San Diego County COVID data dashboard overhaul

If anyone is still keeping track, SD County revamped their COVID data dashboard.  It will curious to see how long this is kept up.  My guess is forever since there is a funding line for this kind of stuff.

Corral Canyon OHV Loop and Corte Madera Hike

Another winter campout got cancelled so Jyoti and I headed out to a local OHV area for some offroading and hiking.

The start was at the Four Corner staging area in the Corral Canyon OHV area.  This area has trails for cars, MTB, SXS and jeeps.  Our plan was to loop the area in a counter-clockwise direction with a stop to bag Corte Madera.

 

Head of Espinosa Trail

The first leg was along Los Pinos road which was pretty rutted and rocky in spots.  We stopped at the closed gate to the fire tower and hiked up to check out the tower.  The views were great which is probably why the tower is there.  We continued on to the upper trailhead for Corte Madera where we parked.

The hike was steep in the beginning but the leveled out along the ridge.  The peak had great views and is well worth the effort.  Another hiker took some peak photos.

View from Corte Madera trail

Los Pinos fire tower

Corte Madera Peak

Back at the car, we headed down Espinosa Trail.  This road was rated 5 by TrailsOffroad.com and had some deep ruts and decent sized rocks.  At obstacle 2, we stopped to plan out a line.  Taking our time we made it through the short obstacle without issues.

The rest of the road was fairly smooth and finished up right before sundown.

Old Town State Park Expansion

Old Town State Park is one of my favorite places in San Diego.  A few years ago, the park took over the site of an old Caltrans building.  They tore it down and build a new section devoted to the Indians and nature. This section is more of a park and open-air classroom.  There are few exhibits but the place is very peaceful even with the traffic of two nearby freeways and multiple busy streets.

San Diego blue sky

Park dedication

Winter Wonderland Hike

We originally had overnight camping trip planned but due to bad weather coming in, we decided on a day hike.  Knowing the weather was poor, it was a good chance to get some experience in rain or snow which can be hard to do in San Diego.  Jyoti picked out Hot Springs Mt which is located on the Los Coyotes reservation.  It is the highest peak in San Diego County but is not really well known since it was closed to the public for many years.

Driving up, we got a bit of rain but nothing too bad.  Stopping at the reservation security gate, the guard was surprised that anyone wanted to hike today.  After paying the fee, we headed up to the campground and the trailhead.  The trail started up the road pretty steeply.  We say patches of snow but when we hit 6000 feet, the trail was completely covered.  There was about 5-6 inches of snow and we had to break trail in some patches.  It started snowing as well.  About 1.5 miles from the summit, we took a break and decided to head back.  The wind and snow picked up for most the of way down.

Snow on Hot Springs Mt trail