Iron Mountain
Miles: 5.4
Elevation Gain: 998ft
Gaia Track
100 Peaks Challenge Peak #20
Afoot & Afield 5th ed. Trip #59

I proposed Tuesdays for our weekday hike day, because my morning work calendar tends to be pretty quiet then. It seems to work ok for my hiking partners too, but today was a bit of an exception. There were five of us hitting the trail this morning, and everyone but me had a time constraint. We had decided on Iron Mountain, another classic San Diego hike that can get insanely crowded, so getting it over with on a weekday was key. I checked my track for the last time I hiked Iron via this shortest of routes, and saw that I’d clocked in at two hours and 15 minutes, not counting time spent at the top enjoying Tequila Sunrise cocktails. (Yes, it’s that kind of hike!)

With our time constraints in mind, we met at the trailhead at an ungodly 5:45am. We wasted no time hitting the trail with only a few other crazy early birds. It was surprisingly warm already and we quickly shed the few layers we’d brought. In just over an hour, us badass gals were at the top, just in time to enjoy a (tequila-free) sunrise, with dramatic clouds blanketing the sky.

We took our peak photos and wasted little time at the summit before speeding back down. We made quick work of the rocky trail, breaking into a jog at times. I may not have had been trying to beat the clock myself, but I joined in the race anyway, delighting in the adrenaline rush of our quick footwork. Arriving at our cars, I checked my tracker – our round trip moving time clocked in at one hour and 59 minutes, yeah!!! And that’s peak #20, in the bag!