Lake Cuyamaca County Park

 051325 - 051525 Lake Cuyamaca County Park - Chamber's Park Campground RV Site #19 

32.990792, -116.578829

Arriving right at 1400 on Tuesday May 13, cold and windy, I didn't need any directions finding the campground. There was one other camper and a group of tents down by the lake shore. The office was closed with a note to take to take my space and return in the morning. I parked, but did not set up. Instead I notices there was 2 new, well new to me, geocaches so I put on my warm coat and took a walk. Not much has changed with the lake,

soon I was walking by the bank where fishing with my kids, early 90's, they caught their limit and we had a nice fish fry. I remember I didn't fish because I was to busy taking fish off their lines and getting hooks back in the water, what a nice memory. Continuing around the east side of the island and across the bridge I proceeded to find the small hides. By the time I got back the westerly blow had eased to a moderate wind, so I re-parked and finished setting up. Dinner was grilled chicken salad.

The next morning I took off on the bike around the lake to check in at the tackle shop, complete an Adventure Lab and go after some more caches. Even though it was still cold and windy, the sun came out and turned out to be a beautiful morning.  The Anglers I talked to said the trout were not biting, but they did get an occasional catfish. The clouds and wind returned in the afternoon, I hunkered down inside and took a nap. 

Thursday morning I left the campground in the morning and parked on the south end of the lake. I rode up the jeep trails going after some more new hides. The last time I was in this area was March 2013 with Dan & Lisa we hiked up the Middle Peak trail. It still showed the devistation from the Cedar Fire, the largest of the 15 fires, began on October 25 2003 when a hiker lost in Cleveland National Forest sparked a fire in a desperate attempt to be rescued. In just 14 hours, what started as a relatively small blaze quickly swelled into a 28-mile-long conflagration, driven by the destructive power of the seasonal Santa Ana winds, and crossed into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.  Today there is much new growth, very green with spring flowers, parts of the trail are over grown.  (https://www.americanforests.org/article/regrowing-a-forest/)

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