We started at the Mount Woodson trailhead near Poway Lake. There are many different little trails that can be done around the lake or even added to the full Mt. Woodson Trail hike as I understand. It’s beautiful being near the lake and the trail itself is a very reasonable amount of difficulty (for the average hiker). Unfortunately for us, we donated blood a day prior. And worse than forgetting that we did and getting an unfortunate reminder, we incorrectly assumed that we’d be fine. WE WERE NOT FINE. So although this trail took us longer than it should’ve, with much more difficulty than it should’ve, that holds no bearing on the trail itself.

Although the Mt. Woodson trail was relatively vacant, don’t be surprised by a small crowd at the potato chip rock itself. There is a shorter, more populated path to the top via the other side of the mountain. Because of the attraction of potato-chip rock and the large number of visitors that it brings, the peak area is infuriatingly littered with garbage. We specifically noted MANY discarded alcohol containers among various pieces of SDSU memorabilia. I’m no detective, but a correlation might be inferred. *eye roll.*

We had to utilize our bug nets on the way down. It was closer to midday at this point, and the flying termites were active and annoying.

All in all, it was a really nice hike on a beautiful day; regardless of the fact that we probably should’ve attempted it prior to losing a half liter of the oxygen-carrying medium called, “blood.”