Well, HEY, everyone! It's been almost a year since I did any Six-Pack hikes. About two months after I had to bail on the Arizona Winter Six-Pack due to extreme heat (note: maybe don't start it when winter's, like, ending) I got some kind of respiratory illness that absolutely wrecked my lungs. Then I had another one in August. Apparently neither was COVID. But my VO2max plummeted (thanks for the data, Apple Watch), my energy levels were terrible for months, and I gradually got into worse and worse shape. Let me tell you: This sucked. After my Arizona attempt (in which I got in four out of six peaks) I only went hiking twice more in the entirety of 2022. Being inactive feels awful but sometimes it just seems hopeless and impossible to do anything about it.

I've been determined to turn things around. We got a Peloton last month and I've been gradually building my fitness levels back up to something  reasonable, and walking as much as I can to stay active. I decided to register for another Six-Pack and was excited to see that there's a new Appalachians challenge, which can be accomplished from where I live by taking a cheap 90-minute flight and crashing with my friends in Chattanooga. But I'm not going to be able to do that until the spring, and meanwhile, I'm still regularly in Southern California for work, so when I saw I had a free day on a trip that started this week, I figured I could kickstart a West Coast Six-Pack and get it done over the course of trips that I have this year by tacking on weekends to work travel.

I was a little bit worried about the effects that high elevation might have on my still-recovering lungs, so I didn't want to reattempt the SoCal Six Pack that I completed in 2021. I took a look at the Central Coast and San Diego challenges, and registered for San Diego the same day that I successfully made it up and back on Volcan Mountain. It was tougher than it should have been given that I haven't been hiking enough lately, but it was a beautiful hike with great views (it wasn't a totally clear day but you could see all the way to the ocean and get a faint glimpse of Catalina Island), friendly hikers whose cute dogs were always up for snuggles, and OH NO ONE TOLD ME that at the base of the mountain there are tons of WINERIES! And cider brewers! Julian, CA is an adorable little town that made for the perfect post-hike meal. The drive from Long Beach (where I'm staying) to the trailhead and back was also gorgeous. It's rained a lot recently and it's been years since I saw Southern California look this green.

Couple of notes:

— Very busy trail. You will definitely encounter a lot of other hikers, many of whom have dogs.
— There's perfect cell service the whole way up and down in case you want to stream your favorite podcast!
— AllTrails reviewers have been complaining about the mud. If you have ever done much East Coast hiking, this mud will not dissuade you.
— The trail is a very gradual, pretty steep uphill without many rocks. The first half is steeper than the second.
— Last quarter mile can be very windy since it's mostly open grassland.

I'll be back in San Diego County the first weekend in March and hope to knock out #2 and #3! And once the East Coast is a little less icy, I'll ideally be in great shape for taking a week off work to do the Appalachians challenge. So great to be back with you all and hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the New Year!