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| Pocket Mouse Hill, 3/26/08 |
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On the opposite side of Christianitos Road in the hills you will find a number of trails. Stop by the
booth at San Mateo Campground gate and ask for a copy of "San Mateo Trails at San Onofre State Beach, Backcountry map &
information guide".
Pocket Mouse Hill is one of the many trails. From the hill top you have a good view in almost every direction.
Pocket Mouse Hill trailhead is in the back of the Trestles parking lot towards Carl's Jr.
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Click any picture on this page for a larger view.
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| Pocket Mouse Hill trailhead at Trestles Parking Lot |
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| Pocket Mouse Hill |
Take the trail to the left to climb to the hill top (pictures of this trail shown next row below).
The trail to the right goes back to Christianitos Road or you could take another smaller very steep path
to the top of the hill.
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| View from Pocket Mouse Hill, lower trail |
View from the trail (turn to the right, shown in the previous picture). |
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| Another trail off Pocket Mouse, leads back to Trestles parking lot |
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In the picture above titled "Pocket mouse hill", trail to the left. Going uphill the trail splits
into two trails but both lead to the top of Pocket Mouse Hill. This is the view looking back toward Trestles parking
lot.
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Ok, the sign says "Danger Shooting Area" -- I don't recall reading about this on the trail guide...
(I'm taking this picture while standing in fragments of "clay pigeons" so I'm taking "keep out" seriously).
The trail turns to the right at this point up to the top of the hill.
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Turning right continuing up the hill away from the shooting area quickly...
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Looking back the way I came, gives you an idea of the difficulty level of the trail. The trail curves
downhill to the left.
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This hawk flew not far overhead a couple of times. I am not a bird expert but I believe this
is a red-tailed hawk.
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The two rows below show the view from the top of Pocket Mouse Hill. Starting with the view toward the inland direction,
ending with the view towards San Clemente, one picture each turn.
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| Looking East towards the "shooting area" down the hill |
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| View of San Mateo Campground from Pocket Mouse Hill |
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| View of Trestles, the road below is Christianitos, the trail off the left of the road is Panhe Trail |
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| View of San Clemente |
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On the trail guide available at the San Mateo Campground main gate, through the hills on the opposite of Christianitos
from the campground are two more main trails, Ancestors' Trail and Peaceful Valley Trail.
Continue on Cristianitos Rd. past San Mateo Campground toward Camp Pendleton. Along the way to the
end of the public road at Camp Pendleton gate, on the left you will see three trail access points which may have closed gates.
I inquired at San Mateo Campground about the locked gates, they said if the gates are closed it is
because the trail maintenance after the winter storms isn't complete yet.
The first gate was opened, the next two were both closed. I believe the last gate before Camp Pendleton
is the trailhead to access Peaceful Valley and Ancestors' Trails.
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| Heading toward Camp Pendleton on Christianitos, 1st gate, opened, 3/29/08 |
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| Heading toward Camp Pendleton on Christianitos, 2nd gate, closed 3/29/08 |
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| Heading toward Camp Pendleton on Christianitos, 3rd gate, closed 3/29/08 |
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