Wilderness Explorers: Cowles Mountain

Hike #3 started on yet another beautiful day in San Diego. The weather could not be more perfect. For the 3rd hike for the 5 Peak Challenge we decided to go with Cowles Mountain. Even though this is the highest of the 5 peaks, there are multiple ways of getting up there and one of the ways is actually rated 4 out 5 in terms of difficulty (5 being the most difficult). I had work the next day and I didn't want to not be able to move so we decided to start at the Barker Way Trailhead (the service road) up to the Cowles Mountain Summit. This was probably the easiest hike of the three that we've finished. There is opportunity for slippage but much less than all the other hikes. It's also a much shorter hike so you don't get too exhausted. This would be a great workout for the weekends to run up and down this path.

• Cowles Mountain Summit:
  • Altitude: 1,592 feet
  • Distance: 1.6 miles
  • Rating: 4

You can kind of see the trail to the top and how it zig zags. On the left, you can see a dot that's actually a helicopter. We believe they were either trying to rescue someone or doing a drill

 





























  

Overall, I can't wait to go back and do this hike! Maybe my couch potato status is decreasing but I felt great hiking this trail. It definitely wasn't as long as some of the other hikes we did so I'm thinking that is why it felt so much better. If it's under 2 miles, I'm good. Anything above 2 miles and I'm pretty much dragging myself up the mountain. Pretty sure we'll be back to hike this guy soon!    

Wilderness Explorers: South Fortuna Summit

It was a beautiful day in San Diego for Hike #2. This time we decided to do the South Fortuna Summit because it's the next up in terms of distance and altitude. Instead of starting the hike from the area around the visitor'c center, we went from the Tierrasanta side. We got a bit lost because the signs don't really point you in the right direction so I would either recommend doing a little more research beforehand or just start from the visitor's center. We wandered around for about an hour and we finally approached people who knew the way. This particular hike has a portion that's called the "Stairway the Heaven" that was absolutely brutal. It was like Koko Head on crack. It's a shorter distance than Koko Head in Oahu, HI but it's very rocky and it feels like there's no margin for error. If you are afraid of heights, beware! This was possibly the first time I thought I had a panic attack. The incline for the stairway portion of the hike is extremely steep and I couldn't turn around without freaking out. I'm someone that's pretty afraid of heights so it was a pretty difficult hike for me.

• South Fortuna Summit
  • Altitude: 1,094 ft
  • Distance: 2.37 miles
  • Rating: Difficult

Overall, this hike wasn't really THAT bad but for someone that's afraid of heights, there were times when I just had to keep going and not look back because I totally would have freaked out. The view from the top was extremely rewarding and I definitely felt like I took a big step in conquering my fear of heights. I'm a scaredy cat so if you are having second thoughts, you can totally do this! If you want additional information on this hike, a great resource is Hiking SD County.  

Weekend Adventures: Feeling Bookish

This weekend we made a trip to the New Central Library Downtown to do some more exploring in San Diego. I made a reservation for the architecture tour and we really enjoyed it. We learned so much about the library that we would've never known if we didn't do the tour and we were also able to explore a lot of places within the library that were blocked off from the general public. We'll probably be going back to the library more often in the future.


 

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All in all, we would highly recommend heading to the library and doing the tour, especially if you've never been to the New Central Library Downtown. The tour was extremely informative and definitely made me realize that even though it's called a library, it definitely is much more than that. Hope this post will be that extra push if you've been wanting to go to the library! Until next time!