Woodson Mountain (called Mount Woodson by everyone except USGS cartographers) is one of the best day-hikes in San Diego. Much like its two names, there are two main routes to the summit. The western route, from Lake Poway, is longer and higher, four miles with an 1800 foot gain, and is mostly on a proper trail. The eastern route, from Highway 67, is only two miles long and climbs about 1200 feet, primarily along a steep asphalt road. Both are very popular, especially on weekends. Not only are there great views, but you also meet plenty of like-minded hikers, many with friendly dogs. As a reward for your effort, you get to pose for photos on world-famous Potato Chip Rock, a major plus.
Hiking from the West:
I avoided paying the ten dollar fee to park at the Lake Poway Recreation Area and put on my day pack. I hadn’t hiked this trail in years, not since May 2012, mainly because of this weekend-only parking fee. Let’s be honest: I’m cheap. So I did my homework: The park’s website stated that if I was a Poway Resident or had a valid fishing permit (which costs three bucks for a senior) then I could park for free! Sort of. I was not a resident, but I was a fisherman so I decided to take the discounted rate. Now, I would like to apologize to the young man at the gate who didn’t know about this sneaky loophole. He suffered stoically and politely while I acted like a stubborn old geezer and told him to call the ranger about it. It took more than a few minutes of repetitive discussion, with several cars piling up behind me, before he eventually gave up. Anyway, I stopped in at the tackle shop and bought a fishing permit even though I had no intention of fishing. After that, I hiked onward, and got my first view of the lake, which was formed by a dam on its northern shore. There was a fishing dock, and a dock with rental boats.
I should mention that this was yet another one of my many Training Hikes as I prepared to hike big miles on the Pacific Crest Trail in March. I asked my friend Deserrae, a strong thru-hiker and certified ultra-running trainer, to help draw up a training schedule for me, to help me get ready for consecutive fifteen-mile days. This weekend I was supposed to do a long hike of eight miles followed by a shorter hike of five miles. The two sides of Woodson Mountain fit this bill perfectly. I also had to carry 25-30 pounds, to simulate my heavy PCT backpack, so I was carrying two extra gallons of water along with my three liters of drinking water. Oof! It was a heavy load for a day hike. But I was getting used to it by now.
I took the Lake Poway Trail counterclockwise around the shore. It was a very wide trail, which began as a concrete sidewalk. Soon, it climbed up above the lake, so that I got good views of a few early fishermen in their rental boats. My fishing gear was in the car, and I was tempted to come back later, after the hike, to give it a try. If only to get my three bucks worth.
I arrived at the junction of the Mount Woodson Trail and headed uphill, away from the lake. At first I hiked on a gravel road, and it felt steep with all that water I was carrying. I was slow, in other words. Other hikers passed me, and I managed to pass a few myself. There were early birds headed downhill already. We all said hello and remarked on what a lovely day it was. Some of them also had friendly dogs.
The trail narrowed and got much steeper. I was seriously sweating, and that was fine. It was part of my plan. My smartwatch let me know what my heart rate was, so I didn’t overdo it. Earlier, three young trail runners passed me, and I finally caught up with them at a shady spot. I paused for a moment, and told them about Theoretical Max Heart Rate (220 minus your age) and that mine was only 152 since I was 68 years old. My watch had been in the upper 140’s when I stopped. No need to have a heart attack! One of the ladies laughed and said that hers was up near 180. This was just fine for someone her age. We got to talking, and I told them about my training for the PCT with a heavy backpack, and offered them a water refill up on the summit if they needed one. I would be happy to lose some weight for the downhill half. Then they hiked onward rapidly while I finished cooling down. Whew! I was sweating profusely. It’s supposed to be good for you. So they say.
After my break, I hiked past huge granite boulders on my way to the upper region of the mountain. There were excellent views from up there. Downtown San Diego was visible to the southwest, as were the distant Coronado Islands, which belong to Mexico. To the north were the snowy peaks of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto, two of SoCal’s “Three Saints” that tower above Los Angeles. I would be hiking near them next month on the PCT, and I wished the snow would melt faster.
I crossed over to the north side of the upper ridge and the radio towers on the summit came into view. The slope mellowed out and I walked along through the chaparral, looking down at the green meadows of Ramona. It felt good to get the bulk of the climbing out of the way.
As I neared the summit, Potato Chip Rock came into view. As expected, there was a crowd taking a break up there, with a short line to the ultimate photo-op on top of the chip itself. Eons ago, the original boulder had split in two; the lower half subsequently succumbed to gravity and slid down the mountainside, leaving a long blade of solid granite behind. It was very thin, but very strong, and the boulder itself was so massive that entire groups of hikers could stand on it without fear of it tipping or cracking. I joined the party. I set down my backpack and climbed up onto the nearby boulder where everyone waited in line. I, too, wanted a photo to send to my friends and family. Instagram and other social media sites were full of photos of people standing on this rock. For good reason. It was fun!
I didn’t have long to wait. The only difficulty was scrambling from one boulder across a gap to the chip’s boulder. I took a photo of the ladies while I waited, and they had a fellow hiker take their photos from off to the side, where the effect of the thin slab looked the best. Then I handed Danica my phone and she took my photo for me. Thanks! I guess this blog is my own personal social media site, because here I am, looking amazing. What a daredevil I am! I also texted it to my family so they’d be properly jealous. My son immediately replied, which let me know that it worked!
