Peak 3339

P3339 ©

April 12, 2015, Joel Hawk

(Click on pictures to enlarge)
Same thing....lost the pics with my new phone.

Today is slated to be a solo hike to an obscure, little known peak in San Diego called P3339 (named due to the elevation). Expecting the day to be in the mid-to-high 80s per the weather-guessers, I left Point Loma at 4:00 a.m for the 1 hr 40 minute drive.  Man it's nice driving on these roads without any traffic.

Anyway, after a quick sandwich stop, I arrive at the trailhead right on schedule.  This is called the Desert View Overlook.

The day is breaking enough to where I can see now, so time to strap on the boots and backpack to get going.  It's a crisp 41 degrees and perfect for the hike.

 The trailhead is easy to find and away I go.

Gonna come back to this.

A little background for the area. (Click any picture for a larger view)

Ah yes, this is pleasant.

The desert flowers are still in bloom and as you can see in one of the pictures below, they lined my path for me.  I followed this bike path for a couple of miles before departing and starting my bushwhacking and scrambling.

The hike starts off high, drops down to the desert floor and then you climb again to reach the peak.  This offers great views at the beginning, in the middle and at the end.  Beautiful.

I pay good money for these plants and care for them, feed and water them.  It's a struggle...and look at this guy growing right out of a crack in the rock without so much as any help.  It may take some imagination for you, but this rock resembles an animal face with the eye, nose and mouth lines (a snub-nosed dolphin maybe).  On the trail, I entertain myself...well, off the trail too.

Scrambling up, over, around and sometimes under, I find myself at the summit.  No benchmark or register, but Garmin has me standing right on the spot.

It was such a beautiful day and I was solo, so I added a couple of miles to my trip.  I decided I wanted to climb this pile of rocks in the distance because they were there.  This promised to offer views down into Carrizo Gorge - and it did.

Once there, I found myself almost to the floor and I looked up.  Yep, I better start my trek back before I get myself into a situation.  I'll head for that saddle waaaaay up there and change routes if needed once there.  C'mon legs, don't fail me now.

That was some climb, and I only have about 3 miles to go.

The return trip was uneventful though I did see snake tracks across my original path.  They are out now.  And I told you I was going to come back to this.

Great hike, perfect day.  We just don't know what we are missing in life without getting out there and seeing new things.  If you're interested in learning more about McCain Valley, here's the BLM link.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/elcentro/recreation/mccain.html

 

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

Directions and the numbers:

Take I-8 to Campo/Boulevard exit and go south 0.45 miles to a stop sign. Turn left (E) onto Old Highway 80 and go 2.3 miles and turn left (N) onto McCain Valley Rd.   After about 1.5 miles or so, the paved road becomes a dirt road.  Stay on McCain Valley Rd.  Once you cross Lost Valley Rd, in 3/4 mile there is a short finger (dirt road) to the right.  Park in the roundabout.  Total round trip was 8.25 miles with the route I took (not just to the peak and back).  Total ascent was 3021 ft and max elevation was 3356 ft.   Overall this took about 5 hours.

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