The Hike: Kwaay Paay Peak
Vague Location: Mission Trails Regional Park
Distance: 2.5 miles – Out & Back
Elevation Gain: 900′
Total Elevation: 1194′
We started the hike at the trailhead that is located near Old Mission Dam. In fact, we found this trail because after walking from the Visitor Center to the dam; it was too crowded to be enjoyable. Parking near the Visitor Center and walking to the trailhead adds at least 2 miles to the hike. We also saw a tarantula hawk near the parking lot.
The trail was very steep; especially near the peak.
The brush stood tall around me and it was near dusk. That meant that I was scared of mountain lions that I envisioned to be lurking in the chaparral. We ran out of light well before we made it to our car and I don’t think we had a flashlight with us or even a flashlight app.
This hike was taken on September 10, 2010 and not many photos were taken.
Enjoy Bliss 
“This hike was taken on September 10, 2010 and not many photos were taken.” The best kind of hike, right? ;o)
I love taking pictures! 🙂
It also gives me an excuse to stop on those steep hills.
I hike this with my son a couple years ago. Instead of calling this our Kwaay Paay Peak hike we called it the “1 vomit hike”. Very steep trail + very hot day + too fast a pace = one sick son. The views up here are terrific though. I’ve also done a rock climbing class on the side of this hill that was a good time.
Oh no, I hope that your son recovered okay. Do you think it was heat exhaustion? It was hot during our hike, but not “Anza Borrego hot.” Normally, my pace is pretty slow. 🙂 I have overheated on many hikes, especially when I started out hiking in desert areas. Luckily, I have not vomited, only had ringing ears and such.
Rock climbing sounds fun! I have only tried it in an indoor gym. I was also scared of the height.
He was fine by the time we came back down. The outsdoor rock cllimbing with a company like Southern Terrain is very controlled. We were on safety ropes the whole time. I’m not a fan of heights, but was OK. We used a Groupon or similar deal to sign up.