Danica handed my phone to me as I climbed back down. The three ladies were already back in line! Apparently they needed some additional shots after checking the ones that were already taken. We talked for a while, and properly introduced ourselves. When Faith asked if they could call me “Grandpa John” I readily agreed (even though I’m not an actual grandpa). I laughed and told them that I would be proud to have them as granddaughters. When I spoke about my hiking exploits they decided that we should form a new Hiking Group, and I agreed to that also. Why not? I texted some of my own photos of the three of them on the rock to Danica, and descended the boulder. It was time for me to go. They were much faster and would catch up to me later.
As I picked up my backpack, Faith remembered my offer to give them some water. Down went the pack and out came a nice new gallon jug of drinking water. Their hydration packs were only a liter or so in volume, and were already depleted. It was a hotter day and a steeper climb than any of us expected. And I was more than happy to lose some weight for the trip back down. Danica took a couple of selfies of the four of us, and sent them to me.
Then I headed back to the parking lot. I still had almost four miles to hike. This time it was downhill, and much easier, though steep enough to make a Grandpa like me take it slow. My mind might not agree, but my knees certainly felt their age, at any rate! Just the same, I made good time. I kept expecting the Hiking Group to overtake me, but it didn’t happen. As I neared Lake Poway, I looked back and they were getting closer. I decided to speed up now that the trail was flat. This was part of my plan.
I sat down on a convenient bench along the side of the lake and awaited their arrival. There was a fine view from there. Within a minute or so the ladies caught up with me. We all felt happy, like you always do after a good workout. I reached into my backpack and got out a treat, which I hadn’t eaten up on the summit like I’d intended. It was a Cosmic Brownie, my favorite trail snack. I broke off a quarter of it and handed the rest to them for sharing. “Cosmic Brownie!” they exclaimed. This was so much better than a granola bar! And it was a great way to end a hike.
We hung out for a few minutes, contemplating our hiking day, along with the chocolate awesomeness of the brownie. I slung on my pack and we headed back to the parking lot. I said goodbye to my new Hiking Group and wished them well with their trail running. Then we all headed home. And I completely forgot to do any fishing.
Hiking from the East:
Later that day, my son came over for a visit, and I mentioned that I was going to climb Woodson tomorrow, from the easy side, from Highway 67 in Ramona. He had already seen my photo from the Potato Chip and asked if he could come along. So the next morning, he and his dog Ellie arrived and we headed back to the mountain. I tried texting Danica and the Hiking Group, to let them know my new plan, but I didn’t give them enough notice, and it turned out that they were already in church and couldn’t reply. Maybe next time!
San Diego County was still in the process of building a proper hiker parking lot over on this side (it is completed now) so we parked along the busy highway, just like everybody else. Lots of people start from here, many with their dogs, so of course we kept Ellie on a leash. She’s super-friendly, especially to humans, but every so often two dogs will decide that they don’t like each other, and when the snapping and snarling start, a leash comes in handy.
Hiking from the east was nice because it was on an actual road, Mount Woodson Road. It was paved in order to allow technicians to get to the radio towers on the summit. Technically, you could ride a bicycle up the mountain, if you had not only the stamina, but also adequate gearing and plenty of padding on your brake shoes. But boy was it steep! The trucks must’ve stayed in compound low to make it. We humans simply took baby steps when it got tough. And paused in the too-few shady spots whenever possible!
The road continued uphill in huge switchbacks, weaving in and out between the giant boulders. We saw rock climbers along the way, busy bouldering on a fine Sunday morning. These rocks were high-quality tight-grained granite, and many had cracks that were lots of fun to climb. As always on a mountain, the views got better the higher we climbed, and soon we were enjoying vistas in every direction.
After reaching the summit. we decided to head on over to Potato Chip Rock, which entailed going beyond the radio and relay towers. On this mountain, standing on the absolute highest point wasn’t really done because it was on top of a difficult-to-climb boulder. Ascending on the road would be good enough for most people, in order to claim you bagged the peak.
We hoisted Ellie up onto the first boulder and waited in line for the chip. I told my son that I would take his photo today, as I didn’t really need to go out there yet again. Years ago, back when Ellie was six weeks old, we brought her up there and held her in one hand for a pose. But not now. She was feeling understandably nervous about walking out there on her leash. Finally my son had to pick her up bodily and carry her out, for her decennial photo-op on the chip.
I ran back up to grab Ellie when he passed her over to the waiting-room boulder, but my son had other plans which he hadn’t told me about. He ran back onto the chip and swung himself over the edge, hanging on with both hands. Then he started doing pull-ups! Everyone was amazed, and began taking photos of this obvious madman. He just laughed and climbed back up.
After that, it was time to head back downhill. This was when Danica replied to my earlier text, so I sent her photos of Ellie. She’s such a good-looking dog and I got the expected response. Everybody loves Ellie. As we hiked down the steep road, we took several breaks to take yet more photos of the excellent views. About halfway down, however, Ellie began to show her age. We noticed a limp on one of her rear legs. So we stopped and figured out a crazy way to stick her into my son’s now-empty backpack. I carried the former contents in mine. Ellie wasn’t all that certain about it initially, but soon she got the hang of it, and was riding comfortably with her front legs on his shoulders. This was also a photo-worthy item.
Ellie was having a good old time. Eventually, however, we got down near the bottom and the road leveled out. Ellie’s ride was over. She seemed fine after that, walking on the easy slope, and we made our way back to the car.
Then it was time to drive back home, while Ellie took a well-deserved nap in the back seat.
All told, I hiked a bit over twelve miles that weekend, and climbed almost 3500 feet. I felt like I was seriously getting into shape for my upcoming trek on the Pacific Crest Trail, which was only three weeks away. As a bonus, I got to join a new Hiking Group, and spent a day with my son, which is always worth doing.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For a few additional photos of the hike see my Flickr Page
hikingtales.com 