Snowy trail, with lake in background
We are into prime hiking season in San Diego County. Even the desert temps are pleasant through spring. Not to mention there is the chance for a beautiful snow hike in the local mountains. I want to share some of my favorite places to hike when the weather turns chilly. Obviously, if it is cold, there is snow on the ground, or the potential for extreme conditions is eminent, you want to dress appropriately. And if you don’t think there is a potential for extreme conditions in San Diego County, you are mistaken.
Hikes I like in the cooler months include those that would be unbearable in summer, or provide an extra beautiful view, due to snow or fall foliage.
Cuyamaca’s East Mesa: The East Mesa of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park has always been one of my favorite hiking spots in the county. In fact, it used to be about the only place I was willing to drive to for a hike. Part of the reason is, the trail system on the East Mesa is laid out in a way that makes it possible to put together a hike of 3 to 11-mile loop from either the Sweetwater Parking area or the Visitor Center Parking (which has full facilities). I’ve seen more deer, wild turkeys, and raptors there, than anywhere else in the county. While the East Mesa doesn’t hold snow as long as the other areas in Cuyamaca, because of its exposure, it’s also less crowded than many other areas in the park.
Oakzanita Peak: This is a great hike, with the payoff of any amazing view on a clear day. It’s also one of the few hike that affords a nice view to the East. It can be a trudge on a hot day, but winter is an excellent time to tick this peak of your list. This is another hike with multiple possibilities for varied mileage, depending on where you want to start. It can attract plenty of hikers, but nothing near what Stonewall does.
Stonewall Peak Loop: Yes, Stonewall Peak is probably the most popular hike in the local mountains. You are likely to see dozens and dozens of people depending on weather and holidays. But, after most of these folks have crowded onto the small, square peak, they file back down the way they came. But, there is a trail that descends the North face of the peak and travels around its base back to the trailhead across the street from Paso Picacho Campground. It’s a much wilder trail, with great views of Cuyamaca Lake, Middle Peak, and North Peak. The potential for seeing deer is high, though much of the last portion of the trail is affected by the reforestation efforts. But this is worth seeing too, as then you will be able to watch the progress.
Laguna Meadow Loop: Laguna Meadow is an interesting spot in the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area. A huge, beautiful meadow with a seasonal (man-made) lake in the middle, sun-baked in the summer, flower-covered in the spring, autumn foliage in the fall, and cold and windy in the winter. It’s one of the counties highest hiking areas in the county, and one of the more likely places for a nice snow hike. In a wetter year, snowshoes are a possibility. I had my coldest, windiest, and probably most foolish, hike there a couple of years ago. Get yourself the trail map from the visitor center, and put together a good good loop. Be sure to include the northern section of the Sunset Trail whatever the season
Hollenbeck Canyon: I’ve probably beaten this to death, but after some good rain, Hollenbeck Canyon becomes a green canyon with a sometimes substantial creek running through it. For a hike so close to the city, and some major suburbs, it’s a great getaway spot for a quick hike.
Have a favorite cool-weather hike? Leave it in the comments.
I know I’ve already posted a few times about Hollenbeck Canyon, and I really need to get some new locations written up, but Hollenbeck is close to me, beautiful, and serves many of my needs. I have actually been there a few times in the last month or so. Most visits have been picture-taking trips, and unsuccessful ones at that. Since I’m not a huge fan of the hot, summer hike, I usually lay off hiking in the summer, and try to regain (something resembling) fitness, and hit the trails in the fall, winter and spring.
I had intended to be spending a leisurely three nights camping in Mount Laguna this week, but some early-season snow and cold temps dissuaded me from that. I was still thinking of going until I went to a meeting in Cuyamaca Saturday morning, and 35 degrees ceased to just be a number, and became a cold, involuntary-shiver-inducing temperature. A temperature I did not fancy spending my coming days in – and that was almost as near the high as it was the low. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground in Cuyamaca, which really makes for a beautiful day up there, but not for a comfortable day in camp. I did get to see a coyote trot through the snow from my chair at the conference table, which was pretty amazing.
Back to Hollenbeck… I decided I would get out there for a good hike. No lollygagging around with a camera, or binoculars, no looking for acorns (a project for Cuyamaca), or at crawdads, no fooling around at all. Just me, my daypack, and trekking poles. I intended to record the GPS track, for my own knowledge, but the batteries were low, and it pooped out pretty quickly.
