Afoot & Afield by Jerry Schad

Author:Jerry Schad
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780899978024
Publisher: Wilderness Press
Published: 2017-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

The northernmost stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in San Diego County traverses the flank of the colorfully named Bucksnort Mountain. Combs Peak is the highest summit on that mountain ridge and rates as one of the highest summits in the county. To reach the top, you must be prepared for a little bit of off-trail, cross-country hiking.

From Lost Valley Road, follow the PCT as it wends its lazy way uphill through chaparral. The vegetation here is in an advanced stage of recovery from recent wildfires and may at times encroach upon the trail. Rocks strewn about the trail sparkle with sunlight reflected from the large mica crystals within them. Recent wildfires have destroyed the once-common Coulter pines along the trail, though numerous pine saplings suggest a modest comeback.

At 1.9 miles, you’ll come to a crest on the east shoulder of Combs Peak, where you will find well-defined campsites with stunning views toward the Santa Rosa Mountains. These sites receive a lot of use from PCT thruhikers in April and early May but are lightly used throughout the rest of the year. From this point, leave the PCT and begin traveling due west and uphill along a rough but fairly well-defined path worn in by hikers. The way is marked somewhat obscurely by “ducks” or cairns—small piles of stones placed as trail markers by hikers.

After considerable huffing, puffing, and foot sliding, you stand upon Combs Peak, which presents a spectacular panorama of many mountain ranges and valleys in the northern San Diego County and southern Riverside County region. Most impressive, perhaps, is the great wall of the Santa Rosa Mountains to the east, culminating at 8,716-foot Toro Peak standing tall over the gaping chasm of Coyote Canyon.

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