Solo Female Traveling to San Diego - Day 2

How do you spend holidays, single and solo? Easy! You just stop caring about holidays and go to Meetups. This was my second day in San Diego, Christmas Day.

The first part of the day was planned to hike near Discovery lake in San Marcos. Located in a super nice neighborhood, this hike is somewhat urban, but leaves plenty of room to enjoy the nature. To get to the top, you can either hike or drive, but what fun is it to drive when you can hike?

I met a nice group of people with a gentleman who was an early retiree and thought it was time to retire for me as well. "Don't work until you are old! Just retire now!" Yeah, right, and who's gonna pay the bills?

During the second part of the day I checked out Old Town San Diego before meeting up with another group. It was insanely crowded by Asian tourists with each and every one of them using a selfie stick. A nice visit to historical past of San Diego, but probably not a primary destination.

Finally, a drink at a Mexican restaurant and a trip back to my rental. No wonder that some locals say that they have never done as much as I did in such a short time frame. The best is yet to come!

Solo Female Traveling to San Diego - Overview and Day 1.

This is the second year that I try to escape spending holidays in Fresno. Every year I can take a whole week off during the holidays. In the beginning, I would be against taking that much time off and doing nothing, but decided to change the second part of "doing nothing" and head to San Diego. Although for the 5th time (or maybe more?), I still enjoy the variety of activities there, nature and meeting new people.

This time I rented an AirBnb for 8 nights and headed to SD with my cat. The accommodations turned out to be pretty good, and the travel day I spent in my cottage just hanging out. I decided to go to the beach since I miss it so much living in Fresno. Ocean Beach is one of those places where it is not as crazy as Pacific Beach, but not as fancy as La Jolla. On Christmas Eve, I found a bunch of people on the beach surfing, taking a walk or... burning a Christmas tree...

It was a bit on a cooler side, so I spent half an hour enjoying the waves (and people burning Christmas trees).

Alum Rock Park - San Jose, CA

Right before Christmas week I decided to do another hike in San Jose organized by a Meetup group. With only 25 people attending, I thought it would be a nice way to complete this year's San Jose journey. Alum Rock Park only has 13 miles of hiking trails, and we were planning to hike a bit over half of them. We hiked both North and South Rim Trails to equal a bit over 7 miles with 1,200 ft elevation gain. There is quite a bit of shade, but some exposed areas as well, so I would recommend dressing in layers in the winter.

Parking is $6 (you can pay either at the entrance or at the parking lot), although there are two lots that are free. Apparently, you could see a mountain lion, but I was not that lucky. Lots of prey birds, smaller animals and deer. Drive slowly!

Nellie Lake Trail - Kaiser Wilderness - Huntington Lake

Not sure how popular Nellie Lake Trail is during the busy season, but in the off-season there is nobody... Literally, boarded up cottages, covered up signs and silence... My friend and I decided we needed a challenging hike. Boy, did we get what we wanted. Whether it is from high starting elevation or cooler weather, the hike was very very hard. Alltrails tracked 8.6 miles (+1 mile since I did not start tracking until 1 mile into) with quite a bit of elevation. The hike starts next to Huntington Lake. We parked right by it and hiked to the trail head. Apparently, you could also drive up to the trail (maybe 0.25 miles).

The views were good, but not amazing. The lake was completely empty. We stayed there maybe 15 min to eat lunch and headed back. It was a bit too chilly (close to freezing at that point + the wind). Regardless, if you want a challenge, go for it! If you want solitude, hike the trail during the off-season.

Four Mile Trail - Yosemite National Park

Another beautiful hike I completed a few weeks ago. Four Mile Trail is one of the top rated trails in Yosemite National Park. It goes from Yosemite Valley all the way to Glacier Point. In the summer, it is packed, but in October - November the number of people vacationing in the park thankfully decreases allowing us, locals, enjoy the peace and solitude of the trail. I am probably exaggerating solitude, because even in late October there are quite a few people attempting this hike.

It is a difficult hike because of the elevation gain and overall mileage. Don't be fooled by the name of the trail, it is certainly not a four mile hike. Alltrails clocked 9.4 miles total. With elevation gain of 3500 feet, it kick your butt. Acrophobe Factor: I am afraid of heights, really! But this hike did not make me feel scared at all. The views are worth every lost calorie to get to the top:

The view at the top - Glacier Point

A bit foggy and slightly smoky in Yosemite Valley