Bagging North and South Fortuna Peaks

The wife was at a baby shower today, so I grasped the opportunity to take Babe out for a hike in Mission trails regional park (see map here).

We started off at the Clairemont Mesa Blvd entrance, saving both time and gas as normally we drive over the pass down into Santee further East. A warm day (definitely t-shirt/shorts weather) but with a cooling breeze from time to time made it bearable for both man and dog despite walking in the middle of the day.

First we climbed South Fortuna peak (a little over 1000 ft elevation from 500 ft in the car park and to the right hand side of this blip). A steep climb up a set of "stairs". At one point we went a little off piste and I had to push babe's butt up one step so she could ascend. What you could call teamwork as she pulled me up a lot of the way! But we reached the top and a well deserved rest and lunch/water admiring the views.

We next climbed down to the fortuna saddle, then back up to North Fortuna peak (1291 ft - the left hand peak/ridge) and after a quick chat with an old guy at the summit, we passed some girls who were geocaching a little further along the ridge. A couple of old ammunition boxes were filled full of notepads and pens and people could jot down whatever they wanted. Apparently there are a lot of these located all over the park.

A swift ascent down the other side and along the Rim trail back to the car park. All in all about 6 miles in a little under 3 hours. A nice walk on what is out doorstep really. Great views of the coast to the West, from mexico up to UTC were we live (all under the marine layer today) and to the mountains east of Santee/Lakeside to the East.

Babe was pooped, she fell asleep pretty much straight away in the car on the way back, head wedged between the gear stick and the hand brake. We both needed to blow the cobwebs away and feel much better for it!

Details of the exact hike can be found here.