SAN DIEGO
Mason Truck Trail
For some reason, aorund 2010 when I was living in San Diego, I got obsessed with this side spur from the PCT. It had something to do with standing along Sunrise Highway, and looking down into the desert and wondering if you can hike up. And you can. Of course I had to do it from the bottom up, because going downhill is pussy bullshit. This is an itch I've had for a long time and I'm glad I finally checked the box. The older I get the more I find I don't want to leave my northern coastal Mediterranean/southern Pacific Northwest zone for outdoors activities, but an occasional desert hike is good for cleansing the palate. Admittedly it's pretty random to do a one-off hike, but if you want to do it, you should know the following practical tips.
- Above you can see the route I took, maybe about 10.5 miles total, about a 2700' gain. Alltrails does not have this route.
- You start on County Road S2 at the sign for Oriflamme Canyon.
- You can't follow the Gmaps route at the beginning as it's private property. Instead, you turn right (at a clearly marked intersection) and follow the feature called Vallecito Wash on Caltopo, until the path GMaps wanted you to take rejoins it, at which point there's a sign for Anza Borrego. As long as you know you're heading for the gap in the mountains, it's desert hiking, so I knew I was heading the right direciton.
- At this intersection, my original plan was to take the left and stay on the road labeled on Gmaps as the continuation of MTT. But, at that intersection there's a sign that says something like "restricted trail" and I didn't want to get 1.5 miles in and have to turn around, so I went right instead. This ends up hitting the PCT. Of note, I thought I was done with the annoying climbing but you give back some of what you earned and and then re-climb 800 feet going up to California Section A.
- If you're doing a point-to-point and you need a ride, you could do worse than to go on the PCT Southern Terminus Trail Angel Fb group and ask around there.
- At the end, you can see the path just stops on California Section A. It's about another quarter mile from the end of the path I drew, on the side trail to get to Sunrise Highway, and it is an officially marked trail (see the photo on Gmaps.) Also note that the trail that Gmaps draws is actually deflected northeast from the actual trail you can see on the satellite image, by about 200 feet to the northeast.
- You don't have to pay for parking at the Sunrise TH on the PCT. On a nice Sunday afternoon I was surprised to see just myself and one other car.
Things I should have done in San Diego but did not: get Rigoberto's
Things I should not have done in San Diego but did: show up to a tiki-themed party in full 70s disco leisure-suit glory. Yes there are pictures. No you can't see them. (These are clearly the two actions the Apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 7:19. Paul was a FREAK for carne asada fries.)
BONUS: LOS ANGELES
I'd read that the paths in the Hollywood Hills were cool and that you can actually just walk right into the Hollywood Bowl when it's not being used for a performance. They are and you can. The Hollywood Bowl looks like it has basically one show per month, and nothing from November all the way to May.
Also: I'd only ever been on UCLA's campus once before, and this time I was going to the library to soak in the ambience of the place where Ray Bradbury banged out Fahrenheit 451 in the basement on a rented typewriter in 9 days. Originally my plan was to see that it was just a mundane place and it was the determination and focus that mattered, but Powell Library is one of the most beautiful libraries I've ever seen, probably second only to the Library of Congress. So it backfired.
Also: Watts Towers is interesting.
Also I wanted to see One on One Studios, where Metallica recorded the Black Album. It's deliberately not marked, but they have a mail slot that stalkers can take pictures through. Nobody working on a Friday night.
Also, this is the house in Simi Valley where Poltergeist was filmed. You'd never know this is the house that scarred me for life. Confusingly, at the end it very clearly shows the house getting sucked into the demonic vortex, but it's still there, so I'm not sure what to think.
Also here's what it's like to wait in line for the Jimmy Kimmel show, but of course you can't use your phone inside. You can see me in the crowd at one point but I'm not going to tell you which night, because I'm clapping like a moron. First picture below is the tent in front of the Chinese Theater, for a movie premiere, the critically-acclaimed Zootopia 2.
I also went to a comedy show at the Comedy Store. I find that I can't stand character - a manufactured personality. In person I found it more obvious and grating. Comics where picking on the criwd is a big part of their act impress me more, because they're improvising (hence Rick Ingraham was my favorite.) I also realized how much they're limited in their material - to experiences that we all have. I'd love a psychopharmacology or linguistics comic but they'd have an audience of approximately me.
Above: billboards on Highland and Franklin, Hollywood.
Compared to movies, video games have a lower barrier to entry, there's less necessity to coordinate in one city, and greater ROI, not to mention greater longevity, and an industry that is bigger and is growing. I'm sure the film industry knows this but it still seems strange to see all the billboards about movies and TV shows - they're for other studios, not for viewers. Because of technology changes, I think the MCU will be seen historically as the last blockbuster franchise, much like Taylor Swift will be the last "rock" star.
