The Azalea Glen Trail was well maintained; there is lots of evidence of the Rangers cutting and clearing out blowdowns on the trail; they have also cut back brush and increased the width of the corridor on either side of the trail. The Conejos Trail appeared to be overgrown, making the turn-off from Azalea Glen Road easy to miss, but a short walk through some tall grass, and the trail opened up.

The Conejos Trail is 2 miles from Azalea Glen Road to Fire Lookout Road; much of the first mile of the trail is a stream bed (this would have been interesting to see when we had heavy rains earlier in the year). When it is dry, it is just a rocky trek; I was hyper-aware of this section due to my recent knee surgery and the need to avoid slips, twists, and falls. I slowed down and made it through okay. The trail's upper part offers amazing views over Lake Cuyamaca and the mountains to the east. This section picks up a little more elevation but is a nice bit of trail through the pine and cedar trees.

The last half mile to the summit is on the Fire Lookout Road, just a steep road walk. A few groups thought the end of the road, the dirt turnaround, was the summit. Of course, the “official” summit and the high point are through the trees to the clearing where the old Fire Lookout tower used to be. There have been a few changes since I hiked this last year; there was a new summit sign and an ammo can to hold the summit register(s) (and many other miscellaneous stuff).

Of note to me, a new bolt (survey point) has been added to the boulder near where the original CUYAMACA station was established in 1898. The CUYAMACA RESET disc from 1936 has long since been gone, with only the stem remaining; the stem is stamped with a cross to mark the survey point. I'm not quite sure why a new bolt was added just a few inches away, but it'll be something to research.

Additionally, I found the 1970 CUYAMACA ECC station disc that the California Department of Transportation established; this was the second CUYAMACA ECC disc established on the mountain; the first was set in a rock by the US Coast & Geodetic Survey in 1939, but all that remains of that is the stem sticking out of the rock.

After lunch, I went around the summit and updated my photos of the various survey marks there. I returned to the parking area following the paved road to Paso Pichaco Campground. About 1.2 miles from the campground I had to stop and put my braces on (DONJOY Functional ACL Brace), necessitated by the cumulative effect of the hike through the loose rocks and the steep descent on the paved road combined with my lack of conditioning. When I stopped, I set my Gossamer Gear Ultralight umbrella down next to me while I took my pack off, and the wind grabbed it! It was airborne about 50 feet up in the blink of an eye. It was snagged temporarily in a tree, then as it dropped, another draft caught it, and it was out of sight in seconds.