Stats, trail tips and important information regarding this trail are located at the bottom of the blog post. Unless explicitly noted, all pictures in this blog are owned by me and should otherwise not be used without expressed written consent.

In 2018, for the first time I had a career working fully remote. This gave me an elevated quest for exploration, finding a love of mixing personal leisure trips with business. How did I use that leisure time? Well, I hiked of course!

Here is a brief semi-OT story: I was traveling to Ft. Lauderdale (FL) for a certification training. The hotel hosting the event ran out of regular sized rooms. So they gave me a penthouse suite. This suite had two master bedrooms, two master baths, a living room, foyer and two balconies. Nuts, huh? I was in this posh accommodation when I was informed my company had been acquired. A week later, I was in La Jolla (CA) meeting my new co-workers.

Once my business travel was over, I made my way to San Diego, staying in Shelter Island at the Humphreys Half Moon Inn. Upon researching hiking options in the area, I elected to do Mount Woodson, otherwise known as “Potato Chip Rock”. So I drove to Lake Poway to start my adventure.

To the shock of no one, the weather was absolutely perfect. As you start the hike you get immediate views of the lake, the surrounding foliage and boulder fields.

Yes, the hike is beautiful mostly throughout the journey. The over 2,100 feet of elevation gain begins right away. Check out this self pic, with distant views of the Torrey Pines area and glimpses of the Pacific in the background. Yes, these pictures are my pre-Google Pixel days so there’s a noticeable image quality difference.

The boulder fields are absolutely beautiful and you see them throughout most of the hike…

Aside from the long-range views, the landscape nearby is absolutely beautiful…

And another self-pic! I always chuckle when I see people with self-pics where you can see their arm and camera through their shade lenses. Well, here I am doing it right here..😂…

Wow, all of the beautiful elements of this hike are all wrapped into one picture…

What’s cool about the relatively uninspiring picture below?…

…you can see San Diego! Check this out…

Of course, I had to get a panoramic towards the top. Maybe someday I’ll do something interesting with all of them?…

This rock struck me as I was hiking up. I’m going to call it Trollface…

Why do people do this hike? For the potato chip pic, of course…

If you’ve seen most of my hiking blog posts, my poses are quite predictable. Arm flex at the top? Check. Thumbs up? …

Check! I’m more predictable than I’m willing to admit.

Potato Chip Rock was quite busy. I saw several people venture out much further on the rock than I did. This isn’t dangerous (not much of a dropoff), but I didn’t want to contribute to any potential rock erosion or chipping. Looking at recent pictures of the rock, it appears to be still in good standing.

Maybe I’ll come back and do a more creative picture on the rock. Still, this was an amazing hike with beautiful views and a pretty wicked calorie burn, more wicked than my stingy Apple Watch was willing to admit.

Total Distance/Time: 6.83 miles

Calories Burned: 837

Trail Type: Out-and-back

Trail Features: Lake, boulder fields, distant city views, distant ocean views, mountain

Best Time to Hike: Anytime?

Difficulty Rating: 7/10

Trailhead Coordinates: 33.0063391, -117.0129038

Trail Tips:

• Clear Day. Like other mountain hikes, hiking Mount Woodson on a clear day is ideal. This will allow you to see San Diego and distant views of the Pacific.