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8 shady, cool and enjoyable trails to explore when it's too hot for your favorite peaks
Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge
We all know that San Diego is blessed with nearly perfect weather all year long, but there are parts of the region that get too hot to hike in the summer and early fall.
San Diego County’s tallest peak, El Cajon Mountain, is actually closed in August because of extreme summer heat, and even shorter hikes such as Cowles Mountain and Mission Trails can be too challenging, especially for pets and young kids in 80+ degree weather.
Luckily, there are plenty of coastal hikes and running trails to hit when the temperatures rise. And, as a bonus, they come with great coastal views.
Sure, this place is obvious, but it’s also so beautiful and has so many cool coastal breezes that we can’t help but mention it. Plus, if you check the tides and go when the water is low, you can do a fun loop along the beach.
Start at the Torrey Pines Beach parking, head up the big hill to either the Beach or North Fork trailheads, and then head to Flat Rock, where you can descend to the beach. Walk along the sand back to the parking lot.
For a less crowded (and less pricey parking) option than Torrey Pines, explore the trails in the San Dieguito Lagoon. You don’t get the same sweeping ocean views, but it’s still so picturesque.
Start at the ranger station on Via de la Valle, and follow the Coast to Crest trail to the lookout over the lagoon. Then, if you still have energy, explore other paths such as the Riverpath or Dust Devil Nature Trail.
Another great kid- and dog-friendly hike with cool breezes is the Lagoon Trail in Carlsbad along the Batiquitos Lagoon. Park on Gabbiano Lane and follow the trail past the nature center.
You can take it all the way to the end, and then loop back to follow the Eucalyptus Trail to add more distance. Along the way, there are scenic views and chances to see a range of birds, from herons to egrets and raptors.
A South Bay option that is right on the ocean and plenty cool has a network of flat, wide dirt trails weaving through beach scrub and over sand dunes. The trails take you through peaceful protected spaces with views of the ocean and Mexico in the distance.
Start at Iris Avenue and Tower Road in Imperial Beach. Follow the River Mouth Trail to the beach overlook, then extend your route on the out-and-back South McCoy Trail.
These paths aren’t right on the ocean, but close enough to the coast to not get too toasty in the summer. There’s a network of relatively new bike paths and pedestrian bridges around the UC San Diego campus, including several protected bike paths fully off the road. Make sure to stop and take an instagram worthy shot of the two-toned blue pedestrian bridge on campus.
Start at the UTC mall and head north on Genessee Ave to the bike path. After you cross I-5, you’ll join up with a bike path that you can follow south until you hit Voigt Dr on the UCSD campus. Take the path through campus and over the pedestrian bridge to join Miramar St and then back to your start.
There’s nowhere closer to the ocean than the Silver Strand path, with beautiful views of the ocean and marshes that stretches as long as you are willing to go. There are spots to stop along the way and take a water break or stand on a dock hanging over the water, so you can enjoy the ocean breeze and take in the sights.
Start near the Coronado Yacht Club and hop on the bike path, which you can follow for a full 24 mile loop, or turn back at any time.
This bike path in Chula Vista lets you take advantage of cool ocean breezes and skirts the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge while connecting Chula Vista’s Bayside Park with the Living Coast Discovery Center. Check out the pedestrian bridge, plus spots to stop and take in the San Diego Bay.
Start at Bayside Park and go north on the path, then run or ride just the new path, or use it as part of a longer ride along the bay.
This wooded path lets you through fields of flowers, and can connect you to the Rose Canyon Open Space Park, a canyon with beautiful views of cliffs and the train tracks below.
PARTNER CONTENT
Park on Genesee Avenue near Governor Drive and follow the trail either east or west, or do a full loop. If you want more distance, follow the roads through UTC to join up with the Rose Canyon trail.
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
Meet fellow hikers by joining other outdoor-enthusiasts on routes around the city
San Diego Day Hikers is one of the region’s most popular hiking groups on the social gathering website Meetup.com. But it has a pretty interesting past.
