Mt. Woodson Snow Hike

Six days after my last hike up Mt. Woodson I was once again hiking up the trail to the summit. This time the snow level was supposed to be down to 2000 feet, so I was hoping to actually see some snow on the trail. Around the halfway point, I started to see some snow, or frozen hail, in shady spots along the trail. But as I got higher, there was more "snow", even where it was exposed to the sun.

There were young people hiking the mountain faster than me, and I let them pass as I took some photos. Soon, they were throwing snowballs at each other.

As I got higher, the snow was on the trail, and I actually was glad I had my hiking boots and poles. Once I hit the pavement, there was a shady spot where the ice was slippery and I had to walk slow.

Once I made it to the top, where there were pine trees with melting snow dripping on me, I once again, like last week, headed to the east side where there were great views of the snow on the mountains to the east, like Cuyamaca and Luguna. I took a short movie that covered about 270 degrees of visibility.

Even though there was lots of snow at lower elevations, I believe that the snow level was lower in 2008, as can be seen in this link taken from Iron Mountain in Feb. 2008 - by me!

As I hiked back down from the summit, I felt really good about life in general. I was relaxed and not worried about anything - just enjoying the moment. I started the day at 8:30 AM, started hiking at 10:30, and got home at 2:30 PM. The hike took more or the entire day, but it was well worth it.

Mt. Woodson President's Day Hike

I thought it would be a perfect day for a hike. The storm was over, the clouds had parted and the mountains were covered in snow. Assuming that Iron Mt. would be too busy due to the President's Day holiday, I chose to hike Mt. Woodson from Lake Poway for the first time since last June.

I arrived at the parking lot at 10 AM and was surprised to find it mostly empty. Seems that the local schools didn't have the day off, so there were fewer people out than I expected. Also, it was warmer than expected. Even though it may have been "only" 60 degrees, I didn't need a jacket, just my hiking pants and short sleeve shirt.

I might have started hiking too fast, because I quickly ran out of breath (as the expression goes), but that didn't slow me down. I passed everyone on the trail. Everyone including two ladies with three dogs (not on leashes), a father, son, grandfather trio, and a man with a mustache.

I wasn't in a hurry, so I stopped as often as I needed to take photos of the surrounding snow-covered mountains, blue lakes and green valleys. I did take a break at the "shady tree" to eat a protein bar, rest and stretch my leg muscles. While there a couple passed by and asked how much further to the top. I told them about 30 minutes, which later turned out to be way off, as I encountered them on my hike down as they were still headed up. They too had a dog, so they must have taken more breaks, or got lost because I never passed them again on the way up.

Once I got to the summit, I took a short detour down the other side just far enough so I could get a good view of the mountains in the east which also had lots of snow. I then took about a ten minute break to eat, adjust my boots, check-in on Foursquare and upload a photo to Facebook. It had taken me just over 90 minutes to hike to the top, but I knew I'd get back faster as I planned to not stop on the way down, and not stop I did. Along the way I encountered almost all the people who I passed on the way up, some were still hiking up, others must have turned around before summiting. There were also lots more people, most young people, hiking up as it was now afternoon.

I got back to my car about 1 PM, so the total hike time was three hours, just as I had estimated. I was prepared this time to not get blisters by putting blister pads on my toes before hiking. I was a little sore and tired, but nothing that an afternoon nap and good night's sleep can't cure. If it is not raining this weekend, another hike would be fun, and they expect the snow level to get even lower. How cool would it be to have it snow on me at the top of Mt. Woodson?

Iron Mountain Valentine's Day Hike

I hadn't planned to take Valentine's Day off work, but due to contractual issues with the government, I was forced to take a day of vacation. So what better way to spend a day off than to climb Iron Mountain on a beautiful, clear, sunny day? I was surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot considering it was a work day. Also, for some reason, there quite a few school-aged children with their parents on the trails, so they most have taken some family time off. There was a mother hiking down with her two small kids and as the 4 year old boy saw me he said "Happy Valentine's Day and enjoy your hike." How nice! Apparently he was saying this to everyone on the trail. His mom seemed to tolerate it and his sister accused him of steeling that line from her.

Butterfly or alien in center.

Even though there were more hikers than I expected, there were a lot less than my last hike up. And to avoid the horrible blister I got on that hike five weeks ago (that are still healing), I put blister pads on before hiking. I didn't plan to hike very fast, but somehow made it up in 55 minutes.

Along the way I saw a poor women being helped down by two people. She twisted and sprained her ankle and was making very slow progress. In fact, I passed her on the way down, about 45 minutes later, and she had only made it maybe 1/8 of a mile! At that rate she'll be lucky to get down by sunset. Hope she is OK.

Looking East

Once I made it to the top I saw how crowded it was. There must have been 20 or more people, including a large group of what sounded like British citizens. After stretching, eating a snack and taking these photos, I headed down. My timing was bad because I left a few minutes after the large group of hikers left. So I had to pass them all on the way down, trying not to run them off the trail (they were all in their 50s or 60s).

Looking West

Speaking of trails, I noticed that the trail had been improved since my last hike. Many of rain-induced ruts were filled in with fresh dirt, making the trail much safer. As I neared the new trail junction, I saw about 15 people in bright red coveralls hiking up. I assumed they were headed up to do more trail improvements. And back at the new trail junction, there was a bright red truck that belonged to the California Department of Corrections. So they were low-risk prisoners performing services for what ever crime they committed. They were not wearing chains, so I assume they weren't from Arizona.

It was a good hike and I plan on another one soon, perhaps Mt. Woodson on President's Day?