Down a long, twisty road in the suburbs of San Diego, is an approximately quarter mile nature preserve. It's actually a surprising thing to find in San Elijo Hills, which is knee deep in million dollar homes butted up against each other and well manicured lawns. I have gone to this nature preserve a few times- once, about two years ago when my boyfriend and I were going on various hiking trails, again about a week ago during a full moon, and tonight just before sundown. It is located on the street just parallel from where we live, on Questhaven Road. It is also just beyond a spiritual center where I attended a meditation retreat several years ago.

I've heard many different things about these woods since researching haunted places in San Diego...that gypsies cursed the developers for tearing up their land, that there were witch's covens there, that there is a ghost of a lady in white. Whatever it is, it sure is stunningly beautiful and eerily quiet.

When I was there, my pragmatic side realized that it was pretty foolhardy as a woman to be there alone, because it was completely empty. A man ran by and after I caught my breath, I quickly sized him up and thought of various ways of defending myself if needed- my camera was heavy and could give a large whack if needed. Luckily he was as he seemed, a runner on a trail, and quickly left. As I was walking further into the trail, I realized how silly it was to be alone and spooked myself out thinking of Chelsea King and how she was murdered while alone on a trail in San Diego. If god forbid something happened and I was found, that the images on my camera would be shown as "the last thing she photographed before her murder." Needless to say I grabbed some photos and got out of there stat.