As our last-day-of-homeschooling treat, we took a field trip into the nearby mountains of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. My mother camped in this park when she was a child, and my brother, sister, and myself spent wonderful summer days tent camping at the equestrain camp and at the regular campgrounds. We used to hike Stonewall Peak at least once each trip as well as make a trip into historic Julian for a refreshing strawberry ice cream soda and a stroll around the old mining town. We used to ride horses and hike around Lake Cuyamaca as well as hike up to the site of the old Stonewall Mine, the most productive gold mine in Southern California. So taking my own kids on a tour of these places is both nostalgic and sad as most of the park went up in flames a few years ago during the devastating Cedar Fire.
Here's the idyllic shot: Stonewall Peak and Lake Cuyamaca. Besides the fact that Stonewall looks a little barren, one can hardly tell the fire swept through here.
Here's the reality shot: 80% of the trees in this forested park were destroyed. I took this from the parking lot at Stonewall Mine.
When we stopped at the desert lookout on the way to Julian for the view, I didn't realize that several crosses had been placed here to remember the firefighters and ohers who died in the Cedar Fire. We stopped, and remembered.
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