This canyon trail runs parallel the 56. You can park at either end (near I5, or black mountain road/I15), and hike up to 10 miles, round trip. A river runs down the center of the canyon, and there are trails on either side of the river, with crossings every mile or so. It's relatively flat, though there is some up and down as the trail meanders around the edge of the canyon. The trail is well marked, with maps posted every couple of miles. [map] [website]There isn't much shade on the trails, but there are enough spots of shade that you can easily find a shady place to rest between sun-drenched bits of walking. Since the canyon is quite wide and runs east/west, the canyon walls never provide much shade, either. We suggest getting there in the morning or evening, when the sun isn't quite so strong.
At least on the weekend, this is a very popular trail. You'll find yourself sharing with horses, runners, and mountain bikers, along with the occasional mild-mannered hiker.
We first hiked this in late Sept. We got an early, 7AM start from the lot on the I5 side of the park. It was one of those foggy days where you could only see about 100 feet. With that limited visibility, it felt like the trail was completely isolated from civilization/the urban sprawl that is San Diego, though later on when the fog burned off it was clear that houses dotted the edges of the canyon cliffs with some frequency. Everything was very, very dry, and there was lots of dust. Surprisingly, however, given
that it hasn't rained much in six months, there were lots of green plants along the trail, esp. when the trail took a turn toward the small river that runs through the park. After about 2.7 miles we came to the water fall, which is really just some water running downhill over small boulders. It did offer a nice place to rest, and there was even a bench. We kept going for another mile or so, and then we crossed the river and walked back on the other side. At our turnaround spot we found a little wooded glade next to the river. The river was clean and teeming with life- we even saw some crawfish! This kind of thing is so unusual in San Diego, it was quite a treat for our east coast sensibilities.
In an amusing side note, the sole came off of Alan's left boot after only 10 minutes of hiking. Luckily, both hiking boots were in pretty bad shape, and the sole from the other boot was easily removed, keeping the shoes roughly equal in height. He was afraid that the boots would fall apart completely at any moment, but they managed to last the rest of the hike OK.
Today's Gorp:
raisins
dried blueberries
dried cherries
dried currants
dried cranberries
honey roasted peanuts
roasted, unsalted almonds
roasted, salted pepitas
