Sunday, January 19, 2014

Peaking the P-Mountain


Today we climbed the P-Mountain, with the letter P on it obviously, which stands for Palomar College. You can see the letter P almost from anywhere in North county of San Diego east to it, including the highways. The climb took about 35 minutes all the way to the top, and was quite steep and rough, but the view from above was quite rewarding. You can see the ocean of Carlsbad quite nicely. One lesson learned is to not come down the same way I went up, because it is very hard coming down with such a steep descent. There is another path to take when returning down which is a little longer but much easier and more gradual, so this is something to take note of next time. The total time for the round trip was a little over an hour. The weather was nice and warm, albeit dry as the Santa Ana conditions are still with us causing skin irritation which reminds of me of Arizona weather. I wouldn't mind hiking there up again, especially that it is close to where we live, but there are much better hiking trails than this. We just wanted to try them all. I am sure there is more to discover.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

A Day in the Harbor


The harbor in Oceanside is not far from the famous pier. There people rent boat parking places for $400 a month. I saw different sizes of boats and yachts, and not to mention sailboats and kayaks. I also saw seals. In this picture I am oaring away in a kayak. It was a nice and sunny day, very mild and warm for January, but this is San Diego weather, just marvelous. I also tried a small sailboat. In the beginning it was fun as the mild wind pushed the boat nicely into the open area of the sea, but on my way back, and due to lack of wind in the parking corridor, I found myself stuck between parking boats and I could not get the sailboat to move in the direction I wanted it to move no matter what I did. Turning the rudder would have moved me in the direction of my choice, but without wind that did not work. Finally Amira came to the rescue with a kayak and pulled me out of that snag. So this is it for me as to my sailing experience. I'd rather use oars and push myself along with my muscles rather than be at the mercy of the wind. Like they say: "The wind does not always blow as the ship captain wishes".

Friday, January 03, 2014

Daring Mt. Woodson, Part 3


I climbed to the summit of Mt. Woodson for the second time, and this time I had my picture taken on the Potato Chip rock. The line was not bad this time. I had corrected many mistakes I committed before, like bringing food and more water this time. However, carrying the extra weight was the downside to it. I also brought with me extra shirts to change as I sweat, and one of them was a long sleeve. The weather was nice, but as usual it got colder as the sun started to descend. Overall, the experience this time was better than the last time, although one felt a little bored as the novelty element went away. It is said that you are not a San Diegan if you don't take a picture on top of the Potato Chip rock, so I guess I can consider myself from San Diego now, although I saw tourists from far parts of the world doing the same. You probably see such pictures on the internet as this is a popular place to take pictures, and one of the landmarks of San Diego wilderness.