I had hiked up Santiago Peak a couple of years back via the Joplin Truck Trail and it was a completely different experience then. I had terrible $25 boots from Payless, an old draw string gym pack to hold a couple of bottles of water in, I hadn't exercised in essentially a decade and it was pouring rain for half the hike.

Fast forward to today and I am much more prepared both physically and equipment wise, this hike was a breeze. Granted, I did start at the Maple Springs trailhead which is considerably easier however I didn't break much of a sweat! The reason I did Maple Springs is because it's getting close to the end of the year and I have more peaks to do and I'm doing Gorgonio the following weekend and want to rest up! It was crystal clear out that day, with views from the top stretching from downtown LA and Malibu down to San Diego, and out east towards San Jacinto / San Gorgonio and Palm Springs; truly felt like I was in the best spot possible to see most of the southern California coast. The trail is fairly straightforward as it simply follows the fire road to the top. Lots of dirt bikers as it got later in the morning, a few jeeps as well. I decided to extend the hike and went up to Mojeska Peak as well which ended up being awesome. Tested out some new radios and was able to be in contact with my wife back down in Mission Viejo so that was a success too. The hike down was nice and easy with a cool breeze offsetting the heat of the sun. For all my preparedness, I forgot a hat 🙁

*A note about the drive to Maple Springs: after you pass through the forest service gate, the road is paved but has many potholes to keep a look out for. after a certain point about a mile and a half in it becomes a dirt road. I drove up in a Nissan Versa which worked but I had to be careful about avoiding rocks on the way up. Very slow going as you can't speed through this part in a sedan but it worked out.