Good Company Apparel: Adventure Blog: Exploring San Diego: Ho Chi Minh Trail

This trail is pretty badass, it can also be extended to be even more badass by hiking to Gliderport as a detour. This is what separates a hike from an adventure. I don't want to give anything visual away because part of adventuring is exploring and it's way more fun when you get to see the scene for yourself for the first time. But I added some pictures at the end for you folks that don't give a F. The trail isn't that long but it is kind of difficult and semi-sketch. It's not easy which makes it a pretty sweet date/adventure. Here is the entrance to the trail and a link to for DIRECTIONS.

Here's a list of things I packed and would suggest for your badass adventure but don't litter your trash please:

1 Fjallraven Classic Backpack
1 Beach Towel
1 Canteen filled with ice cold water
1 bag of trail mix
1 bag of chips/other snack
1 Good Company Apparel Summer hoodie
1 beach toy ie: frisbee, football, hula hoop
1 bluetooth speaker
1 external battery charger
1 phone chord
1 mini tripod
1 board shorts/bathing suit
0 shoes, you can do this barefoot if you're badass

The original path is 2.4 miles long but the adventure that I went on is about 3.8 miles-ish long total. The hike isn't that intense, for the most part. If you think about it, the trail was used by surfers to get down to the low key beach. If they can do it with a surfboard, you can do it without one. The adventure begins about halfway down the initial hill going into the Ho Chi Minh Trail. You'll run into a fork in the trail where there is a well defined path (left) and a low key path that goes all the way up the right side (northen hill). This is the path that we want. When you take this trail down, you'll come across some Pampas Grass. The trail inclines up the mountain after that. It's a pretty sweet view once you get to the top of the hill, plus you'll get a nice butt workout. Once you get the top, head north on the trail towards Gliderport.

The Pampas Grass on the way to Gliderport

  Gliderport is cool because you can relax and watch all the colorful paragliders launch and land from this point. It's also pretty sweet because paragliders fly overhead while you're on the beach trail portion of this adventure. If you are hungry, you can grab a sandwich from the award winning sandwich shop there. I recommend grabbing one to go so you can eat it on the beach. You can eat it there and play pool outdoors for which is a $1 per game. Sit and relax on some chairs or sprawl out on the grass. Take pictures, snapchat, selfies, whatever it is you love to do on adventures, and start heading back down to that fork in the trail when you're done. We're going back to the original trail. Once you go over the mountain tops, through the Pampas Grass and back to the trail; head down on the defined path that is the Ho Chi Minh Trail. After a while you'll find a wooden beam that acts like a bridge that crosses a tiny stream. Cross that shit, it's pretty fun. Next you'll come across some pretty awesome sandstone rocks that you have to climb down. There are natural steps that aren't that sketchy but heads up, it's kind of a tight squeeze. It's definitely doable, remember people do this with a surfboard, you can do it without one. Walk carefully across the tiny trail scaling the hill, use your hands to keep your balance if necessary, this is the most sketch part. About 20 minutes of going down the trail you'll come across a cave/waterfall area that's pretty cool. The water makes this area slippery so be careful. Guess what? You just got to the fun part of the trail! Climb down the rope and you're on the beach. Sweet!

  To your right (North) is Black's Beach and to your left (South) is where we are going to adventure to. If you want, you can walk North after to Gliderport for sunset. Black's Beach is a famous nude beach and a world famous surfing location. Last time I went during the summer and we saw a bunch of dolphins playing in the water, it was rad. As you head South you'll notice that there aren't that many people and it's pretty nice. The sand was soft and the water was warm so we jump into the ocean. It was so refreshing, especially after the hike. As you head more South you'll see a Mushroom House. Welcome to Mushroom Beach! No you can't go in there, it is private property and someone goes down to it every once in awhile from this badass elevator that comes from his original house (WHAT?!). This is a great spot to eat that sandwich you bought earlier. Once you check out Mushroom Beach or eat your sandwich, head more south to the rocks where you'll find the La Jolla Tide Pools.

  These tide pools are pretty sweet. If you go at low tide you'll find a variety of sea creatures such as tadpoles, sea urchins, sea anemones, mussels, crabs, and a starfish if you are lucky. Exploring this area is so fun! Enjoy it. If you time your adventure right you can watch the sunset here, which is around 7:30pm in September. Once you are done exploring, head back to your car and you're done!

  It's picture time! If you're cool you won't look at these but if you're curious AF go ahead, I don't blame you, I understand.