I finally finished my San Diego Six! Cuyamaca was the last on that list and I got out to an early start Sunday morning due to other commitments later in the day (the weather would have been better had I been able to wait!) I was in the rain most of the hike and the Summit was cold and windy. If you've never hiked this one, there is a $10 day-use parking fee that you pay at the Ranger Gate to the Campground, if you arrive before 8 am, you self-pay (Adventure Pass does not work here since it is a State Park)

The Azalea Glen loop trail on the way up is very cool, due to the rain, fog, winds, clouds, I had my head down a lot, but there were still some great sights along the trail. A couple of miles in you make a sharp left onto the Conejos trail, I missed the turn and ended up walking down to the gate at Milk Ranch Road, it added a little bit to my hike, but it wasn't too bad. The trail gets really interesting once you are on the Conejos trail, in some places it looks more like a dry stream bed, although with the rain, there was water accumulating in all the rocks! at the apex of the trail (you can turn right and go ½ mile to the Summit or left and take the fire road (paved) 2.2 miles back to the campground and parking lot.) SDGE is currently doing utility work on the upper part of the fire road so there is a lot of heavy equipment parked there. Obviously from Mon-Sat, they are actively working on the site and you cannot pass through. The fire road back down is steep, you lose all the elevation gain in 2.2 miles, and while it is paved, it is covered in dirt from the construction, well…MUD since we had rain. I slid most of the way down using my poles like ski poles, I guess it was like the muddy version of glissading on snow. As I got down to the bottom the sun finally came out.

I'll hike this one later this year when I have time and the weather is better, views from the top were obstructed due to heavy cloud cover, I would also choose to do this as an out-and-back going back the way I came, the 2.2-mile fire road is a quick trip to the bottom, but not too terribly exciting.

I did see some deer and a cool rainbow on the hike (see photo album for all my pictures). HAHA, I'm getting pretty adept at hiking in inclement weather, it's not so bad as long as you're prepared 🙂 In addition to finishing the SD6POP,  this was 9 of 18, HALFWAY to my goal of all 18! YAY!