Birthday week-end – Conclusion – Volcan Mountain – 6 of 6 ✌️

May 23, 2021

After a sunny Sunday morning scenic hike up Cuyamaca Peak and a relaxing coffee break in Julian, it was time to head over to Volcan Mountain.  My husband sat this one out and enjoyed a little nap in the car while I enjoyed the hike.

At 5+ miles round trip, this was the shortest of the San Diego Six-Pack challenges and a great way to wrap up the day!  The dirt trail was very well maintained with many informative signs about habitat, history, etc. peppered along the way.  Hold on to your hats! It did get extremely windy towards the summit – my favorite hiking hat almost became an offering to the Mountain Gods at one of the lookout areas.  🙂   I was happy to easily find the USGS marker on the east facing side of the summit as the trail loops around the Airway Light Beacon tower.

This space fan couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out the Volcan Mountain Observatory outpost on the way down.  It was one of the scouted locations for the Hale Telescope before Palomar Mountain was eventually chosen.

My original plan was to do an out-and-back but I decided to try the Five Oaks side trail as an alternate route. The trail is more rugged and even more scenic than the main Volcan Mountain trail.  It took me through expansive meadows with even better views of the mountains on the south side (towards Cuyamaca).  The last section meandered through the shade of an Oak Grove before rejoining the main trail. I'm so glad I tried this route – it was definitely worth it and a nice surprise!

Fun encounter: I caught up with a group of hikers wearing a San Diego Six-Pack of Peaks T-shirt as I was leaving the area

Next up: on to the SoCal Six-Pack of Peaks challenge!

The San Diego Six-Pack of Peaks was a great challenge to participate in and gave me the opportunity to discover areas of the county I had never visited.  Thank you – I thoroughly enjoyed it!  It was also a perfect preparation for some of the more challenging hikes of the SoCal Six-Pack.