Mt. Laguna Car Camp

I did a one night car camp up at Mt. Laguna to test out my new tent and sleeping pad.  I got the tent for half off on Black Friday and the sleeping pad was 1/3 off so very good deals.  They are WAY lighter than the tent and sleeping pad I was using.  I think it shaves about 5 pounds off my backpack weight.  Pretty sweet.

Pico and I went up there and procured a campsite.  The weather called for sunny with a high of 60 and a low of 30.  Unfortunately, the weather report said nothing about frigid winds.  Oh man, it was SO windy and so cold.  I got the tent set up and it is tiny!  It definitely is an ultralight minimalist type of deal. 

Pico and I did our requisite walk out to Laguna Lake before the sun set.  The lake is still very low and scummy looking.  The wind was pelting us and my sinuses started to react.

We got back to the campsite and made a fire which did nothing to stave away the chill from the whipping wind.  I put Pico inside my down jacket and we stood by the fire and watched the sunset.  The sun had the winter glow to it as it set- frigid and no warmth there.

I made my beef stew and it was so good!  Nothing like a hot meal when it's freezing cold.  I wanted hot chocolate but couldn't find it anywhere.  That was a bummer.

We crawled into the teeny tiny tent and tried to situate ourselves.  I had my feet towards the door with my head in the opposite smaller end and started feeling claustrophobic and nauseous.  So I flipped everything around so my head was by the door.  My head touches the top of the tent when I sit up and it's very difficult to get in and out.  I didn't even bother changing into my sleeping clothes.  I would have had to change outside in the 30 degree whipping wind.  Pico snuggled down into my sleeping bag and his little body was a welcome furnace.

I woke myself up in the night snoring!  I'm not a snorer but I had developed a sore throat and I think that's why I was snoring.  And my sinuses were jacked up from the wind.  They still are and I hope it doesn't turn into a sinus infection.

The next morning I was supposed to hike but I decided to bag it because I really wasn't feeling well.  I made my breakfast (dehydrated quinoa and apples, pecans, cinnamon, and powdered milk) and then slowly packed everything up and headed on out.  It was kind of a weird disappointing trip to be honest.  I'm not sure about that tent and I definitely felt under the weather.

Tonight I have a 2 hour hot yoga class from 10pm to midnight to ring in the new year.

Happy New Year!

Mt. Woodson West Approach

I did a quickie work-out at Mt. Woodson from Poway Lake yesterday.  I originally had plans to go further afield but had to change them at the last minute.  Simone is sick so I watched Little Kahuna so she could go to the doctor. 

The temperature was an unbelievable 71 degrees when I started hiking.  The Santa Ana winds are really blowing through and heating things up this week.  Of course there was a crap ton of people out trying to burn off Christmas Calories.  I just tucked my head down and got the work-out in.  When I made it to the top,  I paused for a moment to observe the mayhem that is Potato Chip Rock, and then turned back around.  Made 7 miles and some change in 3.5 hours.  It was 80 degrees when I got done.  No Pico today- too hot!  Then I buzzed on home to take care of baby.

Black Mountain

I finished my Christmas Crap this morning and thought Hey, I have time to hike!  So I went out to Black Mountain in the spur of the moment.  It was a nice work-out with some very steep sections.  The temperature was a beautiful sunny 63 degrees.  But it felt like 80.  Pico only made it .5 mile before I had to put him in my backpack.  He seemed too hot and didn't like the steep rocky terrain.  Very few people were out, I only saw 10, so that was nice.  It was such a clear day I could see downtown and the ocean- Gorgeous!  4 miles and some change took me 2 hours and 11 minutes.









































What the heck!!  Grafitti UGH!









And just cuz!  He's working on rolling over!