The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Day Hiking San Diego County: West to East

Although San Diego County in southern California is no longer as extensive as it once was, having ceded territory to the surrounding counties, at some 4500 square miles in area it offers an amazing diversity of day hikes in an area larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. For four weeks I rented an Airbnb, a former ranch hand’s cabin, in Dehesa Canyon just below the town of Alpine and about 30-40 minutes’ drive east of the city of San Diego. It proved a great location to experience some of the diversity the county offered, as I hope I captured in this “West to East” blog post. A map of the ecological regions of San Diego County may be found here.

Coastal Hikes and Walks

Pacific Ocean Trail vista at Torrey Pines State Reserve. A few minutes north of San Diego, the reserve is wildly popular with urbanites, and for good reason.
A Beach Suncup at Torrey Pines
Torrey Pine Grove. The rarest pine in the US, Torrey Pines are confined to the reserve, the coastal town of Del Mar to the North, and a couple of the Channel Islands off of Santa Barbara.
An impressive Dragon Tree at San Diego Botanic Garden. While the botanic garden was hardly a hike, virtually all the exhibits were outdoors among meandering paths, making for a very pleasant walk.
Turtles sunning at the botanic garden
My brother Clifford swallowed by a Yucca at an the botanic garden
View along the La Jolla promenade. My brother and I enjoyed a tasty vegan lunch on a roof-top deck in La Jolla, just to the north of San Diego.

Valley Hikes

A view of Mission Dam at Mission Trails Regional Park. About 15 minutes East of the city, it features miles of trails for all ability levels. Even mid-week it is a popular destination for the urban masses.
Trailhead view of El Cajon Mountain. This was the hardest hike I did in San Diego County.
The South Slope ascent route on El Cajon Mountain is from the lower left here
Ceanothus in bloom on El Cajon
Clifftop lunch view to the Southwest on El Cajon with the Pacific Ocean in the distant haze. After a 1900 ft vertical scramble in 1 mile, I didn’t feel like the easy (though overgrown) 2 mile walk to the actual summit.

Foothills Hikes

My front garden at the Dehesa Canyon Airbnb. This serene environment was a former cattle ranch, centrally located for all the County had to offer.
View during my ascent of Viejas Mountain in Alpine California. The swish town of Alpine was about 15 minutes from my cabin.
Summit 360 degree panorama on Viejas Mountain
Descanso Cliffs, a fun scramble nearby
Lawson Peak summit block. Most of the hike was a boring one on a disused fire road, but the summit block scramble definitely added some spice!
A view down Hollenbeck Canyon at the eponymous Hollenbeck State Reserve, a popular spot for weekend mountain bikers, dog walkers, and hikers
Pine Creek Wilderness water hole. This small wilderness area is close to the Mexican border, and there were signs of migrants along one of the trails.

Mountain Hikes

A mountain meadow along the Sweetwater Loop trail I hiked at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. I did three different hikes at this State Park, about 30 minutes from my Airbnb.
Evidence of Acorn Woodpeckers at Cuyamaca Rancho SP
Clifford reaching the summit of Stonewall Peak, Cuyamaca Rancho SP
Stonewall Peak summit vista to the North
Laguna Meadows Loop vista, Laguna Mountain

Desert Hikes

Anza Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP). View towards the isolated community of Borrego Springs from Hellhole Canyon. Returning to this state park after 15 years was the main reason I stayed in the San Diego area.
Clifford under California Fan Palms in Hellhole Canyon. Longtime followers will know that the California Fan Palm, the only palm native to California, is one of my favorites.
Maidenhair ferns in Hellhole Canyon. Ferns in the desert do seem oxymoronic to me.
Borrego Springs view from the California Riding and Hiking Trail on the loop return from Hellhole Canyon
Whiteflower Currant bush from the CRH Trail, ABDSP. Not much was in bloom this early in the year.
The North Grove on the Mountain Palm Springs Loop hike, ABDSP
Filtered sunlight in the North Grove, ABDSP
An Ocotillo in bloom, ABDSP
An Elephant tree (Bursera microphylla) at Torote Bowl, ABDSP. Torote is the Spanish name for the tree. There were about a dozen specimens of this signature plant of the Sonoran Desert scattered around this bowl. A good article on this amazing tree can be found here.
Elephant tree leaf detail. The tiny leaves give rise to its species name, microphylla.
The Vagabond Hiker under an Elephant Tree at Torote Bowl
A Smoke Tree in the Coyote Mountains Wilderness. Clifford and I hiked the “Domelands Loop” in this arid landscape administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Clifford climbing out of a canyon in the Coyote Mountains
Coyote Mountains Wilderness view of the Carrizo Badlands. An Ocotillo is on the right.
A Ghost Plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense), Coyote Mountains Wilderness
Slots with wind caves, Coyote Mountains Wilderness. Hiking through some of the slot canyons in this maze was a highlight of the day.

