Cedar Creek Falls in April 2023

Cedar Creek Falls in the San Diego River Gorge flowing nicely after a winter with well above average rain; Cleveland National Forest, San Diego County, California; April 2023.

It is inevitable: spring calls for a hike to Cedar Creek Falls — no matter how popular and over-visited this place is nowadays, it was the very first hike that Shuwen and I did together in San Diego County: on October 31, 2010, just nine days after my arrival, I saw this lovely little place for the first time. And while I have been back many times since (San Diego River Gorge archive), I realized with some shock that, in the twelve (!) springs that I’ve experienced here in San Diego now, Shuwen had never been back with me! It was high time to change that and she too could see how absolutely beautiful the San Diego River Gorge is, in spring.

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Fry-Koegel Trail

The Fry-Koegel Trail winds through a grove of Coast Live Oaks on the north-east facing side of Mount Woodson; February 2022.

The peak that used to be known* as Mount Woodson can be hiked from two sides: either from the west, starting at Lake Poway (or if you’re more ambitious, from the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, which connects to Lake Poway), or from the east, off of Highway 67.

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More from the Pecho Coast

Coastal bluffs and seastacks with Point Buchon, Central Coast, California; August 2021.

Here are a few more photos from our Point Buchon Trail hike (previous entry: Point Buchon Stacks, with a bit more story). When we arrived and began to walk, it almost looked like the marine layer would burn off soon (first photo), but the clouds remained in place for almost the entire time of our hike, which was very pleasant.

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Coyote Mountains Wilderness Prominence Point

Sandstone formations and fossil reefs, Carrizo Badlands and Fish Creek Mountains; February 2021.

During a more aimless wander in the Coyote Mountains Wilderness, I came upon what looked like a well worn in route, perhaps used by sheep, or coyotes… or both? I made a mental note of it and then later, traced it at home, marking it as a potential route for a hike to the “prominence point” of the Coyote Mountains Wilderness, which my friend Hans had made me aware of (he chose the approach from Fossil Canyon).

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