Afoot in the Laguna Mountains of SD County

Southern California and far-away places. Hiking, wildlife, cycling etc.

Afoot in the Laguna Mountains of SD County

Postby Sally » Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:39 am

Hi y'all,
My daughter, Alison, who lives down in Brawley, needed a hike on Sunday. Being as I like to spend Sundays with my husband, Larry (who doesn't hike much), I suggested that he should come along, too. So Ali decided that my grandkids would also join in.

We planned to meet at the Visitor Center in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, which is somewhat in the middle for us to drive. When Larry and I entered the park there was a road block. The officer told us there was a fire in the park and we couldn't enter. When we told him of our plans he suggested that we meet Ali somewhere along the Sunrise Highway.

We met Ali and the kids at the ranger station along the highway and picked up a copy of Jerry Schad's "Afoot and Afield San Diego COunty." We chose to hike the Sunset Trail.

The trail was nice and level. We hiked to a pond called Water of the Woods, which was lovely. Then we continued down the wildflower-strewn, oak and Jeffrey pine studded trail. At 3 miles we turned around and headed back.

This is a great hike for novice hikers. The guide book we bought is excellent. We will be doing much more hiking in the area I'm sure.

I'll get some pics up later.
User avatar
Sally
 
Posts: 1125
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:27 pm
Location: Temecula

Postby Hikin_Jim » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:49 am

Hey, not bad at all for an on-the-fly "plan 'B'".

HJ
Backpacking stove reviews and information:  Adventures In Stoving
Personal hiking blog: Hikin' Jim's Blog
User avatar
Hikin_Jim
 
Posts: 4958
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Location: Orange County, CA

Postby physicslord » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:36 am

Jerry Schad was an awesome guy who will be missed. I learned a lot from him.

He was a local legend in SD county! He was a busy man who actually took the time to answer my emails when I had a question.

He died way too young. The SD UT and Weekly Reader had some excellent articles about him near the end of his life.

He married something like a year before he died of cancer.
physicslord
 
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:37 pm

Postby Sally » Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:45 pm

Hi HJ - Yep, thank heavens we had cell reception so we could communicate with Ali and come up with "plan B."

Hi physicslord - I met Jerry Schad at an Outdoor Retailers Show, and after a nice chat with him, he autographed my copy of "101 Hikes in Southern California." He is very much missed. It would have been fun if he had been a member of our board here.
User avatar
Sally
 
Posts: 1125
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:27 pm
Location: Temecula

Postby Sally » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:31 pm

Between Larry and me, we took about 150 pics. We managed to edit some out but there are still too many pics, I admit. (sorry :roll: ) Larry's pictures are first (lots of family and landscapes) and mine are last (lots of wildflowers.)

Here they are:

https://picasaweb.google.com/sallymorle ... directlink
User avatar
Sally
 
Posts: 1125
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:27 pm
Location: Temecula

Postby HH8 » Tue Jun 26, 2012 5:13 am

Sally wrote:Between Larry and me, we took about 150 pics.


Image

obviously here the trail cuts straight up the granite face, along the extended limb, with a rappel (for Larry) or a paraglide (grandkids) down to resume the footpath :-)

Isn't it amazing how 2 cameras on the same hike perceive such different things? Thanks for sharing.
HH8
 
Posts: 529
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:30 am
Location: San Diego

Postby Sally » Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:00 pm

Hi HH8,
Actually, the extended limb is a monsterous eel with a gaping mouth (it's kind of hard to tell with the shadows and all.) We might have rappelled or paraglided down if we weren't so afraid that the eel would eat us!
User avatar
Sally
 
Posts: 1125
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:27 pm
Location: Temecula

Postby Hikin_Jim » Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:53 pm

Very cool photos. Even though I've been to Mt. Palomar, I just don't think of San Diego as having interesting pine forested mountains. Nice stuff.

HJ
Backpacking stove reviews and information:  Adventures In Stoving
Personal hiking blog: Hikin' Jim's Blog
User avatar
Hikin_Jim
 
Posts: 4958
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Location: Orange County, CA

Postby Ellen » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:13 am

Howdy Sister Sally :)

Love the wildflower photos 8) Thanks for a great hike yesterday.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Ellen
 
Posts: 2578
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:38 am
Location: Riverside, CA


Return to Outdoors-Related Topics

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests