In his excellent hiking guidebook "Afoot and Afield in San Diego County" (1995 edition), Jerry Schad rated the round trip from from the base of Cowles Mountain to to its summit and back at two hours, and a difficulty level of two asterisks (out of a possible five). One day in late January, I set out at a brisk walk and reached the summit in 30 minutes flat. An older fellow seated on a rock next to the monument that marks the peak saw me arrive at the top, pat the monument, and check my wristwatch. He immediately asked, "How long it took you?" I could tell by his accent he was not a native of North America. "Thirty minutes flat," I replied, gasping for breath. "Me, forty-five minutes." That's a good time, I said. He then asked "How old you are?" "Sixty," I said. He said, "Me, seventy-four." I said, "Well you're doing great!" Then I pulled off my backpack and held it out for him to feel its weight. As soon as I let go his arm dropped eight inches. "Mama mia!" he exclaimed. "That's ten years!" We both had a good laugh.