“Hiking Up Hill….Both Ways”

This trail for some reason is also known as El Capitan trail and is how it was introduced to me a while back when a group of friends took me here. Back then, I had underestimated the amount of water that is needed and finished fully dehydrated and exhausted. Lesson learned: Bring plenty of water. Like, a gallon and a half of it per person. Especially in summer or early fall months. This trail is closed in August due to the heat. The hills are steep and will make you sweat more than usual. I have yet to find a trail in San Diego County more challenging than this one.

I’m an avid backpacker and this year decided to complete the Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) on Catalina later this month. The TCT is considered difficult and have trained all summer for this 5-day backpack camping trip with some friends. I been told by those who have completed TCT, this trail is great to test to see if you can complete the TCT. A day hike on El Cajon Mountain Trail is equivalent to each of the day hikes on this 5 day Catalina journey. If you struggle to get to the top of El Cajon Mountain and back with a full pack (about 35 lbs) , you might want to reconsider your trek on the TCT. Along with a friend, we used this hike as our test for the TCT, with full packs (I used a weighted vest under a hydration pack).

Since the weather forecast indicated a high temp in the low 80’s with Santa Ana conditions, we arrived early at zero dark thirty (5:00 am). There is a parking lot. However, it is closed this early in the morning and you can park along the highway. The shoulder is slightly elevated and there is an auxiliary lane to turn into and out of Blue Sky Ranch Rd. This provides some separation from the fast moving traffic going north along the road.  Surprisingly, we found several cars already parked along side the road with hikers who started even earlier than us.

After gearing up and passing by the closed parking lot, there are several residences tucked away with drive ways from the road. It is completely dark and headlamps were needed to guide us along the route until the sun starts to rise. The trail at this point is paved and a moderate incline providing a good warm up for the difficulties ahead. There is a well maintained chemical restroom at the top of the main road. With 11 to 12 miles ahead of you, it is a nice convenience before the trail narrows with switch backs for the initial climb. About 2 and a half miles in, the sun started to show and provided us with the colorful, morning sun rise.

The trail is rugged with lots of rocks. At some points there are several deposits of decomposed granite making it extra slippery especially on hard surfaces. We had to rely on our trekking poles several times to prevent falls. What makes this hike difficult is that the trail up to the mountain has climbs and descents while you are increasing overall elevation towards the peak. And, this up and down effort still occurs on the return after your legs are already tired from the climb to the peak. The descents are difficult as well since they are steep. We past by a hiker when we were returning. He was breathing heavily and asked if this trail is truly “Up Hill Both Ways”.  “Oh yeah” we responded thinking how this was a great description to summarize the trail’s hiking experience.

Reaching the half-way point is easy to identify as there is a landmark. You just finished the most difficult incline and reach a stop sign. It congratulates you and lets you know you are at the half way point and if it is late in the afternoon, to turn around and go back. An insulated water cooler is located not far from there for those who under estimated their water intake. There are mile markers along the route and signs with pictures on inclination and relative distances left to travel. This prevents any false hopes that you are almost there. About three quarters of a mile to the peak, there is a rusted out chassis of what looks like a military jeep. It begs the question on how it got there with assumptions it broke down in place where repair is impossible. With about a half mile left to the peak, there is a junction with a sign having arrows pointing left or to the right. Left is designated for “El Cajon Trail” and to the right is shown as “El Capitan trail”. We went left since this was our goal. The trail at this point is more technical with climbing over rocks. There are red trail stakes that identify where the trail is located and we relied on them as the rocks makes it difficult to identify what is a trail what is not. As you get towards the top, the inclination levels out and you are greeted with a spectacular 360 degree view. I say spectacular in that this is a reward that was worth the difficult climb.

We continued along the peak as far as the trail would take us, which was a large boulder. I couldn’t find any sign identifying El Cajon Mountain, but I did find a surveyor’s marker embedded into the top of the boulder when I climbed on top of it.

While we felt great at the start of the return trip, the last two miles proved to be difficult. This was caused by two things. We still had hills to climb even though our leg muscles were exhausted. And the cloudless sky allowed the Santa Ana sun continuously beat upon us as it was high in the sky. I finished with only a half liter left in my 6 – liter water supply.

We did it. Finished with sore feet, tired legs and out of energy. I drank the best tasting ice cold Gatorade when I reached the car along with a great appreciation for air conditioning on the drive home.