Stelzer Park

VIEW TO THE SOUTH FROM THE BOULDER CAVE

            I’ve visited this park in the past and remembered it as a vast, brown, anti-fun place. I must have visited in August.  This time, the park was awash in lush green and reminded me of a fairytale river park. Although you have to pay three dollars for parking, there is a pretty awesome playground, complete with two tire swings, as well as a small campground to cushion the blow of paying to park.

LOGAN DOES NOT GET THE CONCEPT OF FOCUSING BUT HE's ALREADY LEARNED THE HOLDING OUT THE CAMERA TO SNAP A PIC OF YOURSELF TRICK

            When Logan and I hike alone, I always have to choose hikes where I am fairly certain I could carry him for the entire distance. This two-miler is a good fit for hiking with kiddos. Afoot and Afield in San Diego lists two options for hiking in this park: the hike up the hill, or the hike by the river. Our friendly hiking author, Jerry Schad, promised a boulder cave atop the Stelzer Ridge Trail, so Logan and I chose that one.

            Like Kwaay Paay, this trail offered substantial amounts of mud to play in. In the areas where water trickled off the hillside and onto the wide, well maintained trail, caterpillars were scurrying in the mud, seeking a quick drink. These guys were the speediest caterpillars I have ever encountered and they fascinated Logan. We moved his peanut butter sandwich into the same bag as mine, poked a small hole in the Ziploc bag that had previously housed his sandwich, and collected far too many of the fuzzy black bugs. Finding and catching our new pets and supplying them with food, as well as opening the bag and asking them “are you okkkkaaayyy in there” occupied both of us as we meandered up the hill.

            Again, like Kwaay Paay, there was a point where the trail that had previously been easy completely changed. We turned a corner, and found a sign warning us about a steep slope. Man, that sign WAS NOT lying. The decomposed granite was slick and Logan lost his footing multiple times. The grade was too steep and loose to safely carry him up, and he was really proud of himself for almost reaching the top “all on his own,” so we slipped our way up the hill, holding hands, with him occasionally dangling in the air, hanging from my hand.  Every ten feet or so, he took a seat, checked on his caterpillars, added a new stick or leaf to their food trough, and sang the pirate song.

 DOESN'T THAT FACE MAKE YOU WANT TO EXPLORE THIS CAVE?

            At the top of this slope, you can turn right to find the boulder cave, or head left to reach the summit. As the summit was only a few feet higher than our current point and the boulder cave was an enticing picnic location, we headed right. The trail to the boulders is very narrow and slightly unnerving with a kiddo in tow. Thankfully, it was a short time on the narrow trail and we were quickly hopping down into the “cave.” This tiny boulder cave isn’t grand by any standards, but it makes this short walk rewarding for little people. Logan took out his camera and snapped a couple dozen photos, and then insisted I try to squeeze through a tiny hole to see if there was any pirate treasure deeper in the cave. I tried, was rewarded with a bang to my knee, and turned back to find Logan serenading his caterpillars. “Yo ho yo ho a caterpillar’s life for you. You eat and drink and poop in the mud. Yo ho yo ho a caterpillar’s life for you.”

            After enjoying our gourmet peanut butter sandwiches and baby carrots, exploring the tiny cave, and picking our way back across the narrow path, Logan and I were ready to slide back down that slope. His shoes, however, were not. The velcro decided it couldn’t take another refrain of the pirate caterpillar song, and jumped ship. With one broken shoe, Logan became captain of my shoulders for the walk back down the hill.

            Now, if only I could find size nine shoes to replace his broken ones….. Poor kid is stuck in size ten shoes because the four stores I checked were all out of size nines. In every style. Explain that!