Cuyamaca Hike

Yesterday four of us (Debbie, myself, Jim Barnick, and his girlfriend Michelle) took a short hike up the maintenance road from Paso Picacho campground toward Cuyamaca Peak. We didn’t make it all the way up — this was our first hike of the season, and we weren’t quite up to an 1,700 foot elevation change. Also, as we got closer to the top the conditions got icier and snowier (although the air temperature was quite pleasant); we met people coming down bundled up like Arctic explorers, using ski poles to help them stay upright. And we could see footprints of people wearing ice cleats — not a good sign.

We also had Miki the wonder-puppy along for the hike, and he had a wonderful time. He especially enjoyed the snow and ice along the road. There was a puppy “ah ha!” moment along the trail when he figured out that he could eat snow; after that he was happily munching snow and licking the ice all along the trail. And at one point he was carrying around a small snowball on his back. My theory is that the squirrels threw a snowball at him, but I don’t think anyone else was buying that… We saw deer prints in the snow, and we saw deer several places around the mountain — the very first time since the Cedar Fire in October 2003. We’re hoping that this portends a return of the wildlife to Cuyamaca, especially the mountain lions and bobcats (we still haven’t seen any of them since the fire). This past year, and on this trip, we have seen many very healthy-looking hawks — so the rodents must be back in force. It looks like the wildlife is returning…

So we made it up almost to the “saddle", just below the final 500' or so push to the peak, just at the edge of the area where most of the trees were saved from the Cedar Fire (just over three years ago now). The area we walked through was nearly devoid of living trees — it had been an almost pure conifer forest, and except for a few cedars whose tops have survived, they are all burned. On this walk, you’re in a tree graveyard, with skeletons of dead trees still poking into the sky all around. A few seem to have fallen on their own as they decompose; many more have been cut down. The cut trees are being chipped, or harvested for fencing or firewood. If you like forests and trees, it’s a very somber and sad sight…

Jim and Michelle have been “an item” for just a few months now, but they act like they’ve been together for a hundred years. It’s very nice to see our old friend so happy in a relationship, and nicer yet for being so completely unexpected. Michelle basically dropped into his life from outer space; the apparently committed bachelor Jim suddenly has a “serious” girlfriend. They were very cute on the trail, holding hands and smooching…