San Diego and Southern California Galleries

Fonts Point - March 28-29, 2009 : Two days in Anza-Borrego State Park, San Diego County. Visited a Kumeyaay village site, then camped near Fonts Point.

Fonts Point - March 28-29, 2009

Two days in Anza-Borrego State Park, San Diego County. Visited a Ku ...

Updated: Apr 19, 2009 1:51pm PST

San Jacinto Peak - 7/14/08 : Heidi and Chris hiked to the summit of Mount San Jacinto on July 14, 2008. At 10,834 ft, San Jacinto is the second highest point in Southern California (behind San Gorgonio). Although not even among the 200 highest peaks in California, it is the California's third most prominent peak, rising over 10,000 feet from the desert floor. The steep escarpment of its north face climbs over 10,000 feet in just 7 miles, making it one of the largest gains in elevation over such a small horizontal distance in the United States. On clear days, the summit affords views of the Coachella Valley, Salton Sea, Santa Rosa Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains (including Mount San Antonio (10,064’), San Bernardino Mountains (including Mount San Gorgonio at 11,499’), Palomar Mountain, the Los Angeles Basin, Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Santa Catalina Islands off the coast of Los Angeles. Although the view is now often disrupted by Southern California’s poor air quality, John Muir considered the view to be “the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!” We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up to Long Valley (8,516') on 7/13. We hiked just over 2 miles to Round Valley (9,100') where we camped for the night. The next morning, we hiked to the summit, where we spent about an hour hanging out with the clouds. With most hikes, pictures can give you a pretty realistic idea of the what you are looking at. With this hike, pictures just can't do it, as there is no way to capture in a picture what it is like to look two miles straight down to the desert.

San Jacinto Peak - 7/14/08

Heidi and Chris hiked to the summit of Mount San Jacinto on July 14, 2 ...

Updated: Jul 28, 2008 12:29pm PST

Crown Hill Ranch near Escondido - February 2009 : private property

Crown Hill Ranch near Escondido - February 2009

private property

Updated: Feb 22, 2009 10:49am PST

Azalea Glen Trail - Cuyamaca Rancho State Park : June 21, 2008. A day hike at Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. The trailhead is at the Paso Picacho campground, and this 3 mile loop hike gains about 600 feet of elevation with views of Stonewall Peak, several meadows, and a spring.

Azalea Glen Trail - Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

June 21, 2008. A day hike at Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. The trailhe ...

Updated: Jul 18, 2008 9:20am PST

Mount Woodson : August 9, 2008. Micah and Chris hiked to the summit of Mount Woodson from the Poway side, a 7+ mile trip with over 2,000 feet of elevation gain.

Mount Woodson

August 9, 2008. Micah and Chris hiked to the summit of Mount Woodson ...

Updated: Aug 09, 2008 3:12pm PST

Sunset Trail - 1/19/08 - BALD EAGLE SIGHTING! : Mount Laguna, San Diego County, CA. I hiked the 7 mile Sunset Trail loop on January 19th. Unfortunately, I lost the memory stick containing the pictures from the first part of the hike. That would have been a lot more difficult to handle if not for the fact that I SAW A BALD EAGLE!!! In Laguna Meadow, the eagle flew from the east side of the lake towards where I was on the west side of the lake. I watched as it flew back to the east side and settled into the top of a pine. I rushed around to the other side of the lake and got a closer look before it flew away. Quite exciting! Not a very common site in San Diego county. There are a couple of resident eagles at Lake Henshaw near Palomar Mountain, but I had not heard of any around Mount Laguna prior to this sighting. Check out the short four second video for the best look at the eagle. The eagle pics were taken from a distance and are all blury.

Sunset Trail - 1/19/08 - BALD EAGLE SIGHTING!

Mount Laguna, San Diego County, CA. I hiked the 7 mile Sunset Trail lo ...

