Author: John P Anderson

Living in San Diego. I enjoy learning about environmental issues and connecting with good people that want to make the world a better place. Cheers!

San Diego – Embracing Refugees in Past, Present, and Future

San Diego County has been a home to refugees from all over the globe for many years.  In recent years the region has likely taken in more refugees than any other region in the United States. 

Refugee – a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Per the San Diego Union-Tribune, “this region gets approximately 3,000 new refugees each year, with a striking majority hailing from restive Iraq.”  In fiscal year 2009 the county took in 4,168 which has declined to 1,610 in fiscal year 2015 – I believe the 3,000 in the article is the average for the period 2009-2015.  Per the same article the refugees that have settled in San Diego and formed a community here over the past 45 years have included those from:

  • Vietnam
  • Cambodia
  • Laos
  • Sudan
  • Ethiopia
  • Eritrea
  • Syria
  • Iraq

Per the American Immigration Council since fiscal year 2007 the following states have taken in the highest number of refugees:

  1. California – 25,716
  2. Michigan – 18,047
  3. Texas – 12,956
  4. Arizona – 7,447

Based on these sources San Diego has taken in more refugees than any other region in California and California has taken in more refugees than any other state in recent years.  I can’t find a breakdown by county or region but based on this it seems very likely that San Diego has taken in more refugees than any other area.

If you visit City Heights in San Diego you’ll find a wide variety of refugee communities, and in other areas of the city as well.  It says something about an area that takes in so many, and in which many decide to settle long-term and welcome later arrivals.  I feel pride that San Diego is a place that is desirable to live in for those fleeing persecution.

There is a heated debate currently regarding refugees from Syria and who will or will not welcome them in the United States.  I trust that San Diego, officially and socially, will continue to welcome refugees from all over the world.  San Diego is a very safe place to live – large amounts of refugees settling here for many decades have not compromised our safety.  What newly arrived refugees will do is strengthen our regional community and reaffirm that San Diego is a welcoming place to people from the world over whether refugees, visitors, investors, children, professionals, or otherwise.  In time they’ll offer a helping hand to those that follow and start families, companies, non-profits, and community organizations that reinvigorate our neighborhoods.  It’s ever been the story of the United States and one that San Diego will continue to follow.

That’s something that all San Diegans can be proud of. #SDlove

However you look at it, one world.
San Diego – open to the world.

Balboa Park Plaza de Panama – More Shade, More Seats, More People

Plaza de Panama is the central plaza in San Diego’s Balboa Park and a great place for meeting friends, reading, and enjoying children running around.  Until recently it was an ugly parking lot.  Converting parking spaces to park space was a great improvement to this area but we can do more.

sdma_and_fountain_2010_r900x493 - previous plaza - ut sandiego
Previously a parking lot, now a public plaza for people. #winning (Photo: San Diego Union-Tribune)

In the center of the plaza there is a gorgeous fountain (currently running intermittently due to drought concerns in California).  The small earth area surrounding the fountain has been replanted many, many times over the past year.  The plantings have primarily been small flowers – not drought tolerant, not native.  The planting area also precludes visitors from sitting near or on the fountain which would be a natural setting to relax, especially if the fountain was tree shaded.  I propose to improve the fountain area and Plaza de Panama in general by adding trees to surround the fountain to provide shade for people sitting and a focal point for the plaza.

sd flag
San Diego flag
spain flag
Spain flag

 

 

 

 

 

Surrounding the fountain eight beautiful trees would shade those enjoying the plaza and echo the colors of San Diego and Spain – red and yellow.  This shows civic pride and affirms the Spanish heritage of the park and many of the building structures which were built in Spanish-Renaissance style and feature Spanish names.

At each of the cardinal directions, Autralian Flame Trees would be planted.  These trees would grow up to 60 feet tall but have a root structure that is well suited for street curbs or other small spaces.  Flame trees also require little to moderate water once established and love full sun and heat which is present at Plaza de Paname.

flame tree

Between the cardinal point Flame trees Tipu trees will provide the yellow prominent in both flags.  Tipu trees grow 25-40 feet tall so would be a lower level canopy beneath the taller Flame trees.  Tipu trees also have a root structure that would be appropriate for a small space planting as is the case here.

tipu tree

How does this vision become reality?

