Otay Mountain was the second of two San Diego County prominence peaks that Adam Helman and I were attempting today. We had just hiked Cuyamaca Peak earlier this morning and made our way down to the Otay Mountain area in the extreme southern portion of the county, getting within a mile or two of the Mexican border. Otay Mountain is the highest point of the San Ysidro Mountains, which sit mostly inside California but extend slightly into Mexico. Like many peaks in this region, Otay appears as one big blob of a mountain, as opposed to a more distinctly-shaped summit along a ridge. The name "Otay" may be a corruption of a Kumeyaay word "otai" for brushy, which would be a very appropriate description. Most of the range is designated Wilderness, but three separate roads lead to the summit area, where a bunch of towers stand. We opted for the eastern road.

From Cuyamaca, Adam and I convoyed south through some spectacular and remote countryside, following highway CA-79 south under Interstate-8, now on Japatul Road (CA-79 officially “ends” at the interstate). After a few miles on Japatul Valley Road we turned onto Lyons Valley Road, which descended steeply over a lovely canyon far below before winding through some more remote, rural countryside. We then turned on Honey Springs Road and followed it to where it eventually met with highway CA-94. On 94, we went left (southeast) toward the town of Dulzura. The drive to Dulzura covered about 40 miles and the whole time I was on the lookout for a gas station, having just a quarter-tank in the truck. Not knowing any better I figured Dulzura was “big enough” to have a gas station. However, I guessed wrong. Dulzura is just a small collection of homesteads and a café. In any case, we were now just a couple miles from Otay Mountain and I felt okay with the gas that I had.

According to the map, we were roughly at 1,500 feet elevation and although we were 15 miles from the ocean, the land here was semi-arid desert, with low scrub and cactus on the flatter sections, chaparral covering the hillsides. From Dulzura we followed CA-94 just another mile or so to Marron Valley Road, following it south through some homes for about 0.8 mile to a non-descript intersection with a road leading toward Otay Mountain. We drove another mile up very rough road to a cleared area on a small saddle nearby Donohoe Mountain. Here Adam left his truck and rode shotgun with me. It was about 1 p.m. and the weather, which had been variable and cool up by Cuyamaca, was warm and clear down here by Otay.

Past a couple turns and intersections, this bumpy road met with a better graded and gravel road coming up from the south. This road would then lead all the way up to the summit area. I drove carefully up this better road as it snaked steeply up the north-facing hillsides toward Otay's Summit. The drive wasn’t long at all, covering just 5.4 miles from Adam’s truck (and maybe 6.2 miles from Marron Valley Road). The road is rather good, and apparently kept up for the benefit of the Border Patrol, who run this area regularly (we saw one vehicle). We decided to park at Doghouse Junction, where the three summit roads come together. The hike from here to the top would cover about 0.8 mile each way and about 260 feet of gain.

We followed the main road south to the spur road that leads to the top. This spur road is paved and steeper than the other roads, and we made the top in about 20 minutes from my truck. The top itself has towers, which is no surprise. After tagging the summit rocks, we found some flatter rocks to sit on and have a lunch. The summit area is rather homely. The towers are slightly offset from the true top, but some heavy-gauge wiring is strung up everywhere. I opted not to photograph the summit rocks for this reason.

From this vantage, we could see most of southern San Diego and suburbs like Chula Vista and National City, and way off west through the hazy air we could see the Pacific Ocean and the distinctive Coronado Bay. Then, a bit more south we could see Tijuana and its hodge-podge of roads. The international border was easily identified: on the American side it was a mix of some development and lots of open areas, and then there was this straight line, on the other side of which was continuous concrete and buildings, this being Tijuana, presumably. Actually, the views were fairly nice, despite the haze and clouds. Big rounded Tecate Peak stood to the east, and all sorts of big, rocky, brushy peaks north and south in all directions. By this time the cloud cover was low enough to obscure Cuyamaca Peak in a whitish haze. After a lunch of pastrami sandwiches courtesy Adam, we made the easy walk back to my truck. Our total time apart from the truck was under an hour, including the break.

Back at the truck I was alarmed to see the clouds having moved in and built up in a threatening manner. I wanted no part of this road in wet weather, and although it wasn’t raining (yet), I didn’t want to stick around and find out, so I made the easy drive down the road to Adam’s truck, then convoyed back onto CA-94, west into Jamul, where I got gas and Adam got us ice cream bars for a successful two-summit day.

I crashed at Adam’s place that night, and we got some good Thai food at a place nearby. I left very early the next morning for the drive home. The “storm” had brought lots of clouds and some mist but not much rain, but driving up and over the high passes on Interstate-8 east of San Diego, I hit thick fog in places. Then, once down the long descent into Imperial County, the clouds simply ended and I had clear, dry and very lovely conditions for the long drive back home.