Impact Report by Walt Hansen
On Monday August 19, 2002, I made a 150-mile survey of the fire damage caused by the so-called "Eagle Peak" fire and also the BIG ONE. My route was San Diego to Descanso, north on Boulder Creek Road to Julian, then south on Highway 79 and S-1 to I-8 and back to San Diego. It took eight hours due to frequent stops as follows.
On Boulder Creek Road SE, E and NE of Eagle Peak, no trace of fire was visible around Eagle Peak from any of those angles. Continuing north on Boulder Creek Road, I came upon McCoy Ranch Road branching off to the east. I remembered having heard mention of the ranch in a fire report on television and I could see some burnt areas as well as red-stained terrrain from fire retardant, so I knew I had located the so-called Eagle Peak fire. I drove about a mile east to the McCoy Ranch house (no one was home) and observed that the fire had burned over an area north and northeast of the ranch house. I later learned from the Forest Service that the fire occured on August 9, 2002, and covered 292 acres.
From that point I could see that the location was not far from the bottom of the 6,000 foot high Cherry Flat Ridge which runs north from Cuyamaca Peak. The heavily forested Middle Peak, also in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, is not far east of McCoy Ranch. The Sill Hill area is well to the south. Fortunately the fire-fighters were able to knock down the flames before much damage was done. If they had not been successful it would have been catastrophic as the fire could have raced farther east and south into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, through the Sill Hill area, and possibly even to Cuyamaca Peak and beyond.
I continued north to Julian where I took a much-needed Julian apple pie a-la-mode with coffee break.
Turning south on State Highway 79, I proceeded to Inspiration Point, about three miles south of Julian. The "Pines Fire" started on July 29 and was finally put out on August 13, 2002, having devasted an estimated 60,500 acres from Volcan Mountain south of the Sawtooth Range (not to be confused with the Sawtooth Mountains) and as far into the desert at one point to highway S-2 near Scissors Crossing according to the Forest Service. The devastation to the north, east and south was horrible.
 | NE from Inspiration Point (32kb) |
Volcan Mountain was burned to a crisp on its eastern slopes. The mountainsides between Volcan Mtn. and Inspiration Point were burned bare as far down toward the desert as the eye could see. The fire had come right up to the edge of the road around Inspiration Point. Fortunately the fire crews had been able to stop the fire a few yards from the northern end of the Cuyamaca Cypress grove north of Inspiration Point road along the eastern side of S-79. On the eastern edge of the Inspiration Point road a large Cypress tree several yards from the road was saved even though all the brush around it burned. The slopes on the East and southeast sides of this location were also burned bare. Fortunately the Cypress grove south of the Inspiration Point road and adjacent to the east side of S-79 was unscathed.
Continuing south and just past the Cuyamaca Lake road junction I was horrified to see that the fire had burned right up to the side of S-1, the Sunrise Highway. Further south, past La Cima Road on the right, the burned area was continuous for miles with some red stains right on Sunrise Highway from fire retardant drops. It was easy to see that the entire north, west and south sides of Garnet Mountain were burned bare right to the top, so undoubtedly the eastern side was burned as well.
At the Kaaymii Road junction I turned east half a mile to the view point and hang-glider takeoff area. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) comes right through here. The devastation was frightful. The burnoff of the brush around the parking area had revealed hundreds (if not thousands) of cans, bottles and other trash that had been thrown into the chaparral by visitors. There is a vast amount of graffitti painted on the nearby cliff rocks. What a horrible sight! The fire had burned everything north, east and south, including far down into the huge gorge that feeds into Cottonwood Canyon on the north side of the Sawtooth Range.
 | Trash at Kwaaymii Point (86kb) |
The east side of S-1 continued to be burned all the way to Pioneer Mail just inside the Laguna Recreation Area. The fire then veered to the southeast and away from the highway. Garnet Peak appeared to have been spared, but the eastern, desert side of the mountain is not visible from Sunrise Highway. I learned later from the Forest Service that the east side of Garnet Peak was burned. After passing the Pioneer Mail area it was a delight to the eye and to the soul to be surrounded again by green conifers reaching into the sky.
I have never before driven through miles and miles of such utter desolation and I hope never to have to do it again. The destruction of plant and animal life is beyond comprehension. I believe that now, more than ever, every effort must be made to conserve and preserve what few wild areas remain, especially in San Diego county.
Walt Hansen August 25, 2002
Photos of the Burn Area: Banner Grade to Ranchita & Beyond
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From just outside burn area looking east down Banner Grade; Granite Mtn in the background, torched (206kb) |
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| Panorama with (from left/south to right/north) Granite Mtn, Banner, Volcan Mtns, San Felipe Vly, and San Felipe Hills with San Ysidro Mtn in the background; the San Felipe Mtns burn area is mostly further north out of sight (986kb; sorry about the date imprints) |
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Teofulio Summit road sign, NW end of San Felipe Vly just south of Montezuma Vly Rd ... one place the fire crossed county highway S2 enroute Ranchita from Volcan Mtn (436kb) |
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The Thimble, looking south from San Ysidro Mtn's hillside at the east end of Ranchita (331kb) |
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Looking NE at false peak of San Ysidro Mtn: benchmark is here but the high point is a little beyond; red-orange brush and rocks have flame retardant (453kb) |
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Looking north-northwest from San Ysidro Mtn ridgeline (a saddle on the far left of the previous photo) into watershed of Middle Fork Borrego Palm Cyn; Hot Springs Mtn was left unburned in the far left background (344kb) |
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Looking west along the north side of San Ysidro Mtn; Lake Henshaw basin is in the distance and the SE slope of Hot Springs Mtn is on the right (194kb) |
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Looking north-northeast from San Ysidro Mtn highpoint into eastern area of Borrego Palm Cyn watershed: widespread fire damage in very rugged terrain (167kb) |
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From San Ysidro Mtn looking south across the east end of Ranchita, false peak in foreground (365kb) |
| Photos by Brad Buffett |
Burn-related Links
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California Department of Forestry
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