Cowles Mountain Night Hike

About a month ago I was first told about Cowles Mountain by Derek Loranger (100Peaks.com). I had told him about my videos and he said " if you want some good hits you should do a video on Cowles Mountain." So I took Dereks advice and 2 weeks later I set out in the morning from Big Rock Park on Mesa road. It was a good hike but it took me 4 hours and the temp reached a high of 97.--- Cowles Mountain Hiking Video----  Two weeks later I took my fiance for a night hike out there. I knew the temp would be cool and the view would be great. She was a good sport about it and we made it to the top just after 2 hours. The temp on top was 50, but with the wind blowing it felt like 45. We stayed up top for about an hour just staring at the lights of San Diego. After that, I knew I wanted to do this again.

I went to the hiking group I'm a part of (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=138339719519036) The San Diego Ca Hiking Group and posted my night hike ambition to see who would come with me.
Every one was busy except the groups founder Alain. Alain is a French Canadian from Quebec, but I wont hold it against him. Alain has been here for a couple years and has been wanting to find people to hike with. He had almost given up on his page until I ran into him and with a third member, Even, we grew our group to 51 strong. Alain said he would join me since he has never done this hike before. His usual back yard is Iron Mountain. I figured Alain would enjoy this hike, the night hikes in the area are awesome and Cowles I discovered, Is the best.

I picked Alain up from his house around 8pm and the 4 of us ,(Tonio and Buddy), set out to Santee. We took the 52 east to Mission Gorge Road and then after a couple stop lights we took a left on Mesa Road.
We stopped just after Big Rock park, geared up and took off for the peak. There was a half moon that night and so the trail was lit brighter than most nights, but the only problem was that when the brush got higher the moon cast a shadow and made the trail harder to see. We really didn't need lights going up though we did trip on a random rock that just seemed to pop out here and there. The dogs were a head and Tonio took on the shape of a dingo in the dark and the sound of a coyote in the brush when I wasn't paying attention. I strapped buddy with a red glowing light to help keep predators away, though I doubt a red light will keep a hungry coyote or mountain lion away from my 24 lbs dog.

After about 30 - 45 min we reached the access road and took a break. Alain expressed his pseudo concern that I was just trying to take him somewhere romantic and that he wasn't that kind of guy. I reassured him  that aside from the part that I'm not a homosexual, french just weren't my type anyway. After we watered the dogs we forged ahead and made it to the top. Since this was Alains first time I let him touch the monument first and took some pictures. The view was amazing to say the least. And in my  mind I thought it was a lot better than the Day view. To the south we cold see Tijuana, then going north San Diego, the Coronado bridge, and the outer laying cities of the area. It was like I was looking at all of San Diego county in one blink of the eye. I found it amazing how everything was so connected, and yet there were borders to separate culture, language, and a way of life.

With our sweat drying we started to get cold in the 45 degree air, so we layered up, watered the dogs and made our way back down. The view was just as amazing on the way down and I was again reminded why I love hiking so much..... Once we hit the Big rock trail on the way down, we decided that after a couple rolled ankles, it was time to illuminate our path. We made it down in no time and before long we were back at the car and happy to sit back down again.

I dropped Alain off at home and he insisted he pay me for gas but I told him just buy me a beer next time. It was my joy introducing someone to something new and that was all the payment I needed. Alain had a great time and so did I. I wished more had joined us to experience what we did. But there will be 21 of us on the Oct 23rd night hike at Iron mountain full moon hike.  As I hiked with Alain this week and last week I realized that not only was he a good hiking partner,he is a good friend as well.

Coronado Bridge

Alain and I

Lake Murrey

Blogging Suggestion

Hello my name is Brady and I am a hiker.

No this is not an admission of an addiction, though it could be a healthy one. This is my blog. I am an avid hiker and a survival specialist. My love for the outdoors has brought me to the trails of San Diego. And since I love it so much I have decided to film it and as of now, blog about it.

It's been recently suggested to me that blogging will help to create a fan base and get my name out to the public. I have never been a blogger or ever thought about sharing my stories with anyone. In fact I never thought that there were many who would care. Who am I? Why would people want to read my words and why would they care. I decided reach out and look at other blogs people have posted. I came across many people who are just as insignificant as I am and yet people follow their every move and word as if what they did was the most important thing that could happen. So could I have a following? Would people want to read about my adventures hiking around San Diego? Maybe...

So here I am, this is an experiment in getting people to know who I am and what I do.  My mission is to get people back out to the trails and away from mundane lives on the couch. Though I want people to watch me in my videos, I also want to inspire them to get out there after they see my hike. I do have the intent of creating my own TV show here in San Diego. There are not many people who film themselves hiking or really show what the hiking is like here in San Diego. I kinda like to think of my self as San Diego's own Survivorman. Though I am no Les Stroud, I do have a backround in outdoor survival, and maybe one day I can transition from hiking and concentrate more on survival shows. With the amount of hikers that get lost everyday I think we need one.

And so now I'm Putting my self out there for the world (San Diego) to experience my story and my adventures on the trails in San Diego, and hopefully some one out there is inspired enough to hit the trails and love them, just as much as I do

Brady