San Mateo Peak Loop

Hiked: 5/12/2019
Distance: 7 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 3591'
Elevation Gain: 1139'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.9
Round trip time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Recommended water: 48 oz.
Parking/Fees: Adventure Pass at Morgan Trailhead
Difficulty: Easy

This was my fourth trip to San Mateo Peak, but first trip attempting the loop route, and first trip with hiking legend Ben Baumann. Ben was working on the Sierra Club Lower Peaks List (and only had five to go on the HPS). His reports were instrumental during my pursuit of the San Diego List. I had created a GPS track in Caltopo.com along what I thought were public roads though the ranch community to the east. Instead, I led us through some private back yards, but we weren't hassled. A better route through the community is to take Monterey Road to El Dorado Road to Gaucho Road to the trail. An image of this route is posted at the end of the report. I was very engaged talking all things hiking with Ben so I didn't take many photos. I filled in the gaps from another San Mateo hike I did two weeks ago. I think I have now documented all of the plastic dinosaurs on the route. Before we reached the summit, I led us down a side canyon heading for a cool looking outcrop of boulders, but called it off when the bushwhacking effort exceeded the value of getting there. Maybe another time. We reached the summit from the south and rested a bit on the summit boulder. The weather was blue skies and sunshine, a complete flip from the forecast only a few days earlier. It's noteworthy because weather forecasts have gotten pretty reliable in recent years and a complete miss is unusual. When we got back to the trailhead, Ben found a tick crawling on him. We both did quick tick scans without finding any. I did find one in my truck on the drive home, but was clean otherwise. With great summit views, San Mateo remains pretty high on my list of favorite Lower Peaks.

Trail leading out of the community

Grassy field south of the peak

Highest summit boulder

Ben at the summit sign and register

Plastic Dinosaurs encountered going clockwise

This is a bonus dinosaur down the trail toward Tenaja Falls

San Mateo Peak from 4/29/2019

This is a better path through the community

See Also:
San Mateo Peak