I have relocated a few hours northeast to the town of Twenty-nine Palms California for the next 6 weeks. Just to the East of the tourist mecca of Joshua Tree, 29 Palms is an ideal base for hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and the southern portion of the Mojave Reserve, the theme of my next blog post.

Until then, enjoy the great outdoors wherever you are,

The Vagabond Hiker

Chiricahua Mountains and beyond: Southern Arizona and New Mexico

My chosen home from mid December to mid January was an AirBnb guest house on a working ranch in Southwest New Mexico. The remote ranch was about three hours’ drive from Tucson, the nearest city. The most remote AirBnb I’ve stayed at yet, the ranch was more than an hour from any supermarket. However, it was conveniently located for hiking the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeast Arizona, only a half hour from the Cave Creek entrance in Portal Arizona.

Apart from trails emanating from Cave Creek (a popular birder’s destination), many other great hikes abounded, though most were 80 or so miles distant (considered a short drive in these remote areas). I hiked quite a few and collected some of my photos of this disparate landscape for this blog. Enjoy!

Tonto National Monument, Arizona. Salado Cliff Dwellings (ca. 1300-1450 CE) are on the left in this photo. I stopped here on the morning of the second day driving from St George Utah.
View of Saguaro cacti and Roosevelt Lake from the Tonto National Monument trail to the Cliff Dwellings
The Cienega Ranch Guest House where I stayed for a month (AirBnb photo)
Morning alpenglow on the Chiricahuas from my veranda at Cienega Ranch
A rock face along Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains. Cave Creek, on the east side, was the most convenient access point for me and boasted a wide variety of hikes from easy half day hikes to strenuous backpacks.
A Cholla cactus in bloom on the Silver Peak trail. While not the highest, Silver Peak was the nearest Chiricahua Mountains peak from my AirBnb and had a well-maintained trail.
Rock formations on the Silver Peak trail
Summit vista Northwest from Silver Peak. The twin peaks in the center distance are the Dos Cabezas, spearated from the Chiricahuas by the Apache Pass.
Rock formation on the Silver Peak trail
Morning sunlight on the South Forks to Burro Trail loop hike (this portion was an off trail exploratory I added) above Cave Creek
A waterfall on a side canyon feeding into Cave Creek, Chiricahua Mountains
Chiricahua Mountain view from the Herb Martyr-Snowshed loop hike I did in January above Cave Creek.
Snow on Finnicum and Sentinel Peaks of the Chiricahua Mountains on the January loop hike. Snow finally arrived at elevations of 6000 to 7000 ft around the New Year.
Hoodoos on the Big Loop Trail, Chiricahua National Monument. While the Monument, located in the Northwest portion of the Chiricahuas, encompasses only a fraction of the mountains, the rock formations are arguably the most dramatic.
Big Balancing Rock, Chiricahua National Monument: 22 feet in diameter and weighing about 1000 tons
Pinnacle Balancing Rock, Chiricahua National Monument. Not quite as large, but every bit as impressive as Big Balancing Rock.
The approach to Granite Peak, Peloncillo Mountains. Although not particularly high, it was the nearest mountain to my AirBnb, only a few miles north. This is the approach view from near the road head.
Granite Peak south slopes. This photo was taken from my earlier recon hike when I circumambulated the Peak, and highlights class 3 scrambling of the summit block
A gnarled old juniper on the summit block of Granite Peak
View Northeast from the summit of Granite Peak
Fort Bowie Arizona National Historic Site. The fort protected the wagon route between El Paso and Tucson before the railroad was built. View of some building ruins and Helen’s Dome, which I never did get a chance to climb.
Jacks Peak home site, high in the southern portion of the Gila Mountains, New Mexico. This hike was about an hour Northeast of my AirBnb.
Blackwater Hole, Bunk Robinson Wilderness, New Mexico. Deep in the ‘heel’ of New Mexico, this canyon was the definition of remote.
The only other people I say in Blackwater Hole were two mounted border patrol agents that had apprehended several migrants. Mexico was a long day’s walk to the South from here.
To end this blog on a more positive note, I saw this rainbow above the Chiricahua mountains from my veranda one morning before a storm arrived.

