I drove down to the hike early in the morning and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise over the mountains along the highway. I stopped at the rest stop as you exit, and I am so glad I did because there are no facilities at the trailhead.

The morning warmed up quickly and I needed to take over my extra layers before the first mile was up. As everyone says, you NEED to wear long sleeves and pants on this trail. There are lots of scratchy shrubs you have to move between. Be sure to download a map of the trail because it's easy to lose the trail with all the boulders and shrubs. The trail is mostly exposed so long sleeves help from getting burned, too.

On the way up, there were fun rock formations such as the Kissing Boulders and views of “San Diego's Half Dome.”