The Tri-Tip challenge consists of hiking three mountains in San Luis Obispo: Madonna Mountain, Bishop’s Peak and the Cal Poly P, then going to Firestone Grill downtown and getting yourself a tri-tip sandwich to enjoy. 

This challenge can be done in many different ways. You can hike the mountains in whichever order you would like. You can even walk from mountain to mountain or drive to begin your next hike. You can also get as many sandwiches as you want; some people get one after every mountain. 

Personally, I chose to hike up Madonna Mountain first, early in the morning, because I am most familiar with that hike and it usually is most exposed to the sun. So, getting an early start when it wasn’t as hot worked out well for me, especially when the day I chose to do the challenge got up to 80 degrees. 

Next, I drove over to Bishop’s Peak to begin my second hike. I personally think it is the most difficult of the three. It is much steeper and has lots of rocks you have to climb. As it was the hottest time of day, I was super-hot and exhausted going up. 

For the last mountain, we did the Cal Poly P because we knew it was the easiest.  It was a steady incline with beautiful views of green grass and the Cal Poly campus. We made it to the top quickly and even saw a rattlesnake, so future hikers beware.

Lastly, we drove over to Firestone, where the line was super long but went by swiftly, and we even got our food almost immediately. Then we enjoyed our tri-tip sandwiches on their outside patio. 

If you are in SLO County, I would recommend trying this out.