“The group started in the 1980s as a monthly hike, usually on the last Saturday, led by a professor from SDSU, and loosely affiliated with the Libertarian Party of San Diego,” says Philip Erdelsky, the group’s current leader. “Announcements were printed in the Libertarian Party newsletter, and also emailed to those who had email.”
Subscribers were mostly students and staff at SDSU, but Erdelsky took over the group in 1993. “I used email for the hike announcements, and in the late 1990s started posting the announcements on the Caltech Alumni server, which appeared on the then-new World Wide Web,” he says.
Fast forward to 2012, and Erdelsky decided to add the group to Meetup.com, calling it San Diego Day Hikers. Today, the group has nearly 22,000 members who join up for multiple hikes across the county every month.
Typically around five to 25 people show up for hikes which are free to join. Erdelsky guides many of the hikes himself, using resources such as Schad’s Afoot & Afield in San Diego county.
Joining a local hiking group is a great way to get to know other people who share similar interests and can even help with finding new routes. Thankfully, there are plenty of hiking groups like San Diego Day Hikers to check out—most of which don’t require any membership or fees.
If you’re looking for a new crew to join, here are more San Diego hiking groups to check out:
This group gathers for hikes throughout the San Diego region with easy to moderate routes. The group usually hikes on the last Saturday of each month, but also has weekday evening excursions occasionally. Recent hikes include a Mission Bay five-mile walk, an urban four-mile hike through Marian Bear Park, and the five-mile Engelmann Oak Loop at Daley Ranch in Escondido.
This group for the UCSD community has a discord channel where users plan hikes and other outings. To join, you must be a member of UCSD, either a student or staff. The group has around 2,850 members, and usually about 20 people turn out for hikes.
Recent hikes include the Santa Margarita River trail, Cowles Mountain, San Clemente Trail and the Potato Chip rock.
This group on Facebook has around 2,000 members and plans monthly hikes, including big challenges such as El Cajon Mountain. Organizers say the group is very active with regular events. They mostly focus on hiking, but also organize backpacking, camping, snowboarding, skiing, running, cycling, kayaking, paddle boarding, and road trips events. Members can also create their own events and post them to the group.
Recent hikes include El Cajon Mountain, Mt McGinty, and Black Mountain via Nighthawk Trail. Hikes are usually organized on Saturdays and Sundays early morning at 6 a.m., but also weekday shorter evening hikes at 6 pm.
This Facebook group is great for those worried about being too slow for a regular hiking group. They have nearly 7,000 members and plan regular outings on easier routes. They’ll also organize more challenging adventures such as hiking Mt. Baldy.
“San Diego Sloth Hiking Team at Mt. Baldy. Started [the] hike at 3:30 a.m. and finished at 3 p.m.! Long day of hiking, laughs, a few curse words and a ton of beautiful views,” one user wrote on TikTok. Other hikes include Kitchen Creek Falls, Cedar Creek Falls in Ramona and Devils Backbone.
For a guided experience, the San Diego Natural History Museum offers free guided hikes throughout the county led by volunteers. Hikes are organized every weekend, but are capped in size, so you need to sign up in advance. Priority registration is given to museum members, but if there’s still space then anyone can sign up.
People often join to explore the canyons near their homes that they’ve always been curious about but were hesitant to explore on their own, according to organizers. They also take treks into the desert to explore in groups.
“I sought the Canyoneers out because I was looking to do more desert hiking, but I didn’t feel comfortable going alone,” said Daniel, one of the Canyoneer leaders, on the group’s website. “It’s easy to get lost, there’s spotty cell phone coverage, I’d think ‘what if I got a flat tire?’ The Canyoneers offered the opportunity to explore new trails that I wouldn’t hike on my own.”
If you want more than just a regular hike to join, and are looking to boost your wilderness skills, you can check out the San Diego Sierra Club’s 10-week wilderness basics course. The course covers hiking, camping, and backpacking through 10 in-class lectures with four weekend outings.
