The recent storms that rolled through left a tremendous amount of precipitation across all of non-desert Southern California. Palomar Mountain, with its advantageous geographic position, received between 6-9" of precipitation, depending on location, which represents between 1/5 and 1/3 of its annual average precipitation. In other words, it poured. Distance: 4.5 Elevation Gained: 350' Difficulty: …
Continue reading "Palomar Mountain State Park: Deluge Edition"
Nate Harrison Grade is a windy fireroad that connects Palomar Mountain State Park to Highway 76. It passes through orange groves, open grassland, and burned forest before entering the park just below Boucher Hill. Palomar State Park is, of course, Palomar State Park, and it's also my favorite place in San Diego County. Distance: 6 …
Continue reading "Nate Harrison Grade and Palomar Mountain State Park"
Stepping out of the car into the damp, crisp air and shady forest at Palomar Mountain State Park after hours of desert was like waking up from one dream into an entirely new one. I can't think of a starker contrast from warm, dry, and desolate to cold, damp, and thriving. Here is evidence of …
Continue reading "Palomar Mountain State Park, Soggy Edition"
Looking east from the slopes of Telegraph PeakDuring the month of May, I hiked 91.7 Miles and gained 17,960'. I spent 41 hours and 33 minutes on the trails, and I burnt off about 15,050 calories doing so. While May is warmer than April, and, at least this year, much dryer, the temperature change allows …
This Saturday following a volunteer orientation to become a forest fire lookout volunteer, I stopped off at Palomar Mountain State Park and took the following pictures. I will talk more about the fire lookout gig, but for now, here are some more pictures of Palomar being gorgeous.Distance: 5.3 MilesElevation Gained: 800'Difficulty: ModerateTime: 2:05Critters: Chipmunk, wild …
A Hawk's Eye View of San Diego County from the Boucher Hill LookoutThis is a brief photo essay documenting the four seasons that I have witnessed this year at Palomar Mountain. The locales include High Point, the State Park, and the Observatory Trail. This is easily one of my favorite hiking destinations in all of …
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