We met our guide, and about 6 other people at Mission Trails in East San Diego, a 35-40 minute car ride for us from Encinitas. Our guide was young, and so was our group. After a quick introduction of what to expect, the guide handed out equipment. We were given helmets, harnesses, and tight ass shoes with rubber soles. Once everyone had their gear, we were off. It was a short, but challenging hike up to where we would be rock climbing, and the inland heat didn't make things any easier. People were getting tired, and we hadn't even started rock climbing yet.
Once we reached the rock climbing area things slowed down, and got bit easier. There were two ropes set up, which meant that two people could climb at a time, meanwhile the rest of us could relax, and watch in the shade. The two climb paths were very different from each other. One was what you would typically expect, just a rock face to climb up, and the other was called a chimney, which is a narrow path between two rock walls. Although the chimney path looked more intimidating, it was actually a lot easier than the other path.
I found rock climbing to be a lot of fun, but very challenging. It seemed like everyone at some point would reach a certain spot in their climb where they would get stuck, and not know where to go next. Sometimes it seemed impossible to get any further, but somehow you do.
