San Diego Hiking in the South Bay
San Diego Hiking in the South Bay
San Diego has many hiking trails from the San Diego Beaches to the 
San Diego Mountains. I recently spent a weekend at the Thousand Trails Campground in Jamul about 10 minutes east of EastLake off of Otay Lakes Road. The campground is called Pio Pico and is surrounded by mountains and hiking that was incredible. Going in early spring was a good idea because it wasn’t too hot or too cold and the seasonal rivers were still flowing although just a little. I went hiking the first day with a friend of mine that I was camping with. We hiked through a beautiful green valley with large Scrub Oaks and knee high dark green grass. We walked up the seasonal river bed between two mountain peaks. This made the hike easier because it was mostly rocks and boulders and also made it very cool because it was shady in many areas.
As we started our climb we saw the colorful flowers and fresh plant growth that sprung to life from the rains after the destruction from the San Diego wildfires. It was incredible. As we hiked higher up the trail we noticed that this area was a likely spot where illegal immigrants crossed into America. We found hundreds of plastic bottles with Mexican labels, canned tuna and snacks with Mexican labels, nap sacks, and discarded clothing and a clear trail along the seasonal river bank. I could be wrong but we surmised this to be signs of illegal immigration and with the Border Patrol saturation in this area I think we were right.
We climbed to the top of the mountain and took some great pictures and had a great talk about life. Hiking and nature seem to always get one connected with what’s most important in life. We hiked on down the trail and found a few more interesting things along the way.
The next day I hiked solo up a different seasonal river bed further east. I found a great area with staggered pools of water and one I soaked my feet in and boy was that water cold. I found some Indian pottery in a crevice between some rocks and looked at it but put it back where I found it. I saw deer tracks as well which made me feel good that there were still some in the area. One day I’ll check out the old gold mines in the area and post about my adventures there. San Diego back country is fun and exciting and if you like the outdoors you’ll love San Diego.
Previous Posts:
Thousand Trails Pio Pico in Jamul San Diego
San Diego Fires Create Back Country Flower Extravaganza
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