Days 2 & 3 through Coronado Island

After I was unexpectedly stopped by an entry into an estuary the day before, I started day 2 of my hike by driving back to my last end point, and began walking from the north end of the estuary mouth. The weather was beautiful, and it made for an easy 5 mile hike through Imperial Beach. 

I had been concerned about crossing the beach adjacent to the Imperial Beach Outlying Landing Field. I wasn't sure if the beach was accessible or not; fortunately, it wasn't. I stopped at the south end of the Silver Strand park, where I was able to take a break and enjoy the scenery for awhile before jumping on the 901 bus back to my truck in I.B.The bus stop is located right at the entrance of the Silver Strand  Park.

No entry onto Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado

Today, I drove back to the Silver Strand Park, and began a 7 mile hike up the remainder of the Coronado coast. Since the Park is right next to Naval Amphib Base, Coronado, I had to detour to the other side of the highway through a pedestrian tunnel, since the beach adjacent to the base is closed to the public.

Ferry Landing

There's a bike trail on the East side of the Silver Strand highway. I followed the trail up into Coronado, finding the time to take a break for an excellent cheeseburger at Danny's Palm Bar & Grill. It's a little dive bar in the heart of Coronado, but it's clean enough to enjoy a good burger and a cold one. The walls are covered with memorial pictures of Navy SEALs that have been KIA. With Danny's being so close to the base, I'm sure many of those guys passed through Danny's during their time in Coronado.

After my lunch, I finished up my hike through Coronado by taking the Coronado Ferry at the end of Orange and First Street. For $4.25, the ferry took me across to downtown San Diego. I ended my day's hike by taking the 901 bus back to the Silver Strand Park to pickup my truck.

USS Benfold, DDG 65

I'll start my next hike from downtown San Diego as soon as I get some more free time.

Finally starting

Well, I'm still dealing with this family situation that requires me to hang out in San Diego for awhile. I have anywhere between 7-10 days of downtime before I have to attend to  business again (I'm intentionally being vague about what's going on), so I figured that I could get in several day hikes in between business days. I imagine that I'll be able to cover the San Diego county coastline with day hikes until I can hit the trail full time.

I started out by driving down to Border State Park and hiking about a mile down to the border fence. Of course I had to touch the fence, under the watchful eye of the Border Patrol parked 50 yards away.

I hiked along the beach for a couple of miles, until I came up to a inlet was too wide and deep for me to cross without going for a waist-high swim. So, there were a few lessons learned on this short trip:

- I will get wet. Whether from rain or having to cross a water way, I have to think about getting drenched. Salt water and electronics don't mix well, so I'll need to look into purchasing dry sacks for my phone, GPS, and solar charger. I've already got waterproof compression bags for my clothes, but anything else that is in my backpack that will have to be kept dry is going to have to go into some kind of waterproof bag.

- Walking on sand, even hard packed sand, is like walking on a Stairmaster set on level 4. I didn't use my trekking poles since it was going to be a short hike. After 10 minutes, my thighs were pumped up. I was only carrying about 15 lbs in my pack, and that will eventually increase to 30 lbs. The trekking poles will come with me next time.

- I need to preview each day's hike more closely. I didn't expect an obstacle today that would require a swim.

I'm heading back out tomorrow, and I'll start on the north end of the water inlet that kept me from crossing today. I'll have to figure out if I can hike the beach property adjacent to the Navy airfield in Imperial Beach, as well as the beach property adjacent to Coronado Amphib base. Even with my military ID, I'm sure the SEAL instructors won't appreciate me hiking through their workout space on the beach.

Delayed...

Well, I've hit a big delay. I came down with the flu during the third week of January, putting me in bed for almost 5 days. Of course I was supposed to be moving out of my apartment during that time, but I figured that I had one more week to move after I recovered enough to be up and about. But nothing ever goes the way that it's planned.

The last week of January, some family issues came up that forced me to travel to Northern California twice within three days. This situation will require my full attention over the next couple of months, so I'm currently couch surfing between my parent's place in Murrieta and my daughter's place in San Diego. I had to get a five day extension on my apartment to get the place cleaned out, and was able to finally move out yesterday with the help of my daughter and her friend. Everything is in storage, I finished up the last of the phone calls to the utility companies, and finally submitted my change of address cards.

I'm hoping to do some one- or two-day hikes starting from Imperial Beach, and then return when I need to take care of this business. This will set my completion date back several months, but then again, I'm in no hurry.