Skills training includes selecting clothing, gear, and equipment; how to use a map and compass; physical conditioning; first aid and safety; food selection and preparation and water filtration; animal encounters; and sanitation. During the overnight outings, participants will have to supply their own equipment.
The course is offered each year from January to May with lectures at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights in Escondido at San Pasqual High School and in San Diego at the First United Methodist Church – Linder Hall in Mission Valley.
This post contains affiliate links to products and services. We may receive compensation when you click on links.
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
Instead of the typical drinks or dinner date, hit the trails with your crush to see your compatibility
Ashley Lee had pretty much sworn off dating when a guy she was sort of interested in asked her to go on a hike. “Strictly as friends—because dating is a miserable, awful thing,” she recalls. “I was down because I had not hiked in ages; was more of a yoga girl back then. [I figured I’d] try something new.”
They decided to hike Cowles Mountain in the middle of the day, and, for some reason, Ashley elected not to wear sunscreen. “Long story short, I darn near died on the way up, because yoga shape is not hiking shape,” she says. “He busted out almond Champagne at the top, which was delicious, but I also [almost] died on the way down. I’m a lightweight and dehydration kicked in… I got an epic sunburn… He still gives me a hard time about [it].”
Ashley’s hiking partner, Seung, can still rib her about her sunburn because, well, he’s now her husband. They have three kids together, and Ashley says that, despite the near-death experience, hiking made for a great first date.
“You skip all that formality of sitting at a table interviewing each other and sifting through who this person really is versus what they want you to think,” she reflects. “He seemed like a vaguely responsible and spontaneous guy who was very bright and motivated and spoke his mind.”
She says relationships and marriage are hard, and hiking gives you a better glimpse into how someone handles challenges. “You can kick the tires at the coffee shop and think it’s all great, but you are better served on a hike, where the rubber meets the road,” she emphasizes.
I may be biased, given my love for hiking, running, and generally being outside, but if I were dating now, I’d make all my first dates outdoor treks. I said yes to a first date run back when I lived in Berkeley (I thought I was a good runner, but I still got completely winded when my date took me on a jog up the Fire Trail), and I went on hikes and runs early in my relationship with my now-husband.
They really are good ways to get to know people—and can push you to ramble farther than you would otherwise.
Data from the running app Strava seems to support this notion. Its 2022 Year In Sport report found athletes in pairs went longer in both time and distance than when they were solo.
The company also analyzed all the running and hiking done on Valentine’s Day and found that a good chunk of people celebrated the holiday by exercising as a duo. A fifth of winter activities (skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, and snowshoeing) were done in pairs on February 14 over the last four years, while 14% of walks and hikes and 13% of bike rides were two-person trips.
According to Strava, these are the most popular hiking routes for pairs in San Diego County:
If you want something with romantic views, try Sunset Cliffs, Torrey Pines, or Kwaay Paay in Mission Trails (which, bonus, is rarely crowded). Meanwhile, local James Hauser says that when he was dating as a student at UCSD, he had a go-to third date: the La Jolla trail.
“[For] the initial first date, you go somewhere on campus. [The] second date might be sushi or somewhere near campus,” he says. “Then I would do this hike around sunset time where you get to see the beautiful ocean. If I did get the opportunity of having a third date, it’s a good way to get to know someone a little bit more than [I would at] a casual dinner.”
Plus, hiking takes a little longer than a typical dinner and can introduce more physical contact, he adds. “‘I need you to hold my hand, I need you to hold on to me,’” he jokes. “And it’s also just very beautiful. I think it’s one of the prettiest places in San Diego overlooking the cliffs. You have the gliders there going back and forth, and then you end up on the beach, and then you can walk back to campus.”
Hauser would tell his dates to wear comfortable shoes, and says he never had bad experiences. “I would be very encouraging [and say] that the hike wasn’t too difficult and any able-bodied person could do it,” he shares.
