El Cajon Mountain

Overview

Get ready to take a week off from using the stair-master. This epic hike is one of the most challenging and strenuous in San Diego County, and its countless ups-and-downs will work your quads, calves, and glutes into meek submission. Unlike the gym, however, this trip over one of the most rugged and challenging landscapes in the county will grant you spectacular views and bragging rights to reward you for your diligence. El Capitan is the sharp slope in the middle distance Get ready for a lot of granodiorite El Cajon Mountain is the high point of a large block of granite that rises up above the town of El Cajon. Like nearby Mt. Woodson, Iron Mountain, and Mt. Gower, the landscape here exhibits countless examples of exposed granodiorite that has been eroded into smooth, rounded shape through spheroidal weathering. This long, slow chemical process wears away the edges of the rock over millions of years, producing the rock formations so common across San Diego’s interior. Nowhere else in the county do the granite formations become as impressive as they do on El Cajon Mountain. In addition to some spectacular formations on some of the lesser peaks on the mountain, the south face of El Cajon Mountain drops in a nearly sheer cliff, exposing a solid granite wall resembling Yosemite’s El Capitan. For that reason, the mountain is commonly referred to as El Capitan Mountain, or simply El Cap. It should be noted that this is not a hike for every one. Many sections of the trail follow a severely sloping track up a heavily eroded fire road that can be slippery and treacherous at times. However, this hike’s reputation as a monster comes in large part from the trail’s tendency to climb a severe slope, only to drop the elevation on an equally severe slope. There are several uphill sections on the return journey, and this is clearly what your grandparents were talking about when they told you that they walked to school uphill both ways. The approach to the summit gains around 3,200 feet, while the return journey talks on the re

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