of this endeavor to the peak of Iron Mountain, before sunrise. The editor and her mate arrived at the trailhead
car park at 5.20am. Expecting the imminent arrival of hordes of friends, we switched from sandals to boots,
did last minute preparations, checked backpacks for essentials, locked the car and waited. Time, of course,
is of the essence as the sun waits for nobody, so they tell us.
Sun makes its appearance over East County, outlining clouds.
Picture below shows the commencement position, a well-lit parking lot with the mountain behind
covered in darkness.
A smiling editor and friends...to her right is Joe, then Gary, Colin and Brian. The latter is the
fellow with the broad shoulders. Behind them is Merle, Gavin S and Nora. For the rest,
a little imagination should do the trick.
A number of fellow hikers offered the following excuses...hmm...reasons for not arriving:
1. Maude Alge apparently missed the red-eye flight from Boston. We have no doubt it was
her intention to arrive at 4am and take a taxi from the airport to the trail. Thanks for making the effort,
Maude.
2. Dani was ready, willing and able although she has a nagging knee injury. It seems that the knee just nagged
and nagged and that for peace, she decided to skip it. We'd like to see how the knee does with skipping, though.
3. Harvey mentioned something about not wishing to be too sore for Rosh Hashana. We concurred as he is from the
East Coast and they are a little soft, amongst other things.
4. Many people gave an excuse about work commitments. To them we say: "Where are your priorities?"
5. Some said: "Sounds like a wonderful idea." And so...or as they say in classical schools: "NU?"
6. Many did the smart thing which works every time. They ignored us. We are very comfortable with that treatment
as we are used to it.
7. Some relied on the fact that they are either based in another city, state or country. We understand residents
of southern hemisphere countries have a reasonable excuse but for the rest, we shake our heads.
When it appeared that the rest of the hikers were delayed, we left the editor in the dark to wait. In the meantime,
we met Steve, an airline pilot who pushed his bike up the 3 mile hike and rode it down. It takes all types.
Actually, he is a gentleman and terrific company. We felt quite relieved that he did not offer us a shared ride
down, side-saddle or otherwise.
Finally, before we left, our editor mentioned perhaps the time selected is too early for most. We answered that we
don't have much influence over the sun. Then she came up with a whopper. 'Let's try again in November or December
when the sun rises later.' We laughed before answering that we don't know what the weather will bring tomorrow,
never mind three or four months, hence. We are patient and will indulge her. We wanted to suggest that we hike up
on a Sunday. With her thinking, perhaps the sun sleeps in on the weekends. Where does she get these ideas?
Anyway, we included a selection of sunrises and sets from peaks around San Diego County. We are headed for another
hike tomorrow but are too embarrassed to mention where in case someone arrives. It would ruin our record.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Sunrise as the rays penetrate the clouds above, resting on the lower strata.
A particularly memorable evening
An angry sky is how we interpreted this one evening.
Coming down the tough El Cajon mountain, we glimpsed towards Coronado.
A beautiful position in north county
Soft colors over Iron Mountain, clouds below.
The sky is alight or is that a fire?
'Here comes the sun'...splendid and glorious.
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