But one of these third-date hikes became his last—that’s because Hauser took the stroll with a woman who eventually became his wife.
“Maybe two percent of the reason why we’re married is because of the success of that third date,” he says. “She was skeptical at first. She was an L.A. girl who wasn’t into hiking, and I think I sold her on the fact that it was very pretty and I was bringing her somewhere that she hasn’t been before. It’s a little bit sketchy at times when you have to kind of hold on to someone or hold their hand, and so I got to [give] that additional reassurance—’I’m going to be here for you and support you’—and it went very well.”
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
Skip Cowles, Iron Mountain, and Potato Chip and try one of these treks on your next excursion
It’s February, which means people have probably already made and broken their new year’s resolutions. I promised to myself that I would meditate four times a week and…yeah that hasn’t happened.
But hiking and running are already a staple of my life, and hopefully something that will never go away. And for hikers, either veterans who go out every weekend, or those who are brand new, there’s a pretty easy resolution that you can make and keep this year.
Try a new trail. That’s it.
Instead of going to your usual routes that you’ve already done so many times, or going to the routes that come up highest on Google searches for San Diego hikes, try something literally off the beaten path.
The rewards will be great, I promise. You’ll challenge yourself in a new way—possibly physically—if you try a new trail that’s longer or steeper than your usual routes. And likely mentally, as you navigate a new course that’s unfamiliar to you. And those challenges pay off with fresh soreness in your muscles and fresh perspectives as you take in new sights.
Look, I’ll even make it easy for you. I have suggestions for three new trails that you very likely have not done before.
This little trail tucked into the canyons in the Allied Gardens neighborhood is really a hidden gem. You will feel like you’re miles into the wilderness, even though you’re basically walking through a neighborhood. It’s two miles out-and-back, and you can start it across the street from a playground. Park on Adobe Falls Road and take the trail up to the top.
This is a challenging hike in Escondido that is different from the usual Cowles Mountain/Iron Mountain/Mount Woodson routine. It’s a little more than seven miles out-and-back, with about 900 feet in elevation gain. The difference is the views, since it’s in North County, you don’t get the typical San Diego skylines you see on Cowles. The trail passes under Interstate 15, and takes you past Lake Hodges. It’s part of the Coast to Crest trail system, so you can make your hike even longer if you’re up for it.
A lot of people like to hike Marian Bear Park in the UTC area, and this trail gives a different option. You can make it six miles out-and-back, with only a few short hills—though those hills are pretty steep. It’s a great way to get into trail running, too, for the first time without having to drive way outside the city.
Start at the Tecolote Nature Center at 5180 Tecolote Road off Morena Boulevard. Follow the trail and go left when you reach a junction by the golf course. Keep bearing left to hug the golf course and then follow the trail as it curves right. Stay to the right as you reach a crossing trail at 2.3 miles and continue until you reach Genesee Avenue. There, you can turn around and go back the way you came.
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
The annual event honors middle market companies creating jobs, scaling up, and investing in the region
San Diego is known for its startup culture and innovation economy, but what happens when the company moves beyond its early-stage years? The San Diego Business Impact Awards aim to answer that question, spotlighting the middle market businesses helping drive the region’s economy.
Hosted by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards celebration takes place on Thursday, July 23, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Scripps Research Auditorium. More than 200 executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders are expected to attend the networking and cocktail event honoring some of San Diego County’s fastest-growing companies.
Businesses headquartered in San Diego County that have operated for at least two years are encouraged to submit their nomination by Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. Companies across industries—from technology and life sciences to tourism and consumer products, as well as pre-revenue startups—are eligible for recognition.
For EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty, the event is as much about building connections as celebrating success. “We’ve had a longtime partnership with JPMorganChase; their work aligns with our efforts to support underserved communities and drive talent development,” says Cafferty. “And the networking was invaluable last year. I’m still in touch with people I met at last year’s awards.”