I am currently spending a month in Alpine California, a community in the foothills east of San Diego, with my brother Clifford visiting me and joining me on a wide variety of hikes which I will share with you in my next blog. Until then, enjoy the outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

Wildflowers of Northern Utah

This past summer I lived in Park City, Utah, lying at 7000 ft elevation east of Salt Lake City. Known mostly as a winter skiing center, in summer it attracts outdoor adventurers, including mountain bikers, climbers, and hikers. Both my brothers visited to share with me some of the great mountain scenery and trails of the Wasatch and Uintas ranges. I tried to capture the amazing landscape in some of my photos, but often the Idaho, Oregon, and California wildfires obscured the view. At times hiking in the smoke was so unpleasant that I retreated indoors to my reading chair or to the local sports club to swim.

Ultimately, the real stars of my photography this past summer were the amazing diversity of wild flowers. A few were captured with my Panasonic Lumix, but most were taken with my Samsung Galaxy camera phone. This blog highlights 38 of the 81 flowers I identified with the help of the PlantNet app as well as some websites and flower guides. A few landscape photos are interspersed amongst the flora, and some fauna shots provide a coda. Enjoy!

Calochortus nuttallii. The Sego lily, state flower of Utah. A fave of mine only a few steps from my condo.
Erythronium grandiflorum. Avalanche lily. The only specimen of this beauty I spotted all summer.
Primula parryi. Parry’s primrose gave color to otherwise gray alpine landscapes on my way to many a mountain summit.
Gymnadenia odoratissima. The only orchid I saw, and this one by chance as I was photographing another (since forgotten) flower.
Twin Peaks from Butler Forks loop in the Wasatch
Aquilegia pubescens. Colville’s, sierra, or alpine columbine, the more frequently encountered of the two columbine species I saw in northern Utah, and one to always bring a smile to my face.
Hackelia floribunda. Manyflower stickweed. For the longest time I thought this plant was a forget-me-not, but now I’m fairly certain it is in fact a stickweed. Still beautiful whatever its taxonomy.
Lupinus argenteus. Silvery lupine, very common in this area, but a beautiful addition to any meadow nonetheless.
Ipomopsis tenuituba. Slender tube skyrocket. Closely related to its even more vibrant cousin, scarlet gilia.
Naturalist Basin stream in the high Uintas in the early morning light.
Wyethia angustifolia. Narrowleaf mule’s ears. An early bloomer, it brightened many hikes this past June.
Pedicularis groenlandica. Elephant’s head. I had missed this distinctive flower since my last visit to northern Utah five years ago.
Aconitum columbianum. Western monkshood enjoys riparian areas. Toxic though it may be, I find its morphology fascinating.
Rudbeckia occidentalis. Western coneflower. Understated for sure, but oddly I always checked for the dimunitive yellow flowers that did not survive long into the summer.
Polemonium foliosissimum. Leafy Jacob’s ladder. I only spotted this rarity the one time, on a local Park City hike!
View southeast from Park City Hill summit
Argemone pleiacantha. Southwestern prickly poppy. Native to Arizona and New Mexico, it seems to be spreading northwards as the world warms.
Iris missouriensis. Rocky Mountain iris, listed a a weed in some areas of California since livestock find it distasteful. Twisted priorities IMHO.
Monardella odoratissima. Mountain coyote mint, mountain beebalm, mountain monardella or mountain pennyroyal – call it what you will. A distinctly minty odor as its name implies, it was prolific on one early July hike above Brighton ski resort.
Aquilegia saximontana. Rocky Mountain columbine. Not as common as in Colorado, but all the more special for that. Spotted on the eastern slope of Mt Nebo.
Nebo Massif in the southern Wasatch Range, viewed from northeast on a rare clear day in early July.
Collomia debilis. Alpine collomia. I spotted this twice, both times high in the southern Wasatch. I’ve also misidentified it twice, wrongly thinking it was Alpine Springbeauty or Parry’s Primrose. I attribute these errors to the effects of altitude. A stunning sight after a hard ascent, Alpine Collomia surely deserves a Wiki page.
Mt Nebo North Peak summit view back along my ascent route in September
Penstemon venustus. Venus penstemon is the third species I saw in northern Utah, along with Rydberg’s and Whipple.
Verbascum thapsus. Common or great mullein. An old world flower naturalized in the US.
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Erigeron speciosus. Showy daisy or fleabane. An early bloomer, in September it can still be found. One must admire its persistence.
Penstemon whippleanus. Whipple penstemon. A glorious deep wine color, seen on the lower slopes of Santaquin Peak in the southern Wasatch.
Fireweed and burnt trees on the northern slopes of Loafer Mountain
Santaquin Peak summit flag in the hazy smoke that day. Note the mailbox that contains the summit register.
Lynda tending her feet on Santaquin summit
Campanula rotundifolia. Harebell, in the early morning light.
Pedicularis racemosa. Sickletop lousewort. One species that definitely could use some better PR!
Chamaenerion angustifolium. Fireweed, or rosebay willowherb to you anglophiles. One of the earliest colonizers after a fire. It should become even more common here in the west.
Anaphalis margaritacea. Pearly everlasting. This diminutive member of the sunflower family is another of my favorites.
Brassica oleracea. Really not a flower at all, just a head of broccoli in a demitasse.
Castilleja miniata. Giant red paintbrush. The small yellow tapered tubes are the inflorescences.
Mertensia ciliata. Mountain bluebells. Native to the western US, it prefers moist habitat and can carpet large areas of hillside.
Meadow and Mt Watson in the High Uintas, one of the few mountain ranges that run East-West in the United States
Ipomopsis aggregata. Scarlet gilia. I saw these too many times to count – and loved them every time.
Gentiana calycosa. Mountain bog gentians. I took this photo at Notch Pass in the High Uintas back in 2016.
Naturalist Basin and Mt Agassiz (far right) in the High Uintas
Penstemon cyananthus. Wasatch beardtongue, the most common of the three penstemon species I identified in northern Utah.
Castilleja parviflora. Mountain paintbrush. Such a beautiful color. Look closely to see the yellow-green inflorescences.
Polemonium viscosum. Sky pilot. No one ever sees this high alpine species in the wild without earning it. This photo was taken on Mt Baldy in the High Uintas in 2016, though I also spotted it this summer high on Wind River Peak, as I traversed the continental divide above 13,000 ft.
Naturalist Basin from Mt Agassiz ridge in the Uintas
Wind River Peak ascent route from an unnamed lake. Lynda and I did a four day backpack in the southern Wind River Range
Wind River Peak summit view East
Frasera speciosa. Monument plant. Earlier in the summer it was a common sight above the rail trail in Park City.
Park City rail trail view. Beavers were active in the area, and those I saw them several times, never managed a photo.
Rosa pendulina. Alpine rose. These flowers provided a wonderful scent at Brighton ski resort among many other locales this summer.
Brighton loop view from Catherine pass to Lakes Catherine and Mary
Oenothera caespitosa. Tufted evening primrose (aka desert evening primrose, rock-rose evening primrose, or fragrant evening primrose).
Geranium richardsonii. Richardson’s geranium was a frequent sighting in shadier areas in northern Utah.
Triteleia grandiflora. Known by the common names largeflower triteleia, largeflower tripletlily and wild hyacinth. I finally identified this flower that I’d seen from time to time.

