cowles mountain

This post has been a long time coming, because we hiked this trail during summertime. We had decided we wanted to see the sunset from the highest point in the city of San Diego, and getting our hike on was part of the bargain.

• Trail: Cowles Mountain from Golfcrest Drive (map)
• Location: Mission Trails Regional Park
  
• Length: 3 miles (out & back)
  
• Hike/run time: 45 minutes up, 20 minutes back down
  
• Terrain: Dirt path, some rocks, some stairs
  
• Path visibility: Clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: Moderately steep -- it is a mountain, after all
  
• Cost: free parking at corner of Navajo and Golfcrest
  
• Highlight destination: The top! Can't beat the view!
  
• Beware: Lots of traffic on the path, and coming down can be tricky
  

After parking in the street (the lot was full) we started making our way up. We knew we had pushed our luck by getting there only about 35 minutes before sunset, so we tried to limit our sightseeing as we headed up. Still, after only 10 minutes or so you can't help but notice how beautiful the view of the city below is from the mountainside.

There were lots of other people already heading up the mountain ahead of us. They had obviously planned a little better to reach the summit in time for the sunset. But we were undaunted. We set a pretty good pace up the trail, which was fairly steep and full of switchbacks. We didn't have as good a pace as some of the runners on the trail, though - it was pretty impressive to see them tackling the hill at speed, and it even looked kind of fun in a masochistic way. Kind of a natural, rugged version of Rocky running up the steps in Philadelphia.

The trail itself actually heads up to a shoulder on the southeast side of the mountain, and then levels out and slightly descends before heading up the main summit where some radio towers and various antennas are perched. We had not had much verticality in our hikes before this, so we felt pretty good about really climbing a mountain ... well, the kids running up and down the path beside us kept us from being too proud of our feat, but still, there was no arguing that we were gaining some altitude.

Our diligence and urgency paid off. The sun set a little bit later atop the 1,591 ft peak than scheduled at sea level, so we arrived at the top just in time to see a the sun touching the top of the Pacific beyond what must have been La Jolla, and then slowly sliding down into the sea. It was a gorgeously clear day, and looking down at the little houses spreading out towards the city skyline, all the way to the Coronado bridge, we felt very lucky to be enjoying the panorama of America's Finest City as the sky turned colors from a deep blue behind us to a bright gold in front of us.

We stayed for a little while at the top. Drank some water. Took photos. Basked in our success. Then decided we better head down before it got too dark. The path isn't exactly treacherous, but I certainly wouldn't want to descend it blindfolded. Short of a full moon, it would be a less than pleasant trek down at night.

As we reached the bottom it was just getting uncomfortably dark, so we were glad we didn't stay too long on top. But this was one of our favorite hikes, and we're hoping to repeat it early in the morning on the Winter Solstice, which local native Americans used to mark on this mountain annually.

We're probably not ready to run up the mountain yet, but the view alone definitely makes it a goal worth working towards.



Tipped off: We first saw this hike in the entertainment section of the Union-Tribune's Web site, in the Best Of San Diego section, where San Diegans vote on their favorite things around the city.