Tecate Peak

Tecate Peak ©

May 12, 2012, Joel Hawk

Today’s hike started off with just one goal of bagging Tecate Peak and to not die of heat exhaustion.  Honestly, it was a pleasant day with great scenery, but a boring hike along the Border Patrol roads. You will see Border Patrol frequently, but they are nice and friendly and if they have time, will engage in conversation with you about the area.  My hiking buddy today is Jack DeFranco.  Getting to the “trailhead” takes a few days (ok, not that long, but it will take a good hour almost two from Pacific Beach).  Once you reach Tecate, it is difficult to figure out which road to take to get to the Peak, but the Border Patrol will tell you which one.  After that, you’re on your own so just drive along the border fence (not directly along the fence, but along the road about 100 feet from the fence or you'll get to meet the Border Patrol yet again).  Stay on the dirt road for about 2 miles or so until you find a good place to park off the road so other vehicles can get by.

I’m not a fan of walking along a frequently used road, but we didn’t have a choice so off we went.  Looking up at our destination we could see it was a clear day with a little bit of fear it was going to be a very hot one.

After just a very short jaunt, I looked up at our destination again and was amazed at the wispy cloud formation over the peak.  This is one of the best pictures I think I’ve ever taken.  Looks like the Lord’s work with a paintbrush.

About a mile into our hike, I saw a Horned Toad that let me take his picture.  This is really not a species of toad, but rather one of lizard.  Wikipedia is your friend.  I remember as a young man I would catch these on the farm in Texas.  They would go to sleep in your hand if you gently rubbed their tummy.  Come to think of it, I go to sleep when you rub my tummy, so there you go.

We continued walking along the road working the switchbacks designed so vehicles could climb the mountain.  In looking at the border fence one could see that it was not intended to keep people out (since the fence just stopped going up the mountain), but it was there to prevent vehicles from crossing the border instead.  Being one who likes to see natural things in nature, it’s just unnatural to see this large fence structure jutting up across the landscape like that.  It has its purpose of course, but it just looks odd and out of place.

Even along dry, arid roads spots of beautiful color survive.  This is just one of many pretty flowers greeting us as we walked along on our journey.

I’ve always been interested in tracks and although these were pretty clear in the sands, we could not tell what animal had made them.  Raccoon maybe?

Now these tracks, we knew for certain what had made them.  We didn’t see this animal until later.  Click the picture to enlarge it for better viewing.

Walking along a little farther, we rounded a bend and then we saw what made those tracks.  Snake head!  Someone sure is creative out there.

Making our way to the top of Tecate, we took a few moments for lunch (my favorite part of a hike).  As always, I have my sandwich and chips and recently, I’ve learned to let my feet rest and dry out a little for a more enjoyable walk back down.  This lets me adjust my socks as well and reduce any hot spots in my shoes where the material folds over.  When you have size 14 EEE, you need every trick you can come up with.

Here is Jack with Lyons Peak in the background.  I don’t believe we can climb Lyons anymore, but it sure looks like the views from there would be great.

This is the unofficial “top” of Tecate.  That comment is based on nothing official – just what I think.  Someone went through the trouble to make it look like that, so why not go with it?

We headed back down and in looking back at the top, we could see some very nice colors and rock formations. 

This is an easy hike with good views and is worth the effort.  Recommended for the family.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel

Directions and the numbers:

Travel 94 East for days and turn right on 188 on the way to Tecate.  Turn right on a dirt road just before the Border crossing and an immediate right again before you reach the first house.  Ask any Border Patrol for directions and they will guide you.  Drive along the Border Patrol road all the way to the foot of the mountain.  You can park almost anywhere you see where others have parked.  For the most part, the vehicles are safe as the Border Patrol watches everything. Total round trip for Tecate is appx 9.8 miles (depending where you park).  Overall this took me about 3 hrs 45 mins. 

Latitude/Longitude (WGS84)
32° 34' 46'' N; 116° 41' 20'' W
32.579569, -116.688767 (Dec Deg)
529211E 3604722N Zone 11 (UTM)