A weekend on Skyline

[jfr]

Soulcamp - give Iron Mtn in San Diego (Poway) a try. It's a good early morning hike, especially in the summer when it gets hot, as there is little shade. My wife and I tried it on a frosty morning last December just after all the heavy rains, and it was so clear we could see Catalina and San Clemente Islands. The earlier you get there the clearer the air will be. But be warned that the trail is crowded, particularly on the weekends. Plenty of trail runners, and people walking their dogs.

Some of my pics and a TR:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/sets ... 717735198/

For some reason, the Iron Mtn trail reminded me of Halhiker's description of the "Bump-N-Grind" trail in Palm Springs (which I have never been to), as there were LOTS of middle-aged women hiking on it. Which isn't all bad, if you're a guy. Take note that in Zip's article (above) most of the entries were made by women...

[Lermo]

Ellen... sorry for hijacking your thread!

Soulcamp & JFR, Another good training hike in SD County is the Monserate Mountain loop in Fallbrook. It's about 4 miles with a 1500' elevation gain. I live 5 minutes away so I do it twice a week for conditioning. I hit it early in the summer because of the heat.


http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1027929

Lermo

[ps_native]

@ps_native: Bummer. That's one of the few peaks around here I hadn't climbed yet. It was on my list to go do in the next few weeks, but now maybe I'll skip it.

Where's your favorite places to hike in SD? My usual spots are Mt. Woodson (from Lake Poway) and Cowes to Pyles Peak (from Big Rock Park). El Cajon Mountain is a doozie - only done it once, but may head back there again soon. And right before my C2C trip, I did both Fortuna peaks.

there is some good hiking off the 8 FWY, out near Alpine.
have you checked out Garnett Peak off Sunrise HWY (i think thats what its called)? its a short hike up to the peak, but if you want a challenge, try hiking down to the desert floor and back up...

[HH8]

the City of Poway has completely done away with the 'technical' terrain

For the 10 years prior to last year it was always less rocky on-trail than Cowles anyway. Have you tried the Ellie loop recently?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=CaWMGT83dOnPYM&tbnid=UU2oxSCAcSypJM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mountainbikebill.com%2FIronMountain.htm&ei=4heBUrXwE4KsjAKymIHQCQ&psig=AFQjCNGRjmr-M2omH2VpAtoRFUwYLxp8dQ&ust=1384278370380856

I have encountered "indigent homeless" on the illegal green paths, so I now avoid them, although they are blessedly shady.

[HH8]

Cowles to Pyles Peak (from Big Rock Park)

If you come in from Big Rock side, it's not rocky at all. Frankly I appreciate the trail having less prone-to-injuries baby-head boulders. If you want to practice erosion runs, just go straight up some dry waterfalls.

[TectorGorch]

Mt. Woodson from the Blue Sky preserve gives you a 2200 foot elevation gain in 10 miles round trip and FREE parking. El Cajon Mountain gives you about 3500 foot gain in 11 miles round trip. Both of these helped us prep for C2C, Whitney, Langley, R2R and for San Diegans, they are close.