Two people, and a dog, were leaving the trail as I stowed my wallet, keys and phone in my pack, but those were the only souls I saw on my hike. The recent rains have activated the many aromas of the chaparral, which in the dryer weather aren’t as apparent. The licorice-like aroma of the browning, but damp, fennel reminded me of running around the canyons of Chula Vista as a kid. Fennel, or Anise, grew thick in the disturbed areas by trails, and we’d munch on the seeds or the tender new growth. My mom even sent me over the back fence once or twice to harvest it off our neighbor’s unkempt back hill. Fennel is an introduced, invasive plant from Mediterranean Europe, but has been in California over 100 years.
Right as I was amongst the fennel an absolutely enormous bird caught my attention, as I startled it off of a fence post about thirty yards off to my right. It was vulture-large, but more colorful than a vulture. There were large, single, white patches on its wings, and a white band near the base of its tail. I watched it until it disappeared behind some trees, trying to memorize as many details as I could. I’d never seen such a large raptor with those markings. I kept an eye out, but it wasn’t until I was a little way down the trail that some squabbling crows disturbed it off another perch across the canyon that I caught another quick glimpse. When I got home I got out my Sibley Guide to Birds I realized I saw my first-ever Golden Eagle; a juvenile.
The rains also wiped the trails clean of footprints, and only prints made since Sunday were obvious. Once past the main trail, which showed mostly human and domestic dog prints, I saw some deer tracks, and some coyote, but no obvious bobcat or mountain lion. Mud puddles are great places to view tracks, but can exaggerate the size of a print. There were some other obvious deer signs, which I’d only seen once out there. I’ve still never laid eyes on a mule deer in Hollenbeck, and the rarity of even finding tracks is probably a reason why. I’m pretty sure I was following one up a hill in Hollenbeck today, as its tracks were pretty fresh, and turned abruptly up a steep bank. I stopped and scanned the hillside for quite a while (not just to catch my breath and listen to my pounding heart), but saw nothing. Another sign of the likely small deer population in Hollenback is that most tracks I saw were of individual deer, not groups like is common in Cuyamaca or Mount Laguna.
It’s too soon for the rains to have greened the canyon up much, but with a few days of rain predicted for this weekend, I’d imagine Hollenbeck will enter its green winter glory soon enough. It’s really the best time of the year to be out there. San Diego is odd, in that the winter is really the greenest part of the year.
I plugged away, with the rhythmic ticking of my trekking poles, as I tried to get around the roughly 4.5-mile route in a reasonable amount of time. I did have to stop to catch my breath on the hills, and was distracted by soaring raptors occasionally, hoping to see the big raptor again, but mostly chugged along, trying to erase the guilt of summer inactivity. Hollenback looks pretty much the same as my last longish hike there, some of the ingle-track trail on my way out was showing signs of wear, and water erosion. Some of the stone retaining wall, making the the trail possible has crumbled. I wonder if those will ever be maintained, the damage could conceivably block the trail at some point. There is already a large boulder in the middle of the trail, I suspect accidentally dislodged by geocachers. There is a geocache on the hillside immediately above the boulder.
I made it back to the car in about two hours, and home from the parking lot in about 25 minutes. It’s great to have a nice place like that to erase the sights and sounds of the city. I have mixed feelings about imploring people to get out there, but it’s so close to East Lake, and Rancho San Diego you shouldn’t pass it up. I should also mention last time I was there I chatted with, or saw quite a few quail hunters. It’s worth a visit, check it out. Time for a beer.
Everyone, by now, has heard of the State Park closures. You may or may not be aware that the State Parks’ budget has been slashed by millions of dollars every year for the last few years. This has resulted in campground closures, layoffs, seasonal closures of certain parks, or sections of parks. Last winter Palomar Mountain State Park was closed over the winter.
I found out last night that campgrounds at Palomar Mountain State Park will be closed on Sunday, Oct 2. Four days from this writing. Unless unexpected funds are made available, Palomar’s campgrounds will remain closed through the scheduled closure of the park itself in July, 2012. Day use will remain open. And Palomar’s upcoming events; “Fall Clean Up & Restoration” – Sat, Oct 8th, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m, and an “Apple Festival” – Sun, Oct 23rd, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m, will not be affected by the closure, and will proceed as planned.
In addition, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park’s Green Valley campground, Horse Camp, and day use area will also be closing on Sunday Oct 2, through July of 21012. Normally these areas would close at the end of November.