Updated: Jan 28, 2008 2:39pm PST

Tahquitz Peak : Heidi and I did a day hike to the summit of Tahquitz Peak (elevation 8828')near Idylwild, CA. The South Ridge Trail is a roundtrip of just over 6 miles with 2,300 feet of elevation gain.

Tahquitz Peak

Heidi and I did a day hike to the summit of Tahquitz Peak (elevation 8 ...

Updated: Dec 04, 2006 11:28am PST

Garnet Peak - May 2007 : May 13, 2007 Dayhike to Garnet Peak (5,880') from the Penny Pines Trailhead via the Pacific Crest Trail. Our friend Jessica from Florida joined us. Other Garnet Peak Hikes: http://cessna.smugmug.com/gallery/2396960 and http://cessna.smugmug.com/gallery/2397751

Garnet Peak - May 2007

May 13, 2007 Dayhike to Garnet Peak (5,880') from the Penny Pines Tra ...

Updated: May 14, 2007 1:07am PST

Cowles Mountain : Cowles Mountain is the highest point within the city of San Diego, at 1,592'. I've gone through stages where I hiked to the summit of Cowles Mountain 3-4 times per week, and other times where I do this hike about every other month. This gallery will be an assortment of the many trips to the top of this mountain. I will add many more as I go back through older pictures.

Cowles Mountain

Cowles Mountain is the highest point within the city of San Diego, at ...

Updated: May 12, 2007 1:14am PST

Anza-Borrego Desert : December 29-30, 2006. My dad and I spent two days in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Anza-Borrego is a 640,000 acre desert wilderness park in eastern San Diego County. On our first day, we did a day hike to a palm oasis in Borrego Palm Canyon. That night, we camped in Hawk Canyon. The following day, we explored Hawk Canyon before driving around several other areas of Anza-Borrego.

Anza-Borrego Desert

December 29-30, 2006. My dad and I spent two days in Anza-Borrego Des ...

Updated: Dec 31, 2006 7:04pm PST

Mount Laguna 14 mile dayhike - 8/6/05 : I wanted to get in a long dayhike, so I decided to combine a couple of trails at Mount Laguna in eastern San Diego County. I started at the Big Laguna Trail trailhead and hiked into Laguna Meadow. After hiking past Big Laguna Lake and Little Laguna Lake, I turned south on the Big Laguna Trail, then northeast towards Monument Peak to connect with the Pacific Crest Trail. I then took the PCT past Foster Point to the Garnet Peak trail. After hiking to the summit of Garnet Peak, I returned to the trailead to complete a loop hike of about 14 miles. Garnet Peak is on the edge of the desert/mountain ecosystem transition. I was greeted by a surprise thunderstorm and lots of lightning that was a little too close for comfort!

Mount Laguna 14 mile dayhike - 8/6/05

I wanted to get in a long dayhike, so I decided to combine a couple of ...

Updated: Mar 15, 2007 1:08pm PST

Sunset Trail - Mount Laguna, March '07 : Day hike on the Sunset Trail at Mount Laguna in eastern San Diego county. This was a 7.5 mile loop hike, connecting the Sunset Trail with a portion of the Big Laguna Trail. This is towards the end of a very dry winter, as there would often be a few more signs of spring in this area by this point in March.

Sunset Trail - Mount Laguna, March '07

Day hike on the Sunset Trail at Mount Laguna in eastern San Diego coun ...

Updated: Mar 12, 2007 3:52pm PST

Roberts Ranch : May 18, 2007 This is a short, easy, and relatively flat hike in the Cleveland National Forest about 30 minutes east of San Diego. Just off of I-8 at Japatul Valley Rd (CA-79).

Roberts Ranch

May 18, 2007 This is a short, easy, and relatively flat hike in the Cl ...

Updated: May 18, 2007 5:19pm PST

Garnet Peak : June 5th, 2005 5,880 ft. View pictures from other hikes up Garnet Peak at http://cessna.smugmug.com/gallery/2396960 and at http://cessna.smugmug.com/gallery/2845508

Garnet Peak

June 5th, 2005 5,880 ft. View pictures from other hikes up Garnet ...