  1. Feedback from landscape architects regarding size, type, coloration, cost, and other considerations
  2. Approval from Balboa Park / City of San Diego Parks & Recreation to donate trees and labor to Balboa Park for beautification of Plaza de Panama
  3. Funding for purchases and volunteers for planting from community. Total cost is estimated at $5,000.  I selected 36 inch box trees, which would likely be the largest planting size advisable.  Flame trees would be $500 each and Tipu trees run $425 each at that size.  This estimate includes some money for mulch, soil, and nutrients but does not include labor which is hoped to be provided by volunteers.  If labor is hired the cost would likely rise to around $10,000.
  4. Select date for delivery of trees and planting.
  5. Install trees, water, enjoy shade which will increase with each year to come

Thoughts on this idea? Let me know in the comments or via email.  Cheers!

San Diego County Spends $36M To Give Employees Free Parking

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently cut the ribbon to officially open a new $36,000,000 parking garage at Cedar and Kettner in Little Italy.  The garage has 640 spaces, built at a cost of $56,250 per space.  The garage will primarily be used for free parking for county employees and will also be available for paid public parking use on nights and weekends.

Here’s a laudatory video from the ribbon-cutting:

Supervisor Diane Jacobs noted “this truly is the best looking parking garage in the entire region and the most needed parking garage”.  The “stalls are a little wider than you’ll find in most commercial parking structures”.

The Little Italy neighborhood is home to many of San Diego’s most highly regarded restaurants including Bracero, Buon Appetito, Monello, Ironside, Davanti Enoteca, Juniper and Ivy, and many others.  Most of the restaurants have little, or zero, private parking provided.  The area has also seen tremendous growth in the number of residential units in recent years.  The result has been a thriving neighborhood that is among the most vibrant places in the entire county.  A large part of the enjoyment of Little Italy stems from the many people and attractive buildings present – I doubt India Street would be improved by the addition of a massive parking garage.  In recent years the need for parking of unused vehicles has been further reduced due to the explosive growth of taxi-hailing apps like Lyft and Uber.

The new county parking garage is the second portion of the “Waterfront Park project” that created a 12-acre park across Harbor Drive from San Diego Bay, replacing 8 acres of surface level parking lots adjacent the County Administration Building.  That project cost $49.4 million dollars after an initial project cost estimate of $44.2M with $19.7M for building the park, $18.5M for building underground parking, and $6M for design and administration costs.

In total, between the two projects $54.5M was spent on moving parking spaces and $18.5M was spent on the actual park that people enjoy.  This is excluding the $5.2M of difference from the original estimate to the actual construction costs and the $6M of design and administration costs.  Those cost breakdowns yield a result of 75% of funds used to move spots for empty cars and 25% of funds used to build a park.  For purposes of this article let’s assume the admin and cost over-run figures split on the same lines.  The vast majority of the funds used for these joint projects was for moving parking spaces, not for building a park.

locations
This is how far the parking spots moved, for more than $50 million.
before pic
Here is the before photo – this is how San Diego uses prime bayfront real estate. Shake your head.

This project was sold as a project to build a great park – it would seem fitting if most of the funds were actually used to build a great park.  Instead we spent 75% of the funds to relocate parking spaces, not creating new spaces but moving existing parking spaces.  251 spaces moved approximately 15 feet, they were undergrounded in the same location as the previous surface level lots.

To boot, the county demolished an historic building in Little Italy to make room for the large new parking garage.  The Star Builders Supply Company building was built in 1911 and added to the county list of historic buildings in 1991.  County supervisors unanimously voted to demolish the building.  It’s now gone but you can enjoy the below video of the beautiful piece of San Diego history that has now been erased like so many others.

From the total 891 parking spots that were moved, 71.8% were moved about 1-2 blocks east from their previous location.  28.2% were moved about 15 feet underground.  To accomplish this feat, county taxpayers spent $54.5 million dollars.  As enjoyable as the the new park is and a huge improvement to the ugly surface parking lots perhaps it would have been better to save that money or spend it on a better use.  To move so many parked cars such a small distance seems a pyrrhic victory.  A small consolation might be that the total number of parking spots went from 1,200 in the surface lots to 891 in the new underground and multi-level parking garages, a net reduction of 25.75%.  We could have spent even more money if we moved all of them!  A legitimate question would be if the previous 1,200 spots or the new 891 spots are actually needed or not. But as so often happens when it comes to accommodating automobiles, too much is never enough and no cost is too high.  More lanes on I-5 for $6 billion? Of course!  More parking lots in Balboa Park? Of course!  Analysis of the actual demand and cost comes far behind the populist appeal of free goodies for motor vehicles.  The environmental impacts of our car culture is even further down the priority list than our dollars.

