an entrance on the NW side along
Proctor Valley Rd where we started shortly after 9:30am.
Nearly flat 
at the start,
the 2.5mi hike to the summit involved just over 1,000
feet of elevation gain, not a trivial amount. It had been a few days since it
last rained, leaving the trails and roads we plied damp but firm, not wet and
muddy. The route follows along the edge of an encroaching suburban neighborhood
before moving south away from the housing and into more open terrain.
We climbed onto the long 
North Ridge which we followed all the way to
the highpoint. Jackie had
only done one other outing with me in all of 2012, and that was back in May.
She had vague feelings of guilt over this and was attempting to rectify these
feelings by joining me today. Though she stays in decent shape with volleyball
nearly year-round, she's not in particularly great hiking shape and it showed,
to no great surprise to anyone but herself. Somehow she probably just expected
that being older (13yrs, now) and taller would naturally make everything easier
than she remembered it to be. Not so. She didn't like having to take
rest breaks which I had no objections to, particularly because she
knew she was the
only one of us that really needed to. As the trail grew steeper, she complained
further about the loose rocks,
the scratchy brush, the lack of shade and the
excess of it (when a cloud overhead temporarily blocked the sun). It devolved
into a rant about hating everything there was about hiking. She even wanted to
scream (I told her to go ahead) but was afraid someone might hear her.
It got so that I started to laugh and asked her why she even bothers to
join me once or twice a year. "Because I want to be a good daughter." We both
laughed about that. At least her heart is in the right place. It was actually
a very fine morning, a bit chilly but nice for hiking with mostly clear skies
and peaceful, country views. I enjoyed having her with me and somehow the
complaining made it more endearing.
The summit
was marked by a stake without a register of any sort. There is a nice
view of San Miguel Mtn to the west that I pointed out to Jackie. "I don't think
I'm going to do that one, if that's okay," she offered. We were about an hour in
reaching the summit and the same amount of time for
the return which used a
slight variation that followed the North Ridge a bit further to the boundary
with the neighboring houses. While she didn't have to do the hike to San Miguel
Mtn, she would have to endure my doing so, which she was
perfectly happy with, more so since she had her Nintendo DS to occupy herself
with while waiting for me in the car. We drove south on Proctor Valley Road and
then into more new suburban neighborhoods on the south side of San Miguel Mtn.
A sign
here almost suggests that the area is closed to foot traffic, but I
think it refers to travel off the wel-defined 
access road.
In any event, I followed the powerline road up the hill to the
transmission tower set atop San Miguel's South Ridge.
It was only upon reaching the ridgeline that I gave that sign more thought.
Here the city of Chula Vista was setting aside an area as a "Sensitive Habitat
Area." One the east side was
a brand new neighborhood being developed, with
various phases of occupied homes, others under construction, and newly cleared
pads being readied. A few hundred yards to
the west is a community golf course, leaving this narrow strip,
essentially the top of 
the South Ridge, as a
preserve. One doesn't get the feeling that Chula Vista really takes the idea of
Open Space very seriously. There is a great deal of sprawl in the San Diego
area. One can only hope that more of the undeveloped spaces can be saved before
the residents come to regret not doing more sooner.
I followed an unmaintained, but well-defined trail north to the summit of San
Miguel. Along the way I came across a handful of
other parties making the same
hike (or slight variations - there are other starting points one can use that
are somewhat longer). A flag waving atop 
Pt. 1,905ft
caught my attention and I took a few minutes to pay it 
a side visit.
There is a good view of the lower 
Mother Miguel Mtn to the southwest,
the 
San Diego Bay in the distance, as well
as a view to Otay Mtn to the south with Mexico beyond it. It took me just about
an hour to reach the 
fence-enclosed summit with an array of
communication towers
tucked safely inside. Razor wire atop a high fence discourages trespassing, but
I found a large gap under the fence that was easy to crawl through to visit
the highpoint and benchmark inside (I only found
a reference mark, possibly the
benchmark had been removed by the construction of the towers). There were other
parties taking in the views 
outside the fence as I took a few photos
before retreating.
Jogging most of the way back, it took just over half an hour to return. I was later than I had told Jackie to expect me, largely because I thought the outing would be similar to the Jamul hike, but in fact it had twice the gain and some extra mileage, to boot. Wrapped up in her handheld gaming experience, she didn't seem to notice I had gone past schedule. That was probably a good thing. My guess is that she'll forget about all those things she complained about in another six months and we'll have another go at it. Gotta love a daughter who keeps trying.