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The top of Palomar mountain has an amazing view. We could see the ocean and possibly what's left of the El Toro marine base. The hike itself was rather easy but at the beginning it did have a bit of an incline. Very soon it eased up completely.

Getting there was would have been a hassle but instead a group of us met at a shopping mall in Temecula and car pooled for an hour up the hill. The views along side the mountain were almost as wonderful as those at the top, except when the driver looked at them instead of the road. Along the way we passed about a dozen different indian tribes and their casinos. The mood was almost spoiled by fallen trees with a black/charred bark which I assume was evidence of a recent fire. I think the huge San Diego fires from 2007 didn't make it that far up the mountain. The Palomar observatory was below us and from what I read, the voluntear firefighters didn't let it get that far. But since there were some exploded trunks, maybe the blackened bark was from a recent lightning storm. The hike itself was arranged by the Temecula Hikers meetup goup and the Walk in the Wine Country meetup. http://hiking.meetup.com/540/

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view of the ocean		indian bakery (mortar)
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another view of oceanside	another view of oceanside	another view of oceanside
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another view of oceanside	400 year old tree	an itsy-bitsy moon over the horizon