Any outstanding reservations for those campgrounds will be given the option of a refund, or to transfer the reservation to another campground. Closing a campground is the result of employees being laid off. Campgrounds themselves are full every weekend, and all summer.
Not all hikers geocache, nor do all geocachers hike. But if you both hike and geocache, you can combine your passions and hunt the second geocache ever hidden in California, and the oldest surviving geocache in California, here in San Diego County.
Phil’s Memorial Cache (GC5B) was placed on September 10th, 2000 by geocacher, GoodDogSD, and has been in continual service ever since. GoodDogSD named the cache for his loyal canine hiking companion, Phil. The cache has been kept alive and is maintained currently by geocacher, GoBolts!, since 2006.
I get email updates for a handful of geocaches, letting me know when someone logs certain geocaches. Phil’s gets logged more than all the others on my list combined. It’s become a goal, a milestone, for geocachers from all over.
I became aware of the presence of the Phil’s while on a hike on the 4th of July weekend in 2009. My hiking companion, Shannon, showed me the nearby geocaches, that I’d failed to load on my own GPS. I noticed the geocache code; GC5B. That’s an extremely low code number. As an example, my most recent hide is GC2K4BW. San Diego County is literally infested with geocaches. Shannon and I followed her GPS to the cache site, on that hot day in July, and almost as soon as we arrived, Shannon spotted a rattlesnake in a crevice between two boulders. Literally, before we even started looking, she saw that snake. Having grown up running around the hills and canyons of eastern Chula Vista, I have a long history of rattlesnake encounters. I do not like rattlesnakes. We very gingerly poked around the area, keeping an eye on the snake, for what was probably 20 minutes. Eventually, the snake loudly signaled its annoyance, and we took heed, departing without getting the find.
Without giving too much away, (nothing you won’t learn on the cache’s info page) Phil’s Memorial Cache sits just off of Laguna Meadow in Laguna Mountain Recreation Area. As might be obvious from the cache’s name, the trails here are dog-friendly. Depending on your tolerances, any time of year can be a good time to visit Phil’s. I avoid the hot summer days, but that’s me… You can make the hike out and back what you want. I think from the southern visitor center an out-and-back can be as little as 3 miles. You won’t find a flatter hike in the local mountains than an out and back right to Phil’s. Of course, you can string together any length of hike, and number of geocaches, you please and make a day of it. There are plenty out there to choose from. Just remember to treat it as a hike. Dress appropriately for the weather, and carry water and snacks. You will also need an Adventure Pass, either a single-day or annual, in order to park at the information center.
As the year wore on, and we managed to make more finds throughout the county, we approached our 300th finds. The plan was made to tackle Phil’s Memorial Cache on a cool (snakeless) winter day. Being we weren’t yet sitting on 299 finds, we mapped out a plan that would get us a few caches near Phil’s along with backups, just in case of a DNF (Did Not Find), then head on over to Phil’s for the 300th. The day came on December 6, 2009 and we took off to the Lagunas. There was snow on the ground and the temperature stayed in the low 40s the whole hike. Clouds and fog made for an interesting, atmospheric hike. In other words, it was perfect. We made the finds we needed to be at 299, and set off around the meadow for the oldest cache in California. Crunching through the snow to the cache was a bit of a change from the hot, July day we had been there last. The trip could not have been any more anticlimactic, as I walked straight to the cache, which was not at all near where we thought it was in July. We weren’t there a minute when I made the find. We signed the log, took victory pics, and set off back to the car, 300th find behind us.
I hope the geocaching hikers out there (and the hiking geocachers) will make the trip out to Phil’s Memorial Cache. It’s worth the time just for the hiking, nabbing California’s oldest geocache is just an extra bit of fun. If geocaching sounds like something you might want to add to your hiking experience, check out Geocaching.com for information on getting started.
I just got home from vacation visiting my family, but while I was gone Rick Barclay, Crew Leader of Palomar Mountain State Park’s volunteer Trail Maintenance Unit, and coordinator for Friends of Palomar State Park, delivered on a favor I asked of him. He wrote an excellent introduction to his efforts to organize a non-profit cooperating organization to cater specifically to Palomar Mountain State Park. Currently PMSP is serviced by Cuyamaca’s cooperating association, CRSPIA. By the way, this is SDH’s first-ever guest-authored post. Thank you, Rick!
