Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

 

Milk Ranch Road and Middle Peak

May, 2005

Looking East (downhill), Milk Ranch Road  severly eroded from winter rain                                                         Photo by Barbara Barnes

More evidence of erosion (Middle Peak Fire Road junction with Milk Ranch Road)                                          Photo by Barbara Barnes

       

                                   slope semaphore                                                                                   enlarged blossoms               Photos by Barbara Barnes                                         

       

                      Jeffrey pine seedling that survived the fire                                                       California thistle              Photos by Barbara Barnes      

Looking West, up Milk Ranch Road; two burnt Coulter pines by side of road                                                    Photo by Barbara Barnes

        

                                          Wild pea                                                                                        enlarged blossoms            Photos by Barbara Barnes

Looking South at Azalea Glenn Trail and several surviving Incense Cedars in foreground (Cuyamaca peak)  Photo by Barbara Barnes

Recovering Cuyamaca manzanita                                                                                                                                    Photo by Barbara Barnes

Recovering manzanita and wild pea                                                                                                                                Photo by Barbara Barnes

Blue dicks in blossom                                                                                                                                                        Photo by Barbara Barnes

   

Fire- burned oaks on lower slope of Middle Peak                                                                                                          Photo by Barbara Barnes

Canopy of burned oaks                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Barbara Barnes

Fire-charred oak in a sea of Dove lupine                                                                Photo by Barbara Barnes

Guard lupine blossoms point to Cuyamaca Peak in the background                                                                        Photo by Barbara Barnes

Hiking up Milk Ranch Road                                                                                                                                            Photo by Barbara Barnes

  

                                                                          Three photo angles of fire-charred oak                                         Photos by Barbara Barnes

Several oaks untouched by the Cedar fire set against the heavily fire-damaged Cuyamaca Peak                        Photo by Barbara Barnes

The remains of a grand old Black oak at the top of Milk Ranch Road                                                                    Photo by Barbara Barnes

Closer view of the same Black oak                                                                                                                                 Photo by Barbara Barnes

  

Recent shoots from the fire-charred trunk suggest the oak may survive in some form                                    Photos by Barbara Barnes

Turning North onto Middle Peak Trail                                                                                                                          Photo by Barbara Barnes

Backcountry naturalist Bill Chappelow points to a Bird's nest thistle                                                                       Photo by Barbara Barnes

Close-up of Bird's nest thistle                                                                                                                                            Photo by Barbara Barnes

A field of Owl's clover on the Western slope of Middle Peak                                                                                      Photo by Barbara Barnes

Mule ears and lupine                                                                                                                                                          Photo by Barbara Barnes

Valley lupine                                                                                                                                                                        Photo by Barbara Barnes

Burned oaks on the Western side of Middle Peak                                                                                                          Photo by Barbara Barnes

Field of Western bracken ferns                                                                                                                                        Photo by Barbara Barnes

Close-up of bracken fern                                                                                                                                                   Photo by Barbara Barnes

Wood strawberry                                                                                                                                                                  Photo by Barbara Barnes

Miner's lettuce                                                                                                                                                                     Photo by Barbara Barnes

The intense heat from the Cedar fire on the Western side of Middle Peak killed the mixed confier forest         Photo by Barbara Barnes

Fungus attacks the decaying trunk of a Ponderosa pine                                    Photo by Barbara Barnes

Ghost conifer forest on Middle Peak                                                                                                                                Photo by Barbara Barnes

Dead Ponderosa and Sugar pines                                                                                                                                      Photo by Barbara Barnes

Photo by Barbara Barnes

Middle Peak was once home to the largest conifers in San Diego County.  Here is what remains of a very old Sugar pine.

 

Photo Credits:

Barnes, B. (2005). Assorted photographs from San Diego County, 2005. WhiteSage Cafe@AOL.com