Come rambling and scrambling with us for some beautiful, high-desert fun!
Saturday: Meet at the Park & Ride location, 6 am. Arrive at campsite by 8 am to drop camp gear, then head to trailhead for introductions, 10 essentials show and tell, and topo map intro. Get hiking by 8:45 a.m: Scramble up beautiful, boulder-filled washes, ramble through Pinyon & Juniper dotted flats, and after our final boulder climb to the top, take in amazing views from the top of Whale Peak. elevation 5,348.' You should be comfortable doing a hard, 9 mile hike - with some boulder scrambling, off trail /cross country hiking, steep up and down sections.
After returning to our campsite, get warm and comfortable (it's car camp), have a potluck happy hour, cook dinner, and have a campfire in a metal container.
Sunday: Tent tour and then break camp by 8:30. Drive short distance to Cool Canyon to hike by 9 am, where we'll scramble up another beautiful canyon notable for what our San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers describe as "large exposed expanses of colorful metamorphic schist with numerous intrusions of igneous granite and quartz." We will navigate some dry waterfalls, but this day is shorter and much less strenuous than Saturday's hike. (4 mi, round trip). We'll be back to cars by about 12:30, and should arrive at Park & Ride by 2:30 p.m.
Special Outing Requirements: Food: Bring 1 breakfast, 2 lunches, trail snacks, happy-hour, potluck snack, 1 dinner.
10 Essentials, daypack, trekking poles, good trail runners or hiking boots.
Water Requirements: 1.5-2 Gallons:
1 gallon for Saturday: 2-3 liters for day hike & 2-4 liters to cook/ clean.
1/2 gallon for Sunday: cook, clean, day hike. |