Enjoy the Waterfront Park (aka Parking Lot Relocation Park); it’s a great place.  Building beautiful things is something a great city does.  I’m proud that San Diego built it.  In total, though, this project was a massive use of taxpayer dollars to move parking spots a small distance – not to build a great public park.  They are distinct items and taxpayers did not need to spend tens of millions to provide a tax-free employment perk that most employees, government-employed or not, do not enjoy.  We also did not need to use prime real estate to do so.  Taxpayers must demand better stewardship of public funds and assets.

2015-09-22 14.52.07 2015-09-22 14.52.40

Many thanks to Streetsblog, San Diego Free Press, Bike San Diego, and Voice of San Diego Morning Report for sharing this article!

Personal Finance – Three Broad Points to Start From

I’ve recently been talking about personal finance with a variety of people and following are some broad points that are a good starting point for thinking about finances and developing a game plan.  I hope these notes help you to get organized and put a strategy in place to chase down your goals.

2015-08-23 10.37.17
There’s a lot of beauty in the world. Enjoy it.

  • Know Your Info

    • To decide where to go, you have to know where you are now.  Put together a list of all your accounts – assets and liabilities.  Add the current balance for all the accounts.  I highly recommend using Mint to track balances and where money is earned and spent.  It’s free and a huge, huge help in managing your finances.  This simple exercise is so important and shows you how things stack up.  It might not be pretty.  It might be gorgeous.  Either way, you must know where you stand before you decide where to go.
    • Take it a step further and look at your income and expenses.  For the past month look at what you made and what you spent.  If you’re using Mint this process is automated and you can use the built-in budget and tracking tools to see where you spend and start to identify where you want to make changes.

  • Automate

    • Who wants to spend time paying bills? No one. (Except maybe Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters.)  Automate your finances – savings, bills, etc. – and save yourself time spent on recurring non-value activities.  Take that time and use it to pursue your goals.  Look over last month’s spending and see where you want to trim your budget.  Talk to your spouse about an investment you’re interested in.  Read a post or two by Mr. Money Mustache and learn something new.
    • Automating savings tools is especially valuable.  Put your 401k on auto-pilot, with an automatic annual increase, or open a Betterment account and contribute $10 a week.  You’ll remove the need to consciously choose to contribute and while you’re not paying attention those funds will grow.   Weeks, months, years and the power of compounding really starts to add up and you don’t even have to think about it.  Another benefit is once the money is invested you won’t be tempted to spend it.

  • Prioritize by Size

    • Focus your efforts on the biggest items in your budget whether income or expense.  We all have a limited amount of time and you’re better served prioritizing based on size.  Does the $4 latte you buy daily matter? Yes.  Does your $200,000 mortgage matter more? Yes.  Daily habits are important and consciously working to have healthier, better habits is a lifelong process.  Don’t beat yourself up about the small things – if you’re consistently working on the big things you’ll come out on top.  Taking a look once a year and getting comparison quotes on your insurance or cutting a $100 a month expense is worth more of your time than clipping $2 worth of coupons every week.  Again – good practices on small matters do matter but should be lower on the priority list than large matters.

Once you know where you stand and where you money is going to and coming from you can look at your goals and how you can take action to pursue them.  Best of luck on your financial journey!

2015-04-23 18.38.54
Cars are a huge expense for most Americans. Might be worth thinking about.

Letter to Editor – Short-Term Rentals

Below is a letter to the editor I wrote to the San Diego Union-Tribune that was published on October 14, 2015.  The short-term rental debate continues in San Diego and the 125 word limit forces one to choose a specific point to make.  The one I address below is that short-term rentals are bringing many millions of dollars into San Diego and those monies are broadly distributed to property owners across the city (and to businesses across the city as well).  I do not doubt that there are some issues caused by short-term rental tenants, as there are issues caused by tenants of all sorts – long-term renters, short-term renters, property owners, vagrants, etc.

We should not lose sight of the enormous economic opportunity that short-term rentals present for San Diego, and San Diegans, while discussing how to address problems created and other factors.

