Peninsular Ranges > El Cajon Mountain > Climber's LogEl Cajon Mountain Climber's Log
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| Bill562 | Trail hike  Date Climbed: Dec 15, 2007 | |
| Not a bad conditioning hike with the ups and downs. South Arette next time... | |
| Posted Dec 19, 2007 12:52 am | ||
| lasvegaswraith | Freakin hot | |
| Hiked Cajon several times. The elevation gain/loss on this 3600' is unbelievable. Don't hike this bad boy in the summer. I drank more than 3L of water and still ran out 4 mi. out. Not fun!?! | |
| Posted Aug 25, 2007 1:40 am | ||
| NavySeabee | Early Bird gets the WARNING Date Climbed: Aug 1, 2007 | |
| Muggy and uneventful day or so I thought. Noting the normal parking lot was used as a staging area for Wildcat Canyon Road construction I drove up the hill to the TH. I admired the new TH facilities and how far this place has come in a short time and set out towards the summit. After the 4+ hour MUGGY jaunt, I noticed 2 SD Parks Officers in the TH area where I parked as I was descending the last part of the trail. As soon as I saw them they were gone. As I returned to my car, I noticed the note they left me telling me I was not allowed to park at the TH (not posted), but needed to park at the bottom apparently with all the staged excavators, dump trucks and other behemoth construction equipment where, consequently, there is NO PLACE TO PARK!! I was also informed in the note that El Capitan Open Preserve was closed for the whole month of August (also not posted). Gotta love government's oxymoronic nature and lack of organization! Laughable events to end my hike to be sure. | |
| Posted Aug 2, 2007 12:20 pm | ||
| chudder | El Cajon Mt. Trail, South Arete Date Climbed: Apr 18, 2007 | |
| It's hard to find elevation gain like this elsewhere in the San Diego area, unless you're willing to drive much further. Nobody else on the trail. Car to car 7am-12:30pm, will start earlier next time. Went through 3 liters. South Arete 12.27.07 | |
| Posted Apr 18, 2007 7:34 pm | ||
| Jerry S | Route Climbed: El Cajon Mt. Trail Date Climbed: May 12, 2007 | |
| Finally stuck it out and made it to the top. Went through 4L of water. It was a pretty nice day for mid May - not too hot. Took about 5.5 hours round trip, but the descent took about an hour longer than it could have due to some really tired folks in our group; they just weren't prepared for an 11mi round tripper. 4Mar2007 First time on this mountain. I had a 55# pack for training and ran out of gas about a mile from the summit. The nice thing about this hike was that I had about 1000ft of ascension on the way back. It was nice on this day, about 65 degrees and I only saw 6 people on the route. I gave a gallon of water to a group of three out of my training weight. They were discussing their water situation on their way down when I was passing them... I would suggest at least 3 liters for this hike and a hot day could call for another one on top of that. I totally recommend this hike for a San Diego county hike. It is by far the best one I have been on in the county. | |
| Posted Mar 5, 2007 4:40 am | ||
| benjamingray | South Arete Date Climbed: Aug 5, 2006 | |
| We turned back the previous weekend due to rain and low visibility, not realizing that we were 200 ft from the top of the ridge, came back and finished the job in the heat. Expect a 40 minute hike to reach the actual summit once you top out on the ridge. May 4, 2008 - Did a few sport climbs here, my first multipitch on rock (had done easy multipitch ice), great fun at a great place, thanks Travis! Sep 26, 2010 - South Arete x2. Dragged the girlfriend and my brother up their first class 3 route, both did awesome and had a blast. Almost bit it due to heat exhaustion on the way down though, despite still having water. Sobering... | |
| Posted Aug 7, 2006 5:05 am | ||
| NavySeabee | Route Climbed: El Cajon Mt. Trail Date Climbed: May 20, 2006 Date Climbed: May 20, 2006 | |
| It was a busy day on the trail for the re-opening of El Capitan Open Space Preserve (closed since Oct 2003). Ran into a group of 4 on the summit and 3 others who were on their way. Summit register can needs to be replaced. Was simply awestruck when I simultaneously rounded the southwest face of the ridge and popped out of the clouds/fog. The view of the mountain 'islands' above the clouds was magnificent! Overall a great day. Looking forward to climbing the South Arete some day. | |
| Posted May 22, 2006 5:14 pm | ||
| crag | Route Climbed: Trail Date Climbed: October 1997 | |
| I live just a few miles from this one, so I hike it frequently. it's unusual to meet anyone else on the trail. Lots of up and down, good training hike with good views. All things considered, I would call it the second best hiking peak in San Diego county. Definitely best from mid-October until early June. There will occassionally be snow on the summit after a big winter storm. The entire mountain was burned over in the 2003 cedar fire. Frequent rains in the 2004/2005 season produced a very spectacular spring 2005 bloom. An early start to the 2005/2006 rainy season holds the promise of another green winter, and another incredible spring bloom in the coastal sage scrub. The vegetation of the early successional stages of wildfire recovery attract mule deer, which in turn attract mountain lions. | |
| Posted Nov 3, 2005 1:02 pm | ||
| rocketsredglare | Route Climbed: Many Date Climbed: Twice this summer | |
| Good hard trail up and kill climbing once you get up to the base. Worth a trip even if you aren't climbing. | |
| Posted Oct 26, 2005 8:17 pm | ||
| tdoughty | Route Climbed: Mnay Date Climbed: Various | |
| have done many rock climbs since 1973 on the south face. never been to the summit. | |
| Posted Oct 16, 2005 12:59 pm | ||
| HSeldon | Route Climbed: El Cajon Mt Trail Date Climbed: June 15, 2002 | |
| This is the toughest day hike that I've been on in San Diego County. The trail is very up and down the entire way, so after climbing to the top, you still have lots of climbing to look forward to on the way back. This trail can be brutally hot in the summer, so I recommend bringing a few litres of water with you and some sun screen. This hike took me four hours to complete, but it sure seemed longer! If you are in good shape, this hike is worth it because it has some really nice views of San Diego and the backcountry. | |
| Posted Aug 31, 2005 12:38 pm | ||
| Tom Waggoner | Route Climbed: Scramble Date Climbed: 6.25.2005 | |
| My brother and I left the car at 7:00am and reached the summit in 3 1/2 hours. After a nice lunch on the summit we made our way back to the truck safely. We were on the mountain for 7 hours and drank two liters of water each. Successful climb. | |
| Posted Jun 27, 2005 12:33 am | ||
| Don Nelsen | Route Climbed: El Cajon Mt. Trail Date Climbed: April 14, 2000 | |
| I'd seen this peak in profile many times while flying into San Diego and took the time to give it a try this April day. Surprisingly tough little mountain! Went back on July 2, 2000 and nearly expired from lack of water. | |
| Posted Sep 30, 2004 3:11 pm | ||
| Bob Burd | Route Climbed: Class 1 from the west Date Climbed: Dec, 200? | |
| This peak looks impressive driving east from San Diego and El Cajon on Interstate 8. In fact, I would venture to say it is the best looking peak in San Diego County - it just begs to be climbed. I took the easy way from the west, an enjoyable hike over fire roads and an easy, untrailed ridgeline. | |
| Posted Sep 30, 2004 11:58 am | ||
| Mgross | Route Climbed: South Arete Date Climbed: September 25,2004 | |
| Hot day, but a fun climb. Looked down on paragliders taking off from a nearby cliff. | |
| Posted Sep 29, 2004 9:45 pm | ||
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