Palomar Mountain 12/19/2010 In The Rain

Well we braved the weather for a 4 mile hike on top of Palomar Mountain. It had been raining for three and a half days straight and was still coming down steady as we set out on our hike. We were the only ones at the trailhead and we didn't see anyone all day except for one ranger in his truck near the trailhead. This section of the mountain is a mixed pine and oak forest which surrounds French Valley meadows with two main creeks, French Creek and Doane Creek which merge to form Pauma Creek. The sights, sounds and solitude were incredible. The creeks were flowing hard. We got out of the rain for a few minutes as we took a break at the old dam and gauging station on Puama creek that was built back in the 1920's. Further exploration took us through the meadows and then back into the dense forest with what had to have been the largest oak trees that we have ever seen. The rain and wind really took it out of us though. Beautiful but tough day. It was well worth it though.

Palomar Hike May 30, 2010

My friend Chipp and I went up to Palomar Mountain and went for a hike. On the way up the mountain we noticed that spring is just starting in the higher elevations. There were lots of flowers in full bloom along the side of the road and hillsides. We drove down to Doane Pond and started over to the Weir trail. The lady bugs obviously just hatched because the air was filled with them. Millions of them! The were lady bugs on me and bumping into my head most of the day. I've never seen so many. Anyway we made our way to Pauma Creek and worked our way downstream to see some small cascades and pools along the creek. We seen some small trout feeding on bugs on the water surface at one pool. The air was still completely filled with Lady Bugs. We the backtracked to catch the trail through French Valley. We walked through vast meadows of fresh green grass and thousands of flowers blooming everywhere. We went up to French Creek and found a nice spot on the creek to have lunch and lay back in the shade. We completed the French Valley loop trail and found ourselves back at the car. We then drove up to Boucher lookout where you can look down 5000 feet over Pauma Valley, Valley Center and Escondido and beyond on a clear day but it was so hazy down ther that we couldn't see much. Anyway as we got on our way to go down the mountain a couple of dear crossed the road in front of us. Beautiful day, beautiful hike.