EDC is an independently-funded nonprofit that works directly with San Diego companies to help them grow the local economy, make the region as a whole more competitive, and attract and retain top-tier talent with quality jobs. Through EDC, companies can get help starting or expanding their business with support for things like site selection, permit navigation, and regulatory guidance, plus connections to local resources and potential business collaborators.
The San Diego Business Impact Awards began as an idea with one of EDC’s longtime strategic partners, JPMorganChase. The two organizations share a commitment to San Diego and are dedicated to bolstering middle market businesses.
“We’re blessed with a robust innovation economy and startup community,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager for JPMorgan’s Commercial and Investment Bank and vice chair of the firm’s’ San Diego Market Leadership Team. “But one of the segments of the business community we felt was overlooked was emerging middle market companies—the businesses that are no longer small but not yet large.”
Ryan says supporting those companies is critical as they scale and decide where to invest, hire, and grow.
San Diego’s high cost of living remains one of the region’s biggest business challenges, making talent recruitment and retention increasingly competitive. But local leaders point to the region’s quality of life, climate, and collaborative business community as advantages that continue to attract employers and workers.
“In order to support thriving households, there has to be enough high-quality jobs for people to be able to afford to live here,” Cafferty says. “Once a company grows and excels past that middle market point in their growth cycle, they become much more likely to pay higher wages and compete globally.”
Both Cafferty and Ryan proudly tout the unique collaboration that exists among San Diego County businesses. Bringing together top universities producing high-quality talent, cutting-edge research institutions, a robust military and defense presence, leading ocean science and environmental organizations, and a binational, cross-border identity creates a distinct business ecosystem that defines and strengthens the San Diego region.
Last year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards celebrated nearly 60 honorees from 49 industries, representing a total of 8,232 jobs across eight sectors, including: software and technology, healthcare and life sciences, consumer goods, professional services, finance, construction and manufacturing, defense, and hospitality and tourism. On average, honoree companies doubled their revenues over the previous year, employed more than 145 San Diegans each, and offered an average annual compensation of $192,415.
Top honorees included defense contractor Innoflight, environmental consulting firm Bancroft Construction Services, life sciences startup Element Biosciences, defense technology contractor GALT Aerospace, organic grocery store chain Jimbo’s, and biopharmaceutical company LENZ Therapeutics. During the event, Innoflight Founder and CEO Jeff Janicik held a fireside chat offering his insights on investing in the community and embracing San Diego culture.
This year, organizers hope to continue highlighting the middle market players driving economic impact across the region. Nominations are now open through June 18 at 4 p.m. Get your tickets to the San Diego Business Impact Awards celebration to enjoy drinks by Snake Oil Cocktail Co., light bites, live music, and networking.
Local author Sydney Williams shares advice from her newest book on how to find self-love while on the trails
Most inspirational hiking stories don’t begin with failure, but for local author Sydney Williams, that’s exactly what happened. She was hiking across Catalina Island in 2016, and says “the Trans Catalina trail had it out for me.” In fact, she didn’t finish.
“I didn’t finish it because I was probably close to 60 or 80 pounds heavier than I am today,” says Williams. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life physically. And that’s coming from somebody that was a D1 athlete in college and a competitive skydiver for four years.”
After not completing it, she found that she was starting to hate her own body and needed to change her relationship with it. “I just [wanted] to do more […] and not have my body be the thing that got in the way,” Williams says. “When we got back to cell service on the island […] I sent a DM to the Catalina Island Conservancy and said, ‘I’ve had two life changing experiences on this trail. How can I help protect and promote it?’”
The adventure caused her to completely change her relationship with her body which led to authoring a book and writing about her experience. In 2019, Williams launched her debut book: Hiking My Feelings: Stepping Into the Healing Power of Nature. Her story and book now serve as the foundation for the programs offered through her organization Hiking My Feelings which offers 12-week learning seminars, hiking retreats, a private social network, and live shows.
