“Wait… Is that a fire on that hill?”

This is my first hike for this Six-Pack Peak Challenge! I had done Cuyamaca Peak years ago and remembered how this trail could be a calf burner (the ranger at the gate called it that). Yet, the reward of a magnificent view was waiting for us at the top. I had joined my new hiking buddy Larry Lugo who mentioned the Six-Pack Peak Challenge and joined him on his third hike for his challenge. We arrived at Paso Picacho Campground in the morning in separate cars and paid the day use fee from the kiosk. The morning was surprisingly brisk and I was glad to have dressed in layers as we expected the temperature rise quickly once the sun rose over the mountains to the east. Once we geared up with our packs, I had realized I left my map of Cuyamaca State Park at home and did not memorize where the trail head was located within the park. Luckily Larry had downloaded the trail map on his phone with a trail app and then texted it to me, which I had loaded onto my wrist watch. We were set.

After crossing through the campgrounds and reaching the trailhead, we reached the paved service road that takes you to the top. On the way up, we noticed a Cal Fire fire truck parked to the side of the road. There was no one at the truck and wondered if it was left there or if fire fighters were nearby. I decided they were nearby and some how this left me with a feeling of comfort and continued to head up. It was a magnificent morning for the hike. Birds were singing to each other and there was a light breeze that rustled through the bushes reminding you of just how peaceful it was to be out in the wilderness away from the city. This was my therapy session and Larry and I got a chance to catch up on each other’s recent events for the past month. As Larry and I progressed up the trail, I started to breath harder and had shortness on breath. Since I was training on hills more difficult than this with a full 36 lb backpack, I couldn’t understand why I felt like I was out of shape. I looked at Larry and he seemed fine. We eventually cam upon some trees that provided shade on the road and I asked Larry for a brief break, which he agreed.

As we were both taking in water and I had a brief snack, we noticed several fire fighters were coming down the road. We agreed that they had left the truck further down the road for the physical training and the large chain saws over their shoulders were to clear some nearby brush away from the road further up. We greeted each other as they passed up by. I had hoped they would briefly stop for a chat, but they seemed to be on a busy schedule for the day.

As we came around the corner on the road, I could now see the antennas stationed at the top and wasn’t expecting this so soon. Time seemed to go by quickly. It was then that I realized why I was breathing so hard. I had forgotten about the altitude. I asked Larry what his phone had for altitude and he noted 6100 feet. It was comforting to know what the reason was that was causing my labored breathing and accelerated heart rate.

The towers of antennas were getting closer now and you could see the curvature of the hill sloping level indicating were getting near the top. I’m not one for observing plants along trails, but I did notice that the plants were of a large variety at this point in the trail. They seemed to be arranged neatly around each other as if they were purposely landscaped in that fashion. As we got top, there seemed to be more antennas that I remembered from years before. There was some construction still going on with piles of conduits and piping waiting to be used. The road continued past the towers, which I don’t remember from before. I remember it stopped at a tower and there was ample space for a picnic while enjoying the spectacular view from the edge of the peak. The road had curved and we were now greeted with the breath taking view. The ocean couldn’t be seen as there was a marine layer that morning hugging the coast, but in the distance, you could see of the peaks to the coast which let’s you know how high up you are relative to everything else around you.

We were eventually greeted with a couple and their two wonderful dogs. They had asked if we wanted our picture taken together and we declined. We then reciprocated the offer and they felt they had enough pictures. One of them had a Six Pack Peak Challenge badge attached to their backpack and we had mentioned that we were also there completing our challenge! A discussion started on which peaks were completed and notes comparing on challenges and views from each done so far. I couldn’t offer much to the conversation as this was my first, but I did take notes. They had left and after soaking up much of the scenery that was offered up, we decided to head back down.

Once we started back, we noticed that the backside from the peak had as much to show off for a view as it did on the west side. There has a haze at a distance due to moisture in the air and limited the visibility, but not enough to hide the panoramic colors of the spring hill sides. “Is there a fire nearby?”, Larry asked. I stated that I didn’t think so since it seemed to be moisture and it was dissipated evenly with the surrounding horizon. He then agreed. As we moved further down the road, Larry asked “How about over there? Is that a fire on that hill?”. Yep. That clearly was a fire. It looked like it had just started. The smoke was maybe only a few hundred feet up and just then curving towards to the direction of the wind. The radius was small indicating that not much ground had not burned…yet. We kept a watchful eye as we continued down the road. The smoke was white, which I was told the is the color of the fire being put out. I started to question myself whether that was true or not. I made a mental note to look that up at some point and cross reference multiple sources. “I think that is a controlled fire Larry. The smoke radius is still the same and the smoke is dissipating once it gets to altitude.” After a slight pause, “You know, that seems right”, Larry agreed. “There would be helicopters there by now.” That statement then put me at ease. We continued to our conversations while keeping a watchful eye on the smoke until we got low enough down the road to the point we couldn’t see it any more and followed our GPS trackers back to the parking lot.

We couldn’t help talking about when to complete our next challenge during our rehydration break and offering each other snacks.

~EV