Updated: Jan 26, 2007 6:05pm PST

Canyon Sin Nombre : March 5-6, 2005. Anza-Borrego Desert. This was Heidi's first overnight backpacking trip. This is a fairly short hike into an awesome canyon. There are several narrow slot canyons worth exploring that branch off from the main canyon. PICTURE CAPTIONS COMING SOON.

Canyon Sin Nombre

March 5-6, 2005. Anza-Borrego Desert. This was Heidi's first overnigh ...

Updated: Jan 26, 2007 5:28pm PST

Canyon Sin Nombre Dayhike - 2003 :

Canyon Sin Nombre Dayhike - 2003

Updated: May 12, 2007 12:43am PST

Laguna Meadow with Sally :

Laguna Meadow with Sally

Updated: Apr 04, 2007 1:06pm PST

Mount Laguna and Cuyamaca- March 24, 2006 : Mount Laguna, one week after a big snow. It was about 75 degrees this day, and much of the snow had melted away. I had intended to hike to the top of Garnet Peak via a section of the PCT, but there was enough snow remaining on the trail to make navigation difficult. After a drive through Mount Laguna, I drove to Lake Cuyamaca.

Mount Laguna and Cuyamaca- March 24, 2006

Mount Laguna, one week after a big snow. It was about 75 degrees this ...

Updated: Jun 26, 2006 9:30pm PST

Palomar- July 1, 2006 : Micah and I had planned to hike to Palomar High Point (6140') from Oak Grove. This is a 14 mile day hike with 3600' of elevation change. We got a later start than we had anticipated. Less than a mile on to the trail, due to heat (90+ by 10am) and likely not having enough water to finish, we decided that today was not the day for this hike!!! Once returning to the trailhead, we decided to drive to Palomar Mountain State Park and do a shorter hike. We hiked the Chimney Flats- Scott's Cabin Loop, aproximately 5 miles.

Palomar- July 1, 2006

Micah and I had planned to hike to Palomar High Point (6140') from Oak ...

Updated: Jul 04, 2006 1:16pm PST

Stonewall Peak- April 2006 : April 26, 2006- Hike to the top of Stonewall Peak, elevation 5,730. This is the second highest point in Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. The park was almost entirely burned in the 2003 wildfires. Everything west of here was under a thick layer of clouds on this day, so the distant views were limited.

Stonewall Peak- April 2006

April 26, 2006- Hike to the top of Stonewall Peak, elevation 5,730. T ...

Updated: Nov 27, 2007 2:06pm PST

Mud Caves - Anza Borrego Desert State Park : October 2003

Mud Caves - Anza Borrego Desert State Park

October 2003

Updated: May 12, 2007 12:22am PST

Fortuna Peak : Mission Trails Regional Park April 15, 2006

Fortuna Peak

Mission Trails Regional Park April 15, 2006

Updated: Nov 27, 2007 1:54pm PST

North Fortuna Peak - March 2006 :

North Fortuna Peak - March 2006

Updated: Nov 27, 2007 2:58pm PST

Garnet Peak - November 2008 :

Garnet Peak - November 2008

Updated: Dec 04, 2008 11:14pm PST

Hollenbeck Canyon - 4/25/09 : Hollenbeck Canyon near Jamul, CA. A 4+ mile hike that includes the ruins of an old cabin site and views of Lyons Peak. On this hike, Heidi and Chris came across a rattlesnake along the trail, and Chris got stung by a bee IN HIS EAR!

Hollenbeck Canyon - 4/25/09

Hollenbeck Canyon near Jamul, CA. A 4+ mile hike that includes the ru ...

Updated: Apr 25, 2009 11:40pm PST

Grasslands Loop - Mission Trails Park, April 2009 : A short hike in Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego, CA

Grasslands Loop - Mission Trails Park, April 2009

A short hike in Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego, CA

Updated: Apr 26, 2009 12:09am PST