes, see photos below), but a truly fantastic 360 view of San Diego county from the top.  In the spring there are lots of birds, especially along the fire road and near the trailhead.  I've seen California quail, a Black-headed Grosbeak, a Blue Grosbeak, lots of goldfinches, phainopepla, hawks galore, and even a low flying Golden Eagle.

The Rock House

The hour-long Rock House hike is the closest thing we have to a home field hike.  We can climb to the top of this peak -- Mother Miguel Mountain -- right from our house.

The best place to start is Mount Miguel Community Park, right off of Mount Miguel Road in the San Miguel Ranch neighborhood of eastern Chula Vista.  Pick up the trail out beyond the dog park.  After the power line structure that looks like a giant hockey goalie, turn north on a well defined trail that cuts over to the base of Mother Miguel.  Cross the ravine and start the switchbacks up.  The trail gets a lot of use by mountain bikers, so it's pretty easy to follow.

About halfway up there is a rocky step that leads to a nice view back toward the park and all the baseball fields -- and all of southern San Diego county beyond.  From here, you scramble up some switchbacks until you come around the backside (southeast) of Mother Miguel.  Now the views are of the Salt Creek golf course, Otay Reservoir, Otay Mountain, and Corte Madera off in the distance.  As soon as you start heading north, you can see the rocky notch of the Rock House, which was apparently used as a marker for a potential resort over a 100 years ago.  Now it serves as a nice destination for a quick hike.  The hike to the summit (1500 ft.) takes around an hour.

We've taken lots of people on this hike -- friends without kids, friend with kids, serious hikers, not-so-serious hikers, visiting family.  It's not a difficult hike, but anybody expecting an easy stroll will be surprised as there is some dusty scrambling in the middle part.  It's entirely worth it, though, because the view at the top, where it's always breezy (even in the dead of summer), is a pretty impressive 360 of San Diego county... the ocean, the mountains, Cowles, Fortuna, Mt. Soledad, Otay, Mexico.  You have to walk a ways up the trail to see Cuyamaca Peak behind the imposing Mount Miguel.

To return to the  park you can either retrace your steps (fastest way -- 30 minutes to bottom) or continue along the trail and navigate yourself down a nicely marked trail that descends the north side of the mountain.  When you get to the bottom you veer left, west, and walk along the reservoir until you reach a big silver barn-like structure.  Take the single-track path by the barn back to the south  -- and it leads all the way back to the power line where you started.

SVLL Loop Hike

This is a simple up-and-down loop hike that I've done a hundred times because it's a quick and easy way to get some exercise and see some nice scenery.  The hike starts at the end of Conduit Road, adjacent to the Sweetwater Valley Little League fields.  The loop is simple:  follow the road that borders the Bonita golf course until in connects with some the switchbacks to the right under the shade of the 125-54 junction.  Take the switchbacks up to the top of the ridge, follow the dirt road to the top of Sweetwater Summit, then make your way back down through the circuitous path that leads to the footbridge that crosses 1-125.  Bear right after the bridge and you'll end up right back down on Conduit Road.

It's a 40 minute walk/hike, but it's also a nice place to:

- ... see Sweetwater Reservoir, which is mostly obscured from view from the local roads and freeways.
- ... trace the path of the 2007 wildfire, which roared over Mount Miguel and down through the valley before being controlled at the reservoir.
- ... watch the jets come out of the hills on their way to the airport.  At certain times of day they leave enormous fast-moving shadows on the hills.
- ... get a sense of the local topography.  From the summit you get a nice view of Mt. Miguel, Mother Miguel (if you look closely you can see the Rockhouse on the summit), Otay Mountain, and Cuyamaca Peak in the distance.
- ... see a bunch of interesting birds.  Over the last few months I have seen a handful of California Gnatcatchers (maybe the same one multiple times), a family of cactus wrens in the cholla on the downslope, thousands and thousands of goldfinches (mostly lessers, but a few Americans as well), enormous hawks (primarily red tails), and several roadrunners.

Volcan Mountain

July 28, 2012
On a hot and dusty Friday afternoon, the Harrington family climbed Volcan Mountain, which is part of the the Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve (2 miles north of Julian).  I had read about the hike but never been there.  It sounded like something we could handle and would enjoy.

It turned out to be a very pleasant day.  After parking on the side of Farmer Road, we walked through the apple orchard through the very artfully rendered gate into the wilderness preserve.  Early on the fire road was exposed and thus very hot, but in a short while we took the 5 Oaks Trail, which paralleled the fire road but followed a beautiful ridge line that offered up great views of Julian and the surrounding area.

It took us about an hour to connect back to the fire road.  After series of brief negotiations (we promised milkshakes), we proceeded on to the summit, which took another half hour or so.  Even though the sign at the bottom said the summit was open on weekends only, the gate was open so we made our way to the top.

Beautiful views in all directions.  Anza Borrego, various desert peaks, Julian, Banner Road.  We walked the circle trail around the top, looking for a place in the shade to sit an relax.  Right near the tower, there was a spur trail to the left that led to a beautiful shady overlook and a well-placed commemorative bench (see photo below), also very artfully rendered.

On the way down we stayed on the main road (skipped 5 Oaks this time) and it was very fast.  We practically tumbled down the mountain.  Here's the time breakdown.

2 p.m.  started on Farmer Rd
2:15  took 5 Oaks trail
3:00 connected back with Fire Road
3:30 reached Volcan summit
4:00 left summit
4:50 back to Farmer Rd.

It's a good hike for kids -- but not necessarily an easy one.  We might not have made it to the top without the milkshake promise.