Warren Canyon Trail
The last time we hiked Warren Canyon Trail we ran out of water and decided to call for a ride rather than do the return hike. This time we had plenty of water and food. The weather, after the heat of the summer, was welcome cool and overcast.
We took Lake Poway Trail from the Lake Poway staging area to Mt. Woodson Trail. Warren Canyon Trail starts at the junction where Mt. Woodson Trail climbs to the Mt. Woodson ridge and ends at Highway 67. It’s virtually all uphill from Lake Poway to the beginning of Warren Canyon Trail. Warren Canyon Trail is mostly either up or down and very little flat.
When we got to the first picnic table, we saw that the tree that shaded the picnic table and had burned in the Witch Creek fire had finally fallen over. We almost missed the relatively hidden table because we relied on the tree as a landmark.
We stopped for a food and rest at the second picnic table. We had been there for a few minutes when I caught a glimpse of a speck of blue in the sea of leaves by the table. I investigated and found the corner of a geocache that was virtually buried in the leaves. We had found the cache on a previous hike, knew where it belonged and returned it to its hiding place.
I had read about a spur trail off Warren Canyon Trail to the Poway/Ramona border and was looking for that trail. It was said to be partially overgrown and had some poison oak. We finally came to a narrow trail that led off to the east and decided to take that one. It was easy for a while and then more difficult as the chaparral encroached upon the trail. I was following Brandy and at times when there was no discernible trail, I just trusted her. Every time the trail would eventually reappear. She led me through poison oak (that was a trail marker!), up a dry creek and under two boulders that I could hardly squeeze through. Then, as before, the trail suddenly reappeared. We continued and followed the trail to the Poway/Ramona border at Highway 67.
The Warren Canyon trailhead was west on Highway 67 about 0.4 mile. Because of the sharp dropoff from the road shoulder, we walked in the bike lane as close to the guard rail as we could. I had Brandy on a very short leash. At one point, when a car passed that was slightly into the bike lane, I decided that hiking on the highway was a poor choice. We picked up the pace and soon came to the Warren Canyon trailhead. The trail comes steeply up from the valley and ends at the guard rail.
After a short rest and a few pictures, we descended Warren Canyon Trail into the valley. A short distance after we had passed the spur junction on our return, we came upon a trail came in from the right. I decided to explore that trail for a short distance and then come back to the main trail. Suddenly, that trail looked familiar and I came upon a Warren Canyon Trail trail marker. I didn’t remember that on the way out I made a sharp left at a “T”. I did mark the junction on my GPS and will explore it on a future hike. The lesson learned it to be far more observant!
The hike was a strenuous (for me) 8.4 miles round-trip.