I needed to escape from Santa Barbara and the Thomas Fire so I headed down to SD county for some hiking. I haven't done much hiking this far south, so I started my trip in the Cuyamaca Rancho SP to hike Stonewall, Middle, and Cuyamaca in a big loop from the campground. From Middle Peak, I took the loop trail to the Azalea Springs fire road. I was really surprised at how red the soil was here. At the top, the quiet and solitude was broken by the sound of a large truck. It turned out to be 4 firefighters who unlocked the gate and drove up "to check out the view." The view up there really is fantastic. I thanked them for their work, then headed down on foot. Stayed in Julian and got pizza from some kind of pizza barn.