While flowers were the primary inspiration for my photography this past summer, I managed a few (less than stellar) photos of fauna to complement all the flora.

A mountain goat on the north face of Loafer Mountain in the southern Wasatch
A fawn watching me at my Park City condo in the early morning. One of the drawbacks of camera phone is that their small sensor size pixilates crepuscular fauna.
A bobcat on a trail above my condo. By the time I got my phone out, she was sauntering away from me.
Kings Peak (left-most peak seen here) from Dollar Lake. Our campsite, off to the left in the trees, was here for climbing Kings and Gilbert Peaks, the highest and third highest, respectively, in Utah.
Big Horn Sheep ewes and lambs on the slopes of Mt. Gilbert (zoom)
A Pika on Gilbert Peak summit. This relative to the rabbit is one of my favorites, and a poster child for global warming. I recommend this wonderful article on Pikas, with an included YouTube video.
Gilbert Peak summit selfie showing the magnificent view

For those interested, about 45 wildflowers I identified can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Currently I am back in St. George Utah, spending much of the time hiking in this amazing place. I have not taken many photos as I lived here for a couple of years and have become somewhat jaded. In any event, it is a wonderful change to simply enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture it for some future time.

As international travel opens back up, as you may imagine I am making future plans. While I will spend most of the winter in the desert southwest (New Mexico and California) and hope to post a couple blogs from those places, in November I will be returning to Ecuador for some unfinished business climbing mountains. Back in December 2015 I had attempted three major peaks, with only one summit (the lower of the two summits on Chimborazo) to show for an otherwise amazing trip due to weather events (a hail storm blew us off Cayambe at 5000m and a volcano eruption closed Cotapaxi). As Ecuadorian food and lodging on my upcoming trip will be superb, it will also serve to provide a good test to decide whether I want to continue alpine mountaineering in the coming years. Trekking is a separate matter and I have already booked a Traverse of the Jotunheimen in Norway for late June. More on that trip and my other summer 2022 plans in a future blog post. Meanwhile, continue to enjoy the outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

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