A six-mile hike to get a Terracache and a Geocache
3cd's and his son were going to climb Cuyamaca Peak today. It was an opportunity I did not want to miss, so I met him at the Park 'n Ride at 9:00 this morning. Well, actually I was a little late. Along one stretch of the 15-mile distance had to cover, I was behind a pickup truck traveling the 55-mph road at only 35 to 45 mph and then, when that vehicle turned to go left at Japatul Road, I ended up behind a large semi hauling a concrete septic tank. He was only going 30 mph where I can usually hit 45 mph to 55 mph . . .
Once I put all my essentials—fanny pack, jacket and vest and sandals, walking stick, and cooler with food and extra water—in 3cd's truck, we took off, going the long way around to get a couple of caches along the Sunrise Highway first. Two of the four we looked for along the route were DNFs for 3cd's which was too bad for him, and for the cache owners.
Finally, we arrived at the Fire Road near the campground on Highway 79 and started up, up, up the narrow paved road. It was a steady, consistent uphill for three miles. Because of the fire damage from the fire of 2003, there was very little shade, although I stopped whenever there was a large enough "piece of shade" to offer a bit of relief from the hazy sun.
On the way up, we saw this amazing tree that survived the fires of October 2003, and no doubt many others over the centuries.
Once on the top, we first found the Terracache placed by GeckoDad. I traded a Travelita angel pendant for a couple of carabiners. At the site of an old Fire Lookout, and near several benchmarks, we found the Geocache, also placed by GeckoDad. I traded a carabiner for a pretty collared lizard GeckoDad had put in the cache along with a whole familiy of other plastic lizard species.
I took some pictures of the fire damage and the views which were obscured by the strong onshore flow of moisture-laden air.
We also took pictures of the benchmarks on the peak, and this rock carved with the names of fire lookouts who manned the Lookout Tower when it existed.
On the way back down the trail, 3cd's spotted this shrub starting its life anew atop a tall stump of a burned tree.
And near that, I spotted many of these little blue flowers adding some color to an otherwise monochromatic landscape.
This is what the tracks and profile of the hike looked like:
It was another fantastic day. I am very grateful to 3cd's for doing the driving to these East County caches.
Once I put all my essentials—fanny pack, jacket and vest and sandals, walking stick, and cooler with food and extra water—in 3cd's truck, we took off, going the long way around to get a couple of caches along the Sunrise Highway first. Two of the four we looked for along the route were DNFs for 3cd's which was too bad for him, and for the cache owners.
Finally, we arrived at the Fire Road near the campground on Highway 79 and started up, up, up the narrow paved road. It was a steady, consistent uphill for three miles. Because of the fire damage from the fire of 2003, there was very little shade, although I stopped whenever there was a large enough "piece of shade" to offer a bit of relief from the hazy sun.
On the way up, we saw this amazing tree that survived the fires of October 2003, and no doubt many others over the centuries.
Once on the top, we first found the Terracache placed by GeckoDad. I traded a Travelita angel pendant for a couple of carabiners. At the site of an old Fire Lookout, and near several benchmarks, we found the Geocache, also placed by GeckoDad. I traded a carabiner for a pretty collared lizard GeckoDad had put in the cache along with a whole familiy of other plastic lizard species.
I took some pictures of the fire damage and the views which were obscured by the strong onshore flow of moisture-laden air.
We also took pictures of the benchmarks on the peak, and this rock carved with the names of fire lookouts who manned the Lookout Tower when it existed.
On the way back down the trail, 3cd's spotted this shrub starting its life anew atop a tall stump of a burned tree.
And near that, I spotted many of these little blue flowers adding some color to an otherwise monochromatic landscape.
This is what the tracks and profile of the hike looked like:
It was another fantastic day. I am very grateful to 3cd's for doing the driving to these East County caches.
posted by Miragee at
7:20:00 PM
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