(photos provided by Rick Barclay)
PMSP Volunteers
Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park
For park lovers throughout California, May 13, 2011 will always be remembered as “Black Friday”. That, of course, is the day that the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) announced the closure of 70 state parks, including our beloved Palomar Mountain State Park (PMSP). Partial closure will begin September 2011, and full closure is slated for July 2012.
Most of us like to be given a heads-up when something bad is coming our way. But, ironically, in this case, the 14 month advance notice is turning out to be a two edged sword. On the plus side, it gives park administration an opportunity to explore options to keep the park open (e.g., partnering with a local or federal agency, perhaps an experienced non-profit association).
But on the downside, the closure — or, rather, combating the closure — has taken front and center stage, eclipsing many of the other needs that the Park has today. Let’s face it, the news of PMSP’s closure is more compelling than the ranger’s creative vision of expanding the Park’s educational and interpretive programs. And “Save Palomar” can rally people a thousand times better than “Hey, let’s raise money for the Park for tools and materials to keep the trails and buildings in good shape.”
This is not to diminish the work of those aiming to save Palomar. More power to you! Keep up the good work!
Nevertheless, public support for the Park needs to be diversified and not focused on combating the closure alone. Public support must include a perspective and a willingness to tackle the Park’s current and future needs, in case full closure doesn’t come to pass. After all, no one really knows what’s going to happen on July 2012. Right now it’s natural to see the Park’s fate in black or white… on or off… open or closed. But there’s a grey area of alternatives for keeping the Park open in some fashion, especially if AB42 passes.
Therefore, fans of Palomar Mountain State Park are warmly invited to participate in the formation of “Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park” (Friends of PMSP), a non-profit charitable organization intended to support the Park financially for its day in, day out programs and general enhancement. In an nutshell, money would be raised by a variety of means — membership dues, fund raisers, profits from merchandise sales, grants, sponsorships, etc. — and given to the Park for things like: expanded educational and interpretive programs, facility and trail maintenance and repair, park publicity and promotion, and special events and activities. This would be money that simply wouldn’t otherwise be available to the Park, especially in these times of budget cutbacks.
The idea of a charitable association for a state park is nothing new — there are over 80 cooperating associations supporting California state parks, and they all share the same mission and objectives. As a matter of fact, Palomar Mountain State Park is already supported by a non-profit cooperating association, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Interpretive Association (CRSPIA). And as crew leader of PMSP’s volunteer trail maintenance unit, I can tell you that they’ve been very generous and supportive. For example, when we needed an expensive, special two man logging saw to remove fallen trees, CRSPIA paid for it. It didn’t come out of the Park’s already stretched budget.
Hiker in PMSP
Problem is, CRSPIA’s down in Cuyamaca, and Palomar Mountain State Park is in North County. And so, by forming an association closer to Palomar and dedicated to Palomar, there’s a good chance we can get more local support and participation from people from the Palomar Mountain community as well as Southwestern Riverside County and Northern San Diego County. Also, the folks in Cuyamaca won’t be doing the heavy lifting for a distant ward.
In case you’re wondering, this effort has the endorsement of CRSPIA and Nedra Martinez, Superintendent of the Department of Parks and Recreation’s sector in which the Park is located.
Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park will exist in spite of, not because of, the planned closure. In fact, the idea first came up well before May 13. Moreover, fighting the closure won’t be a part of the association’s mission or deployment of resources. Nor will the association have any designs on operating the Park (a la AB42) if DPR can no longer operate the Park; FPMSP simply won’t have the experience or wherewithal.
Instead, FPMSP will simply do the myriad of things that the other cooperating associations do to support their respective parks: long range planning, steady, deliberate plodding and hard work to raise money… all in an effort to make everyone’s visit to the Park as pleasant and safe and rewarding as possible.
Sure, the looming closure is discouraging. Pessimists would say we’re just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. But I can tell you that Park staff and volunteers don’t look at it that way. They’re keeping a positive mental attitude and soldiering on as if the closure weren’t looming ahead. If you want to see people who are genuinely smiling while keeping a stiff upper lip, come to Palomar Mountain State Park We’re still making plans for improvements and events, working to keep the trails clear, and thinking about the future as if there’ll always be a tomorrow. Because there just could very well be.
If you’d like consider being a part of Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park, or if you’d just like to be put on our mailing list, please visit www.palomarsp.org/friends
Rick Barclay, Temecula
Crew Leader, Trail Maintenance Unit – Palomar Mountain State Park
Coordinator – Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park
