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San Diego - Take a Hike!
Guest Blogger
Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014

I recently started enjoying some of San Diego’s many beautiful hiking trails and areas.  I hate working out but realize I can trick myself into exercising by hiking.  The views and appreciation of the outdoors makes it feel more like fun than work.  I am by no means an expert but thought I would share my beginner hiking experiences and review two hiking spots that I have visited recently. My first hike of the year was a visit to a very popular place called Cowles Mountain which is located within the Mission Trails Regional Park.  The peak, at 1,593 feet high, is considered the highest point in San Diego.  Round trip the hike is only three miles, but is a nice steep climb.  Since it is such a high elevation, the top has some amazing views which are perfect for resting up before going back down.  Instead of admitting defeat you can just say you are stopping to enjoy the view instead!  It’s a great place to start, but because of its popularity it is very crowded with constant foot traffic going up and down.  The trail is very well maintained with nothing too narrow or rocky and a nice even zigzag up with mountain.  I will definitely go back often for a good quality quick hike.

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](http://camdenblogs.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/cowels.jpg) View from one side of Cowles Mtn....

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](http://camdenblogs.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/cowels2.jpg) ...and view from the other side My next hike was a pretty ambitious one.  The Mount Woodson Trail located in Poway, right outside of San Diego, leads to the notorious “Potato Chip Rock”.  I decided that I had to see Potato Chip Rock, and how hard could such a popular hike be?  Well, it was pretty tough but also well worth it.  The hike, round trip, was 7.5 miles with an expected travel time of four hours which was three hours up and only one hour coming down.  The elevation is 2,881 feet, which is much higher than Cowles Mt. but since Mt. Woodson is not considered to be in San Diego it does not hold the title of San Diego’s highest peak.  If was definitely do-able, but some parts could get pretty steep and rocky.  The climb onto the actual Potato Chip Rock was pretty precarious, but made the trip worth it.  The views on the climb up and down were amazing and did make for a great distraction.  There weren’t as many people as on the Cowles Mountain trail, but there was a line of people at the top waiting to take a picture on top of Potato Chip Rock.

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(http://camdenblogs.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/potatochip.jpg) Obligatory Potato Chip Rock photo!

My early experiences with hiking have made me definitely want to pursue this past time more and more.  Unfortunately, due to time constraints, it is something I only have time to do on the weekend but plan to continue the adventure.  Luckily San Diego has a lot to offer by way of hiking so should keep me busy for a long time to come!

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