Sup ya'll.

Finished Volcan Mountain today. Tried to get out there early, weather said a heat wave was planning a visit to San Diego today through Sunday. It was around 85-87 at the summit and a cool and breezy 102 back at the car when the hike was done. Weekday hikes are great sometimes, had the whole place to myself today. Ran into a couple of park rangers driving back down, they made the same comment!

I know it's late in the season and many of you have probably already done this one but for those who haven't here are some trail deets…

Overall mellow trail, constant climb to the summit but not a ton of elevation gain. I tracked right at 1,386 ft from the trail head. The trail was clean and dry with some fist-sized and bigger rock in the washes along the fire road. There is a real nasty grade around half way up, and man I tell ya it felt like a 20% grade. In honesty it was probably more like 12+%, but still! Gets pretty buggy right around that part too but only there for some reason.

Late season wild flowers were around and the smell of wild rosemary helped to distract from that gnarly grade. I really love the smell of rosemary, something about it is so comforting.

Patches of shade and trees most of the way up were a great place to stop and get out of the heat but approaching the summit (maybe last 1/4 mile) you are in the open so make sure you're loaded up on the SPF. The summit has a few places to sit and hang with the views and a snack and the breeze was nice too! Keep an eye on the sky at the summit, you'll see quite a few hawks riding the wind coming up the mountains. Always awe-some to see!

No potties here, so make sure you pack it out!

Over all it was a great start to the SD Six Pack, a little huffing and puffing to remind me that I'm old and out of shape but a ton of fun!