Viejas Mountain

Viejas Mountain sits above the town of Alpine in the Cleveland National Forest, and it packs a serious workout into a short distance — barely a mile and a half one-way from the Anderson Road trailhead, but with close to 1,500 feet of gain, so it's steep from nearly the first step and never really lets up. Loose rock and a rough, narrow use-trail made for careful footing the whole way.

The trail plays a trick partway up: a false summit that looks like the top from a distance, with the real high point still a way off along the ridge. Clouds rolled in low by the time we got up there, wrapping the true summit in fog and wind, with an old rock wall windbreak and the metal 'Viejas Mtn — Elev. 4189 Ft' trail sign marking the actual high point.

The views came and went with the fog — one minute socked in, the next opening up over the valley toward Alpine and the hills beyond. It's a short hike, but because it's pretty much straight up the whole way, it's a genuinely good workout — a properly demanding little climb, and beautiful in its own moody, cloud-swept way.