One By One: What a Beautiful Day...

Instead of going to yoga yesterday, Andy and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful San Diego weather (and the fact that he had the entire day off from work!) and go hiking instead. Even though Andy had done some trail-running training there, I had never been to Poway's Iron Mountain before - so that is where we headed.

It was a 2.8 mile trek up to the top of the peak, making the entire hike 5.6 miles. We took our time, mostly because I am so out of shape, but to also enjoy the nature around us and to take some pictures along the way. This is one of the areas between Ramona, Poway and Scripps Ranch that was heavily affected by the Cedar Fire San Diego experienced in October of 2003. Even though it has been over a year and a half, we could still see the remnants of that fire and how nature has a way of repairing itself...

I can only imagine what this trail must have been like before the fire... it seems with the burned trunks that this trail was probably pretty shaded. This is not the case today. I would not want to visit this trail during the summer!

Spring was definitely in the air:

We even saw a very small stream along the way (believe it or not, San Diego has some water along its hiking trails!):

We made it to the top! Here we are enjoying the view to the East (toward Ramona):

And from the West, you can see the trail head where we started from:

On a clear day, it is possible to see the ocean from the top. It was a bit hazy yesterday, so we missed out on that.

This was a great hike, definitely toward the top of the list of good hikes in San Diego County. My favorite in SD is still the Palm Canyon hike, which was a difficult hike (we visited a month after they had a huge flash flood that had destroyed a big part of the trail, unbeknownst to us) and the most awe inspiring. Because this hike was pre-digital camera, I don't have any photos of this hike that I can post. But this will give you a taste of an oasis in the desert!

All we could think about on the way back on the trail was how good a beer would taste - not just any kind of beer - our discussion was centered around how good a Dos Equis Amber would taste! Why is it that such exertion causes a craving for a pint of beer?? So after we got home and cleaned ourselves off, we headed to Chevy's to partake in a couple of pints and some nachos!

After we got home, I settled into some knitting - I have been working on the Fan and Feather Shawl most of the week. I will spare you the pictures... it looks pretty much the same just a bit longer!

Today, Kris and I are going to try and make it to the San Diego Whistlestop Knitting Meetup. Nothing like meeting at a bar with other knitters!

Oh - and just a reminder - I am hosting my first knit-along. We are currently at four knitters and are set to start on May 9th! If you have any ribbon or tape yarn, and want to join us, just follow the link up at the top right of this page! The more the merrier!