Set out to hike this familiar and much loved trail, El Cajon Mountain,  aka El Cap. Every year this trail serves as our local conditioning hike to prepare for the bigger peaks in the original SPOP. With this being Joe’s  80+ summit and my 39th, we were excited this hike counted towards our SPOP tally.

We began with the sun still slowly making its grand entrance along the five mile former mining road. The cool morning gave way to sunlight. Recent rains dampened and compacted the soil which gave us great traction. Soon we hiked a series of downhills, then uphills. We took photos along the way, chatted and soaked in the views.

By mile three, we began ascending the rocky terrain, then descending. We stopped at the overlook to catch the views, took pictures and continued. We began our ascend enjoying the cool weather, then descending all while commenting on the roller coaster fun.

Continuing on, we hiked up another rocky section locals call Lucille (Walking Dead). We finally reached the iconic Jeep and stopped for photos, and we pushed on. At the five mile junction which splits off among El Capitan, the nose, and El Cajon, we took photos and proceeded to El Cajon Mountain for the last stretch. We pushed on climbing along the chaparral and rocky boulders and catching the scenic views. Pressing on, we summited, yay us! We took photos and sat down for a bite to eat while enjoying the summit scenery.

This trail is uphill both ways, so on the return, we were all about getting it done. No stops to sight see or take photos at each mile marker. We were all business. Sun warmed up a tad, making it warm in the descending spots, still cool in comparison to the normal temps. We pushed up and down the rocky roller coaster finishing up just in time for lunch. Hungry, we headed to the nearby Eastbound Bar and Grill and enjoyed catching the Niners Vikings playoff game.