Had a little Friday adventure in La Jolla, after a Friday morning appointment I found myself over that way and figured I would try out the hiking seen over there. So I jumped on Dr. Google Box and I soon had some answers for “La Jolla Trail”, I figured I was in for an easy walk along Torrey Pines, this would not be the case.
So I search for and “La Jolla Trail” is at the top of my list and it was close so I’m on it. There was no website information but some cool pics of waterfalls and slot canyons so I’m in! Now we are driving through neighborhoods in La Jolla Farms and I don’t feel like me or my truck belong but we press forward, ha-ha (there are actual some cool houses). It is in an unassuming spot located in a break of two property lines and then you see the standard San Diego beach rules sign so the trail look legit. As you walk don and turn it begins to give way to some awesome views with mansions to the left and the glider port to the right. In fact you can apparently take the split in the trail to the glider port but I pressed forward into the sandstone canyon.
It was a well-worn series of paths leading in the same general direction so it had a choose your own adventure feel. I pushed in to the overgrown brush and could hear water flowing through a small creek, I would say the water was when my adventure began. I came down to a crossing with a board as an improvised bridge which I chose to take, I chose poorly. The board dislodged under my petite frame and I fell right on my butt, gladly only bruising my pride and getting covered in mud. After brushing myself off, I walked down to the side of the creek and stepped over it, lesson learned.
At this point the trail began to get a little sketchier on my way down, you can tell where rains had reduced the path or washed out the trail completely. I would say this is not a good trail for those who don’t like heights, tight spaces and can’t do some climbing. Another down side is that with this being a popular spot there are a good amount of people going up and down and for a single track trail that means waiting and sometimes waiting in some precarious spots. You also have to do a little bit of rout finding as there are a lot of paths from different people and what nature chooses for us.
One of these spots is the slot and it was one of my favorite spots because it was not apparat at first and when I did realize the way I was pretty stoked. Basically what looks like a runoff line turns into a slot big enough to walk down, while a little Closter phobic for someone my size it was really cool especially you it made a stair case. When you emerge from it you are surrounded by cathedral like walls of sandstone with some amazing forms. Also if you turn to you right and look behind it you can find a water fall which was flowing well when I was there. This was a really cool spot and you are almost there, almost.
This was the not so fun part as the trail was really thin I’m not that coordinated and wasn’t in the mood to take a thirty foot fall on to the rocks. This section is a little hairy and you could make sure it is dry and you can handle it. After letting a surfer go by I made my way along the wall and came down to another little bluff area. Now I had the chance of going high or low.
High looked wet blown out and super slick so I went low to the creek. Either one wasn’t a great option but I went with the creek since it was less distance to fall. Turns out the wet clay made for a slip and slide and I enjoyed a muddy semi sliding, semi falling decent to the next level. I was now like two for two in poor route choices. Although coming to the bluff here provided another neat ware fall feature and some cool plant activity for this spot.
The final push was to the beach and my goal was in sight all I had to do was go down a slippery muddy steep hillside with luckily with some old tattered rope that who know placed there however long ago (remember this is the day of great decisions). I made my way down and was very excited to be on sand. I remember looking up and immediately thinking of how to get back to my car without going back up there.
Well I knew the Glider Port was north so I hooked a left and headed up the beach in search of a staircase. As I walked along I noticed a line of cones dividing the beach, “wow this is odd” I though. Well this day was a day of many firsts, as I walked north I noticed the amount of naked people, I had stumbled onto the famous Black’s Beach. Black’s Beach is a portion of the beach that falls into the state parks jurisdiction which apparently is not as up tight as San Diego (ha-ha) so they allow nudity. This has been a thing for years and well it is something I have heard of I had never been until today.
As I walked along I viewed the stairs leading up to the glider port and began my accent, kidding aside it is a long steep walk so save your energy for it. Apparently the trail is not a sanctioned trial and it is taken care of by local beach goers, so thank you nudists. I was stoked because it took me right up to the dirt parking lot of the glider port and I rolled over their snack shack, which is quite nice and picked up some water and a coke. After gaining my bearings I headed back for a couple mile walk along surface streets to my care, I was done discovering for the day.
So all and all great little adventure, the path while not super hard was difficult in a few areas and you really need to take caution for you and anyone you bring with you in going down or up it. One major upside is the stairs at the glider port, you do have to traverse a nude beach if that might be an issue for you, you can go south but I can’t help you there. If you want more information on this route also look up the Ho Chi Minh Trail San Diego (a name surfers gave it in the 60’s) for a little more info. Hope you enjoyed my tale of “adventure” and as always thank you for reading!
