February 25, Tuesday, it is time to start training for our hike to Everest Base Camp. We cannot train for the altitude but we can start getting our legs ready, so we went to the Santa Ysabel Preserve https://repicjourney.com/?p=1274 just north of Julian, to do a 7 mile hike. We drove about an hour from Santee to Julian, an old gold-mining-boom-town-turned-apple-growing-center and the best apple pies, but that comes later after the hike. The Santa Ysabel Preserve is a 3,800-acre preserve with more than 13 miles of multi-use trails, we started along the trail following the Santa Ysabel Creek which actually had water in it and headed toward the Kanaka Loop Trail. We passed cattle grazing on the grassy hillsides overlooking the creek and then passed underneath the spreading limbs of massive oak trees. As we climbed up to the Kanaka Flat we viewed a forest fire in the distance, which we found out later was a controlled forest fire so we were not in any danger. On top of the Kanaka Flat, it is reminiscent of Montana’s big-sky country, especially when high-flying cirrus clouds paint the sky. We hiked past some skeletal Coulter Pines, victims of the Cedar Fire in 2003, as well as some surviving pines with huge pine cones and long needles. We made it back to the jeep in 3 hours and drove back into Julian for lunch.
We ate at the best restaurant in Julian called the Julian Grille, naturally. Then across the street to the Julian Pie Company for dessert. Yes, they make the best apple pies in Julian since September 1986. We even bought two frozen Natural Apple pies, made with sweet apples and sweet apple cider, no preservatives, artificial flavors or sugar added, to take back with us to enjoy later. To top off the day we saw a spectacular sunset on our drive home.
