The long trail to Cuyamaca

Paso Picacho is a nice place to camp when hiking Cuyamaca. The day before I did Stonewall, across the street, which is just a warm up. The next day I found out that most fire roads west of the campgrounds are closed because of access to prescribed burns. So I went south and looped around, hitting only a small part of the closures. Visited the airplane monument (site of a 1922 crash) and Japacha Peak on the way to Cuyamaca. I saw nobody and it is a very pretty trail, winding through wild meadows and ochre paths among the manzanitas. I did run into several rattles and some beautiful lizards. Cuyamaca itself has great views but the site itself is a bit disappointing. Continuing north on the Conejos trail and Azalea Glen I saw more hikers. A total of almost 15 miles, and it was a great day, ending in my hammock with a cold beer.