Guess what? We hiked today. Our goal was Otay Mountain, which we could see from the campground. A do-able hike, probably 4 miles. We should finish by noon and will have the afternoon free to do as we want. We had seen it from the campground and knew it wasn’t far. Right. The lesson we’ve learned once, twice and thrice is that there is always a higher peak in the background, hidden behind the shorter peak. And, today was no exception to this rule. Otay Mountain was actually 6 miles up. What if we had known this before we started? Hmmm. But, the best part about this hike is that we can start right from our RV, go out the gate to the campground and there’s the road up right there. No long drives to and from the trailhead. 
We started about 9:30, later than we usual because the peak is not too high and the trailhead is so close. Actually, the ‘trail’ is a dirt road leading up to the top of the hill. Road hikes tend to be more straight up than filled with switchbacks since cars can go straight up. We humans like switchbacks but it is what it is and we’re on our way. We got a ways up to a spot where we could overlook the campground and Gary tried to find a signal so we might be able to get our e-mails. Sure enough, our e-mails came in, slowly, but they did come in. We also got a phone call up there.
And, we continued to climb. The trail continued its route inexorably upward. The views were awesome, a better one around each corner. And, then we could see the Pacific Ocean with Otay Lake (reservoir) in the foreground, a real bonus.
Then we saw an AT&T truck making a ‘routine service visit' to the AT&T antenna on top of the mountain.
I hope he doesn’t meet anyone coming up on his way down. This road looks pretty narrow with a real drop off on the outside edge. And, there are no guard rails. The whole road was this way. But, probably just another normal day in his job. Someone’s got to service those cell towers. And, where are they? On the highest peak in the area. And, when do they go bad? On windy or rainy days which makes this trip even more ‘fun.’ And, then, he’s got to contend with stupid hikers who think they can climb this road. Of course, we flatlanders think this is pretty precarious.
Below you can see the ranges of mountains in Mexico across the way. And, yes, we did meet a Border Patrol Agent coming down this road also.
We kept rounding corners and facing another uphill climb. Another corner, another view of an upward slog. But, finally, we saw the top. And, by the way the crow flies, we could have been there pretty quickly. As the road wound its way around the peaks, it was another 2 miles. In fact, the road wound 3/4 of the way around behind the peak and the final ascent was on the other side of the towers. Shucks.
Lunch, a break to take in the views and time to watch the crows fly around the towers. Last year we climbed San Miguel which is several miles away. We were happy to see that this peak was higher and our trail today was longer than that. But, we’ve got to make it down and we expected an easy descent. Long but easy. Then we saw a shortcut, following the ATV road under the electric poles. that was pretty good until we hit this part. Rocky, eroded, 19% grade and treacherous. Gary navigated it well, but, me, I had my poles out and went very slowly. Downs are not my best and rocky, rutty downs are my worst. At the bottom, Gary caught my expression of relief.
But, then, as we’re descending, I’m asking myself: ice cream or soda, soda or ice cream from the little campground store? Kept me going most of the way down.
A fun hike: a beautiful warm sunny day, we got to see the ocean, we got to see another country, we had marvelous views, we bested another hike in the area and had a soda at the end. No Bad Days. But, will we be able to walk when we get up tomorrow morning? tune in then.
13 3264’
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