Woodson
We were planning to do the Mt. Woodson (yes, I know it’s officially Woodson Mountain) hike with a Meetup group this morning at 8:00 a.m. but the hike was cancelled late last evening. We decided to hike it solo since we were all set up to go. Just as we started from the upper parking lot at Lake Poway, we were passed by a trail runner. As we hiked around the lake, we kept a lookout for the trail runner to see if he was going to take Mt. Woodson Trail from Lake Poway Loop Trail. Sure enough, we saw him, now in the distance, start up Mt. Woodson Trail. I’d like to have that stamina.
When we got just past the silt retention dam on Mt. Woodson Trail, it misted for about five minutes and then quit, with no more moisture for the remainder of the hike. As we continued up the service road and I was breathing hard, I reflected on how nice it would be to be like the trail runner and just run up the trail.
We took a short break at the tree on the way up to the Mt. Woodson ridge, like we always do to enjoy the view. Even though the sky was overcast, the view was clear. I tried to trace out the old Mt. Woodson Trail but just saw a few bits and pieces of it due to the overgrowth. We plan to hike the old trail again later this year when we’re sure the rattlesnakes are all asleep.
We were about half-way up the ridge when the trail runner that had passed us at the beginning ran past us on his way down.
When we got to the peak, there were two hikers at “our” utility box where we have our snack so we sat on the rocks nearby. I fed Brandy her expected snack and then she eyed my turkey jerky. Too spicy for her, I thought and gave her a couple more tidbits of her food. She’s such an effective beggar. We finished our snack and headed back without stopping at Potato Chip Rock, where sometimes we take in the view to the north.
A short while later, I heard a voice ahead yelling, “Is that your dog?” I couldn’t see the hiker right away so sped up quickly to be able to evaluate the situation. It was trail runner who was leery of Brandy, so I called Brandy and she came to me immediately and the runner passed us by. I knew I’d see her again on our way down. I’m just amazed at the trail runners that run up and down mountains.
About half-way down from the Mt. Woodson ridge, I decided to call Shirley and let her know we were safe as she was worrying about the weather when I left. In the middle of the conversation, I saw Brandy on top of a very large boulder and exclaimed, “Oh! My goodness!” and told her about Brandy and wondered how she was able to get up on top. When Shirley didn’t respond, I realized that we’d lost our phone connection. I thought I’d quickly take a picture and started to get my camera from my backpack when my phone rang. Of course, it was Shirley and she had only heard the, “Oh! My goodness!” part of my monolog and was concerned. I quickly explained again about Brandy, told her I just had to have a picture and hung up. Brandy stayed on top until I had taken all the pictures that I wanted and I then had to call her down.
When we were just at the Warren Canyon Trail junction, the trail runner that had passed us near the top of the mountain was quickly overtaking us. I warned her that Brandy was ahead, but that she need not worry. As she passed Brandy who was headed back to me, Brandy turned around, caught up and ran past the runner briefly since Brandy almost always want to be in the lead.
On our way down, we saw only one other hiker who was headed up. The traffic was dramatically different today (Tuesday) than the weekend “freeway” traffic, another reason to hike during the work week.