San Miguel Mountain with a lot of respect

Heading for the towers at San Miguel Peak

Editor gave up golf for what: to climb mountains?

Sun makes a guest appearance on only one of many peaks

We left work early this morning—no mention to the boss, please—heading for San Miguel Mountain, situate south of San Diego, actually in Chula Vista. The wind was blustery, temperature low for this city but at least, the rain had stopped. After our editor’s recent outburst of enough sunsets, we believe the sun took offence. For most of the day it looked like we had yet to experience sunrise. Oh! for another glorious sunset, editor.

The hike is really a tough one or maybe it’s our age. It begins ascending steeply even before we scaled the barbed wire fence to enter the preserve, sort of levels for a short while and then is as steep as trails get all the way to the peak. Without any switchbacks and a rock studded and eroded trail, it’s challenging but special—another delightful place. There are three false peaks and a canyon before the final ascent. The more we hike in San Diego’s east county, the more impressed we are with the rugged beauty. The distance from where we parked was 8 miles round-trip with a cumulative elevation gain just on 2,100.

Standing on 2nd false peak, two more to go

Editor crossed mountain behind, dropped into canyon, heading up again for peak

We did hike here less than a year ago and mentioned the pilots use the mountain and its equipment as a beacon for the final turn for an approach to the runway. The airspace is quite busy by local standards, clearly dominated by Southwest Airlines. (We kept a log on the way up.) With a golf course below, Sweetwater and Otay Reservoirs on each side, downtown San Diego and Coronado in the distance and an array of mountain ranges to the east, there is something for everyone—the only catch is getting to the peak.
At the half-way stage, in the blink of an eye, a coyote appeared and literally strutted across our path. It gave us a quick glance and continued along its way—a little haughty and quite aloof, we thought. We almost got the camera out the pocket in time—it would have made for a nice shot from our vantage point—we had jumped on the editor’s shoulders for protection.

The fourth and final push to the top

Editor reaches peak and looks at eastern rugged mountains, wondering if she'll get wet soon

Hats off to our editor who would not quit despite some aches and pains. In fact, on the way down, she showed us a clean pair of heels as she jogged a good part of the way. This young woman is tough to keep up with but a delight when you catch her.


Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

Captivating mountain ranges stretching wide and deep, not too high

At peak, the 'coyote-killer' thinks about losing the hat