My teenager daughter and I started at 7:50am. Plenty of parking – bought a day parking pass at Ortega Oaks Candy Store. The lady running the candy store greeted us and opened 10 min. early. We much appreciated that!

Be careful crossing Ortega Highway to get to the Bear ? Canyon Trailhead… cars are speeding and there are blind spots on both sides while crossing.

We made it to the peak in 2.5 hours. As we’ve read, the last 0.4 to the peak was incredibly vertical and  challenging. We spent about 45 min. at the peak and really enjoyed the views. I had a hazy IPA at the top… so refreshing. Had some nice conversation with other hikers at the peak.

The descent was not too bad at all. I used poles to save my knees and to keep balance, especially at the start of the decent.  Just took my time to be safe.

We saw one person dress up for Halloween… so fun. We saw a few dogs on the trail… always love to see the four-legged friends.

The weather was perfect and the trail was well maintained. No crowds. Each of us went through 2 liters of water.

Overall, this was a nice break from the other challenging peaks we’ve bagged. One more peak to go to finish the SoCal challenge and three more to finish the San Diego challenge. Let’s go!!! Great daddy-daughter memories and bonding.