I've got a bit of a tradition of doing some sort of hike after Thanksgiving. This year, I subverted that slightly by tackling the lengthy Mortero Palms and the Goat Canyon Trestle hike the week prior. However, Annika wasn't able to join me on that adventure, and has chomping at the bit to get out and do some hiking of her own, so we took a day during her school break to attempt to revisit one of my old favorites: Juaquapin Trail up to Dyer Springs.
I did this hike a couple of times in the years after the 2003 fire went through the area. It is always really nice to see it coming back. I was also looking for a hike short enough for Annika to tackle. At this point, she's not really putting in huge mileage. I figured we'd go up and back a ways, but wouldn't make the whole loop.
She was very enthusiastic, but the November air was more cold than I've ever experienced in this area. Not intolerable, but Annika was wearing a fleece and a 2nd hoodie, even in full sunshine. Per normal, lots of snacks were needed to keep her on the move. Tiny livers at this age, not much in the way of energy reserves.
We didn't get very far up the trail, but we had a great time. We turned around after one of many breaks when I heard some sounds that I wasn't 100% sure weren't mountain lion. Chances are it was something else, but since they've been seen in the area, and Annika was getting tired anyway, I figured it was a good time to head back down the hill. She was pretty bushed, but perked up quite a bit when we came across a flock of wild turkeys in the meadow between the trail and the parking area.
Per our tradition, nothing caps off the end of a trip to or through Cuyamaca like a stop for snacks and sweets at the Miner's Diner in Julian, CA. Even loaded with chicken fingers and ice cream, she was asleep as soon as we hit the CA-78 back towards home.
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