 

Short-Term Rentals Present Opportunity for San Diegans

Regarding “Short-term rentals pay $16.4M in taxes” (Oct. 8): The expanding tourism sector of short-term rental properties creates more than a quarter of a billion dollars of economic impact in the City of San Diego – $285 million – per a study released last week by the National University System Institute for Policy Research.  The study’s author, Erik Bruvold also notes this is a conservative estimate and that additional growth is expected in future.  This large, positive economic impact in a city well-known for tourism should not be banned, as some are calling for, in response to complaints of noise, trash, and other negative impacts.  Millions of dollars for San Diegans is a good thing, and provides funds for code enforcement and public benefits like parks.

John Anderson

North Park

Rip Current Brewing is one of the many local businesses my guests frequent. Congrats to Rip Current on recent award of "Best Very Small Brewery"!
Rip Current Brewing is one of the many local businesses my guests frequent. Congrats to Rip Current on recent award of “Best Very Small Brewery”! at the Great American Beer Festival!

Good Reading – The New Rules of Real Estate

I recently read Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate by Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries.  It’s a book in the “Zillow Talk” series and the authors are the CEO and Chief Economist, respectively, at Zillow, an online platform for housing data.  Zillow and Redfin are the biggest players in the space for MLS listings accessible to the public.

Austin is a really cool town and they have houses there! [Zillow screenshot]
Austin is a really cool town and they have houses there! [Zillow screenshot]
The book is a quick read – 258 pages – but is entertaining and has some interesting anecdotes and insights.  If you’re interested in real estate or work in the industry I’d definitely recommend checking it out.  Some of the items I most enjoyed learning about were:

  • Breakeven Horizon – A tool that Zillow has put together to estimate the number of years it would take for renting a residence vs. buying to even out when considering tax benefits, expected appreciation of real estate, etc.  In San Diego County the breakeven is 3.8 years so if you expected to live here for 5 years it would probably make more sense to buy rather than rent.  At the end of 2014 that national breakeven horizon was 1.9 years, there’s a lot of variation among markets.  Interesting tool to check out if you’re considering whether to buy or rent.
  • Words Matter – The book takes a look at how words affect home values in a variety of ways.  Which street suffixes are most valuable? Way, Place, and Court.  Which are least valuable? Street, Road, and Avenue.  The less valuable suffixes are the more common ones.  The book also looks at named streets vs. numbered streets (named streets are much more valuable – 33.5% more valuable in Dallas!).  Which words to use in a listing  to maximize price is also discussed – granite and stainless are great to use but cosmetic and TLC should be avoided.  More words in a listing also help quite a bit.
  • Timing (and Pricing) Matters Too – When is the best or worst time to sell or buy a home? It varies during the year, and in different ways in different markets.  December is a great time to buy generally and March/April is a great time to sell.  Having your listing price end in a 9 is a great idea but ending in a 4 is a bad one.  8 is also a great ending digit if you’re in an area with lots of Chinese residents.

Fun read and lots of interesting trivia and tidbits to absorb.  Well worth a couple of hours if you’re buying, selling, or potentially doing either in the future.  Enjoy!

The book is better than my photo skills. :)
The book is better than my photo skills. 🙂

Thinking About Housing Affordability

San Diego real estate is pretty expensive – the median home price in September 2015 was $460,000.  There are many places where real estate is more expensive – New York and San Francisco are prominent examples. Close to San Diego, in September 2015 neighboring Orange County had a median price of $615,000 (33.7% higher) and Los Angeles had a median price of $490,000 (6.5% higher).  The cost of housing in San Diego is a common topic of conversation.  I’ve been thinking about housing affordability and just wanted to jot down my thoughts on the basic causes as I think and read more about the subject.

There are two primary factors at play in pricing an item – supply and demand.  For housing this basically means:

  1. Supply – number of housing units
  2. Demand – number of people (and dollars they have)

To lower the price / value for housing either supply needs to increase or demand (population and dollars) needs to decrease.  There are a variety of ways to impact either of these

Increase supply

  • Increase number of units – build more housing (homes, condos, apartments, etc.)
  • Increase number of people per unit – Increasing the amount of persons per unit (more per room or more per total unit) makes more units available
  • Small units – Replace large units with smaller units to increase overall supply.  Example would be to replace one 3 bedroom home with 4 townhomes.
  • Build higher – At surface level, the square footage can be used only once.  Building upwards allows the same amount of land to support more units.
  • Build farther out (sprawl) – Expand the footprint of the developed area of the town / county to increase the amount of units.
  • Convert land to residential use – Repurpose commercial land, roadways, agricultural land, etc. to residential use.  Increasing the land available for residential use supports creation of more units.
  • Add units not on land – Utilize water (bay, ocean) to add housing units.

