An Afternoon Adventure With Mrs. KFO

We often don’t get days off together so when a Monday lines up we like to jump at the chance to get out together. Running a small business means our schedules don’t really line up but the day after valentine’s day we headed to the coast for a little adventure.  We would be doing the Ho Chi Minh Trail in La Jolla.

The trail got its name in the 60/70’s from surfers who would use the route to get down the beach from the La Jolla Farms area, taking its name from the infamous trail in Vietnam. It’s funny now because you can google the trail and it will bring you driving directions under this name and drop you off in a neighborhood in La Jolla Farms by the college. I had gone this way previously, but it was a busy Presidents day and lots of people parked there, plus I noticed a lot more two-hour parking signs…

So, we headed over to the Glider Port and a new adventure since I had not gone down this way before and it was Steph’s first time. Before we even stepped off, I have to say I was really proud of her for wanting to do this trail, it’s not easy and I will say its actually pretty dangerous. Very steep lots of minor climbing it can get super slick, falling would be a really, really bad thing, but she was down so have to hit it while the hitting is good.

The traverse along the cliff top from the Glider Port wasn’t bad and made for a great view, it wasn’t until we started heading down that and all the other people were heading up that it started to get interesting. This is not a maintained trail and it’s all at your own risk, the trail itself can be thin or nonexistent in some areas. This means we have to be polite, have a good attitude, be helpful and most of all be patient.

Steph actually showed me up I was trying to figure out how to get across a spot and she just took off down the hill sliding on her butt, a method I soon adopted. We were in it to win it no going back the fastest way is through… We made our way through he brush and along the trail navigating the best route letting people pass or come up, it was really busy here, I think the secret is out.

The best part to me is the sandstone canyon and the slot canyon it makes with an almost stair like decent down. This is a natural drainage so there is a little “creek” and next to the slot canyon is a neat water fall when its flowing, keep in mind all tis water is run off so avoid playing in it. This is the big fun part for me after the slot it was time to figure out to go high or low. The high side was busy and super steep, I really didn’t want to deal with it so we went through the creek bed since it wasn’t really flowing and managed to move pretty well with the exception of some climbing and avoiding the super slick mud.

After that it was pretty much careful walk/climb down to the beach, we took a left and headed for Blacks Beach (San Diego’s famous nude beach) and the stairs back up to the Glider Port. The hike/climb down was pretty taxing with the having to pay attention the whole time, the hike up is pretty taxing from the never-ending stairs, ha-ha. The upside of all of this though is it makes for a decent loop, the Glider Port has a snack bar and plenty of parking so this makes for a cool local adventure on the coast.



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