On March 9, she’ll launch her second book: Hiking Your Feelings: Blazing a Trail to Self-Love at SXSW before making her way back to SD for a week of bookstore appearances. To celebrate the launch, Williams will head out to Mission Trails Regional Park on Saturday, March 16 for a group hike and stewardship project.
We caught up with Williams to learn how hiking can be used as a tool to help you deal with big and small emotions. Here’s what she had to say:
When a hike is physically taxing, Williams says it can become a focal point for your mind. “That first hike was so deeply physical that it was all I could think about,” she says. “All I could focus on was the deep physical pain, like the blister that I got a quarter mile into a 38.5 miles trail in a six-day journey.”
During a very hard hike, Williams says to honor your body and inner athlete instead of talking to yourself “like a jerk.”
“I was like, well, this is hard, but so was running stairs in stadiums, so was training for nationals when I was a skydiver. Those things are hard. This is hard. I can do hard things,” says Williams.
She says to ask yourself a question when you begin to doubt yourself: “What’s available to me if I’m not focused exclusively on what my body is or isn’t capable of?” The idea is to reframe your view of yourself and realize that you have completed hard tasks in the past and you can do it again. Trust in your own power.
It may seem simple enough, but hiking can be a good way to process your feelings without any distractions around. “[That Catalina hike] was the first time that I actually had time to process the loss of friends and that negative internal soundtrack that we have in our head,” she says.
Williams says we all carry invisible backpacks on our hikes full of trauma, insecurities, and the weight of the highs and lows that we’ve carried throughout our lives. “It’s that thing your gymnastics coach told you about your body when you were in third grade, whatever. Like, those things that stick. They’re all in this backpack,” she says.
Williams suggests using your time on the mountain to feel all the things you’ve been pushing down, allowing yourself to be uncomfortable. Working through your emotions can take time, but being intentional about doing so on the trail can be very beneficial.
The actual mechanics behind hiking your feelings starts with simply getting outside. When you start walking and negative things come up, remember that your mind is a powerful muscle. When negative thoughts arise, Williams suggests finding a way to get out that energy physically.
“Instead of [allowing] those thoughts […] and not having anything to do with that energy except shut it down, I [may] rage stomp for 100 meters or something, just up that ridgeline and just expel that anxious energy out through my feet and into the ground.”
It may seem silly at the time, but Williams suggests it can help free your mind and help you move onto the next challenge.
“If you need to initiate a difficult conversation, going for a hike and walking single file is really nice. Sometimes eye contact is hard to maintain,” says Williams. “Sometimes you just want to get up and run from whatever table you’re sitting at.”
Hiking can be a safe place for people to connect and have a hard discussion. Being in nature can also invite a more peaceful mindset, so Williams suggests allowing it to be a place where you’re in motion for these types of convos.
“It gives us a way to stay grounded in the things and the topics and the challenges of the human experience in a way that I personally haven’t experienced in any other way, shape or form,” says Williams.
This post contains affiliate links to products and services. We may receive compensation when you click on links.
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
We asked a hiking expert to break down the best workouts and trainings to help you get in shape for challenging treks
The San Diego region has some challenging hikes, and one of the toughest is the 11-mile out-and-back trek to climb almost 3,600 feet to reach the top of El Cajon Mountain. The views all along the way are sensational, and the challenge of reaching the top is extremely rewarding. But it’s not a hike you should attempt without a fair amount of preparation.
Further outside the immediate San Diego County region there are other rewarding but difficult hikes. There’s the Cactus to Clouds Trail to climb San Jacinto Peak in Palm Springs, a 20.3-mile point-to-point hike (you can take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway back down) with a 10,000-foot elevation gain.
Or the Rubicon Trail (10 miles) near Lake Tahoe, the Bridge to Nowhere hike (10 miles) in Azusa, and the Clouds Rest hike in Yosemite National Park (13 miles with 2,500 feet elevation gain).
