Cuyamaca Peak & Stonewall Peak

Two peaks in one day out of Paso Picacho Campground, starting with the long grind up Cuyamaca Peak. The trail starts through a beautiful stretch of oak and pine forest with fall color still hanging on in the canopy overhead, before settling into the steady, relentless climb up the paved Lookout Fire Road that makes up most of the ascent. Stonewall Peak's distinctive rocky summit block was visible off to the side for much of the climb, a preview of the second half of the day still to come.

Cuyamaca Peak tops out at 6,512 feet, the second-highest point in San Diego County, and the summit delivers with a genuine 360-degree view — the desert falling away to the east, the ridgelines of the Trinity Divide-scale backcountry rolling off in every direction, and on a clear day, all the way to the coast. The summit register box, plastered in stickers, sits right next to a hand-painted wooden CUYAMACA PEAK sign, the obvious spot for a summit photo before heading back down.

After descending back to Paso Picacho, the second half of the day was Stonewall Peak — a shorter, steeper trail up a series of switchbacks to a summit that finishes with a staircase cut into the granite and a handrail-secured traverse across the exposed rock at the top. Far more compact than Cuyamaca, but Stonewall's summit has its own reward: a clear view straight back across the valley to Cuyamaca Peak, close enough to point at and recognize exactly where the day had started.

A satisfying full day of San Diego backcountry hiking — one long climb and one short, sharp one, fall color on the lower trails, and two very different summit experiences bagged before the sun went down.