Decrease demand

  • Decrease desirability – Reduction in safety, outdoor amenities, pollution levels, etc. decreases demand as people will be less likely to elect to live in unsafe or undesirable location.
  • Decrease purchasing power – A downturn in the economy or weakness in job market will reduce the amount of money available for property purchases or rent, bringing down the price level.
  • Decrease population – Probably not feasible in a variety of ways but could indirectly be impacted by stopping creation of new units (which would counteract impact by reducing supply)
  • Increase other costs – An increase in the cost of other items – electricity, food, taxes, etc. – would leave less money available for housing, potentially reducing demand
  • Reduce buyer pool – Limit pool of parties that can purchase property.  Could add surcharges or taxes to non-owner occupied properties or potentially exclude buyers unless they plan to occupy.

I’ll likely add to this but before getting into the more intricate issues involved with housing and property cost I wanted to lay out thoughts on the underlying basics.  Have some thoughts to add? I’d love to hear them.

Many people desire to live by the ocean. Get rid of the ocean, reduce demand.
Many people desire to live by the ocean. Get rid of the ocean, reduce demand.

Cities Are What We Choose To Make Them

This summer I was fortunate to take a bicycle trip across part of Europe, from Budapest to southern Bavaria (just south of Munich).  It was the first time I had taken a trip primarily by bicycle and it was great.  Unknown to me before our trip, Europe has created a number of cross-continent bicycle routes, named the EuroVelo routes.

We used EuroVelo Route 6, which goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea – most of the route is bicycle only with some portions sharing the road through small villages.  We were only on a small portion of this route since our journey was much shorter than the route.  Here’s an overview of the whole network, it’s amazing.

eurovelo map
Europe’s current network of EuroVelo routes. Likely to expand.

The amount of people we encountered while riding was awesome.  Groups large and small, single riders, day trippers, and those camping along the way.  All enjoying the beautiful Danube River and a peaceful, quiet ride through the countryside and towns both big and small.

2015-07-06 13.36.37

One town we stopped in for a night was Tulln, Austria.  It was a charming town in central Austria with a well-kept town square.  It’s a very old town, first noted in 859, but is making proactive changes to thrive in 21st century and put people first.  The center city recently moved to a 20 kph speed limit for their city center. That’s 12.4 mph.

2015-07-06 19.15.12

This small town, with cobbled streets and narrow roadways went out of it’s way to actively change in a way that makes people feel safe, valued, and welcome.  The EuroVelo system has been created the same way – many people actively choosing to make Europe a place that increasingly values people and is a great place to live.  In Tulln, and many of the other places we visited you were far more likely to see people walking, biking, or sitting and enjoying some sun than you were to see cars rushing to and fro.  In America it is the opposite nearly everywhere – elementary schools, downtowns, suburbs, office parks.  It is this way because we have chosen to build a place that incents and endorses cars above people and community.

The same applies to any community in the world – what it is and what it will become are choices constantly being made.  Our roadways, our buildings, our speed limits are all man-made creations.  The status quo exists because we continue to choose and support it.  Cities like Tulln that are many centuries old have existed through great and terrible periods yet continue to thrive in the 21st century.  Economies change, and so do trends – valuing people and creating great places to live and celebrate life are timeless practices.

What happens when you reduce speeds and limit vehicles? You get more people, more money, and a livelier place to live and visit.  To Tulln – Prosit!

IMG_20150706_155206985

2015-07-07 12.09.45

 

San Diego is a Fantastic Place to Live – 10 Reasons Why

This weekend I saw a query on Twitter from Farhad Manjoo, a technology farhad querywriter for the New York Times.

So I decided to put together a rough list of 10 great things about San Diego.  Here it is.  Have other reasons why San Diego is a great place to live? Shout it out in the comments.  #SDlove

1. San Diego is a beautiful place.  There are beaches, ocean cliffs, mountains, deserts, and hiking trails throughout the city and county.  Per the USDA, which used criteria like “mild, sunny winters, temperate summers, low humidity, topographic variation, and access to a body of water” to evaluate the natural beauty of every county in the continental U.S. San Diego County ranked 8th.  The only other county with a major city in the top 10 was Los Angeles, at 7th.

natural beauty counties map

Pretty map.

