Cappie’s Scoop: Mom and I were training for my first long backpacking trip and she thought it was a good idea for us to do this hike. Five peaks in one day! As you can see from the pictures, I start out smiling, but by the last peak, I’m ready to hit the bed. We stopped a lot to take pictures because the park was blooming with wildflowers and green grass (which I loved). But it was a long day. We went with a few friends so that made it even more fun too! Don’t hesitate to add YOUR scoop in the comments below!

Tips: Officially, the challenge has ended lasting a good 5 years (2015-2020). However, you can still do it on your own even if you don’t get a pin and certificate from the park. Start early, it’s going to be a long day. Picking out your route is the fun part! If you decide to do the whole hike on foot (like we did) vs staging two cars, no matter what route you choose, you will have to cross Mission Gorge Rd at some point. This is the road that separates the two parts of the park.

Directions: Depends on where you want to start and finish. We parked across the street from the Kumeyaay Lake Campground at the dirt lot on the corner of Bushy Hill Drive and Father Junipero Sierra Trail. Sample loop route: from the parking lot, walk to the Big Rock Trail and go up the backside of Cowles Mountain (peak 1), then over to Pyles Peak (peak 2) and back and then down the front of Cowles to arrive at Golfcrest Drive. Turn right and head towards Mission Gorge Road. Cross the road and pick up the trail behind the visitor center to head towards South Fortuna (peak 3) and then North Fortuna (peak 4) peaks. You have a couple options on which trail you want to take but you want to make it down to Kwaay Paay (peak 5), you final one.