Bernardo Mountain
Just north of Lake Hodges, west of I-15
Geocache: GC916
(warning: this file is 570KB)
The above image shows my route up Bernardo Mountain and a partial profile of it. I did this hike on Monday, May 14, not knowing that Lake Hodges is only open to vehicles and such Friday through Sunday. This added over a mile walk each way on a paved road. I parked near the Del Dios Country Store at the entry to Lake Hodges and started from there. It was about 4 1/2 miles to the top and well-worth the effort.
Above are some photos I took on the way down the trail. There was a typical San Diego marine layer when I started out at around 10:30 but it gradually dissipated as the day wore on. It never got really clear, but still, the views and the colorful spring flowers were impressive.
On the left is "the cache"; in the middle is me standing next to the "Everest Mountain" pennant which, according to my Garmin III, is about 85 feet from the cache; on the right is me under one of the tunnel-like overgrown areas along the trail.
GC9C8 - June 12, 2000
I knew pretty much where this cache was because I had been there (before it was placed) when I went looking for the Bernardo Mountain Cache. The trail is relatively flat and therefore conducive to running and I needed to run today. I parked at the lot just east of I-15 and south of North County Faire. I packed light: just a fanny pack with my GPS, car keys, snack and an emergency camping blanket which I left in the cache. I took a motivational cassette tape called "The Greatest Teacher You'll Ever Have". The run was about a six mile round trip, just about right. Below is my GPS track (250 KB). I didn't take any photos because, like I said, I was traveling light: no camera!