2. San Diego-Tijuana is the biggest border metro area in the United States.  The border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana is the busiest land crossing in the world, with an estimated 300,000 crossings per day – over 100 million per year.  Tijuana has a population of about 2 million, creating a cross-border metro area of 5 million.  The impact of Mexican influence be be found strongly throughout San Diego, from the population and family ties to food and language influences.

3. Traffic is very easy and so is parking.  A recent study put San Diego last among the 15 biggest U.S. metro areas for traffic congestion, as measured by hours spent in traffic.  If you’re looking for a spot to park your car the parking spots are likely to be ample and free, whether you’re going to the beach, Balboa Park, one of the many great neighborhoods, or pretty much anywhere.  With the gorgeous weather you should really be biking or walking, but if you are in a car you needn’t worry about traffic.

4. You probably won’t get murdered.  San Diego has the lowest murder rate of the 10 largest U.S. cities, for the fourth consecutive year.  Compared to the most murderous U.S. large city, Philadelphia, San Diego has 15% the rate of murders.

top 10 murder rate

San Diego Union-Tribune graphic (click for link)

5. San Diego has great weather.  You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again, and it’s true.  Not much else to say about the weather other than temperate days with light breezes do not get old over time.  Kelly Norton’s sweet map breaks down weather in the U.S. by mean temperature and precipitation and SD is slightly edged out by LA for the top spot.  We’ll take it.

6. The best beer scene in the world. There are currently 115 breweries in San Diego County putting out award-winning beers.  Among them are standouts like Lost Abbey, Stone, Alpine, Modern Times, Port Brewing, Alesmith and many others.  At last week’s Great American Beer Festival San Diego brewers took home 19 medals, about 7% of the total awarded.  There’s a lot of personal opinion involved in naming a “best” city for beer – Portland, Munich, Seattle, and many others could lay claim to the name also.  We don’t want to argue and will happily raise a pint and share the title with other great beer cities. San Diego is certainly in the conversation for the top spot and it’s fun to check out the great stuff on tap around town.

sanders tap keg
Former Mayor Jerry Sanders taps a keg of Karl Strauss beer. #rawk

7. Excellent surfing.  The entire coastline of San Diego is free and open to the public (as it is in the whole of California).  You’ll find a wide range of surfing breaks and good swell exposure.

ocean experience surfing

Ocean Experience offers surfing lessons in Ocean Beach

8. San Diego is sexy.  According to Victoria’s Secret polling, San Diego is the sexiest city in the U.S.  Doesn’t sound like a bad thing.

9. There are an amazing amounts of plants and animals in San Diego.  Per the Nature Conservancy, San Diego is “the most biologically rich county in the continental U.S.”  The county also is home to “approximately 200 imperiled plants and animals—more than in any other county in the nation”.

Enjoy the hike, enjoy the view, preserve it for the future. (planmygetaway.com)

Don’t buy it? No problem.  Just don’t say you weren’t informed that San Diego is a great place to live.

[Where’s number 10? I’m leaving that up to everyone else.  Drop suggestions in comments and I’ll add the best one to the post in the final spot.]

Misty (Cowles) Mountain Climb

Note: I’m adding some old posts from other sites here over time. This post is from April 24, 2015. Enjoy!

——————

Cowles Mountain is a classic San Diego hike.  It’s the highest point in the city limits at 1,594 feet, and is popular every day (and many nights) of the year.  Near to San Diego State University and a number of neighborhoods as well as within close distance to much of the city it’s a great, moderate difficulty hike.  The hiking trails are surrounded by native scrub and there is little shade so it’s typically a hot and somewhat dusty climb with views from the Pacific Ocean to Mexico and into the East County reaches of San Diego County.

Today was a much different story.  Heavy cloud cover and fog along with a light drizzle accompanied our upward hike before clearing once we reached the top.  From the summit there was no view to be had, just a ghostly white backdrop.  We had a couple of visitors from Seattle with us, so perhaps for them it wasn’t so atypical but for the San Diegans on the trip it was a unique experience.

Have a great weekend and cross your fingers for more mist – and rain!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.