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| Hiking | 6.61 Miles |
1,506 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.61 Miles | 2 Hrs 45 Mns | | 2.40 mph |
| 1,506 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Some folks hike South Fortuna Mountain from the Clairemont Mesa Blvd. trailhead, but I started from the Mission Trails Regional Park visitor center on Father Junipero Serra Trail, as recommended by the San Diego Reader ( sandiegoreader.com/ ... oam/ ).
If you are properly hydrating during your hike, both respecting the stay-on-trail signs and your pants could become an issue. Even if your sense of dignity overwhelms that of your civic virtue, probable embarassment and / or subsequent ‘public urination’ charges, will convince you to ‘tie a knot in it’ instead.
Very, very few flowers on the South Fortuna Mountain Loop. At least any flowers with color other than brown. Wild buckwheat, was everywhere though. (If wild buckwheat has colorful flowers, I’ve never seen them: They’ve always been brown for me.) This hike’s #flowerpr0n is definitely rated G!
The Suycot Valley Trail is shared with mountain bikers, so keep the eyes in the back of your head open for anyone blasting downhill. I only passed guys pushing their MTBs uphill.
On the Stairway to Heaven, there are several times you may need to use three points of contact to get up a small boulder. At least this fat man did.
At the false summit, the boulder shields you from view of the South Fortuna Trail, so I took advantage of the opportunity to take a leak. Hopefully, none of the ants below, in Mission Gorge, had binoculars. 
On the true summit, I spent a few minutes enjoying the view, despite downtown and the Pacific being obscured by coastal haze. I did not actually consume my summit brew because I was still sweating out all the beer I drank on Harbor Island the night before. 
I headed north off the summit, to the powerlines in the saddle between South Fortuna and North Fortuna. Due to time constraints (grandnephew's 1st birthday in La Jolla at 2:00 p.m.), and much higher than anticipated temperatures, I completely skipped North Fortuna.
Despite the powerline jeep trail being steep & slippery, I managed to haul donkey without slipping.
Heading to the well-shaded picnic area, the segment was obviously much more popular with mountain bikes than hikers, but I encountered no MTBs. I was actually kind of bummed, because the whoops would have made for some good action shots.
I took a break at the picnic area, listening to a Boy Scout leader identify the California Live Oak, checking twitter, and drinking more water.
Not much else to report after that, unless you want to see cute baby pictures. 
Hike Video: [ youtube video ] |
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Wildflowers Observation None
Almost none, unless you call browned out Wild Buckwheat a "flower". |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