I could go on. For all of these fantastic but challenging hikes, they require some training and a solid fitness base.
To help those looking to do some of these more challenging treks, we asked expert Gordon Janow, director of programs and founder of Alpine Ascents about the best workouts to get your body ready for these hikes.
“We guide technical peaks, mountaineering around the world, help people climb the highest mountain on each continent and run schools and summit climbs in the Cascades, Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and Mount Rainier,” says Janow. “My background is as a Himalayan historian and logistics expert. I run the company and also work with people in terms of getting fit or training for mountaineering expeditions.”
None of the day trip 10-mile expeditions listed here compare to climbing Mount Rainier, but Janow says they do still take training. He laid out his best advice. Here are his fitness tips on the best workouts to help you get ready for hikes over 10 miles.
The guiding principle to training for hikes is sports-specific training, or doing something that’s as close to the sport as you can to get ready for it as one of the elements, Janow says. He recommends three days in the gym of using a treadmill or step mill (like an escalator that helps you continuously climb stairs, not a stair climbing machine) and then a hike on the weekend to build up endurance.
Gym sessions should be around 45 minutes with an emphasis on increasing your speed. “One misconception people have is like, ‘Oh, I’m slow but I can go all day.’ But if you’re hiking for 11 hours, your body is still working for 11 hours. So you want to achieve a certain pace,” Janow says.
You don’t want what would normally be a six-hour hike to take 12 hours, because that’s too much wear on your body, he says. So before you go out, you can work on boosting your speed with interval training on the treadmill.
The goal for hiking at a good pace is usually 1,000-vertical feet per hour, Janow says. His training plans ask you to vary your incline from 5 percent to 15 percent, and then he says you can do intervals to build your speed. This could mean walking two minutes at a slower pace, then one-minute at 3 mph, and repeat. That way, you can build your speed over time.
You can also use the same method to pick up your pace on a step mill, going faster for one minute and slower for two minutes until you build up speed.
“There’s benchmarks, like being able to ascend 1,000-vertical feet per hour with a certain pack weight,” Janow says. “Each trip has a different pack weight. So you would prepare differently depending on the trip that you’re going on.”
He also has training programs and more fitness tips on his website, like this one to prepare for specific hikes such as Mount Rainier.
Try to climb at your anaerobic threshold, Janow says. “An easy way to determine [this threshold] is that if you can be next to somebody and kind of yell out a few words, but you can’t hold a conversation,” he says, then you’ll know you’re in the right spot. “But you also shouldn’t be entirely out of breath.”
“What we’re trying to do is to increase this anaerobic threshold. It’s not about going as hard as you can for certain periods of time,” he says. “I want your anaerobic threshold to be something that’s pretty close to an all-day pace where you’re walking and I can talk to you.”
In addition to cardio, one fitness tip to remember is weight lifting to build up your strength, says Janow. That includes squats and lunges to strengthen your legs and glutes, but don’t forget about your back and shoulders so that you can carry supplies.
“You’re going to be like, ‘My God, the backpack on my shoulders is killing me.’ Or, ‘My hips really hurt.’ Or, ‘My calves, my thighs…’” he says. “If it’s your thighs that are hurting, let’s say, then you start working weights there doing squats or box steps or things like that.”
There’s no substitution for actual time on the trails, so Janow says whenever possible, get out and do some shorter hikes to build up your mileage. Do shorter climbs with the pack you’d carry on the longer trek and get used to the weight and pace.
Some hikes to try in the San Diego region are Cowles Mountain (three-miles roundtrip), either of the Fortunas in Mission Trails (five- or six-miles roundtrip), Pyles Peak (six-miles roundtrip) and Iron Mountain (5.5-miles roundtrip).
Claire Trageser has been writing for San Diego Magazine for 10 years. She also is a reporter at KPBS and writes for The New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, Elle and Runner's World.
Scripps study shows that some patients may be able to taper their dose and maintain results
While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.
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