Burch better but not quite good enough yet
David Dodd 1:48 a.m., May 18
Pine Valley Stories
Cold morning over Corte Madera Dam
Snowbird’s eye view
Flying eastbound along Interstate 8 this Saturday morning of January 12, I could not help but notice the beauty of our East County with a light dusting of snow. It has been so cold (in ...
What Will Burn, What Will Not
Fires make David Hogan nervous. It's not because he's afraid his Pine Valley house will burn down. It's because after every fire in Southern California, politicians start clamoring for reduction of the "fuel" that covers ...
Perfect Drought
"It's catastrophic!" Duncan McFetridge flings his arms out. "Look, can't you see the change?" Several years ago, when I last came here to the Cleveland National Forest outside of Descanso, McFetridge's cabin nestled in a ...
Trek to the obscure summit of Guatay Mountain, between Descanso and Pine Valley.
Guatay Mountain, a gently swelling, chaparral-covered ridge rising about 900 feet over the hamlet of Guatay, is distinguished by its old-growth population of Tecate cypress trees. This particular species of cypress has a very spotty ...
Best of 2003: Best Local Fall Foliage
Pine Creek Road, Pine Valley Take the SUV, not the sedan, and drive east on I-8 to the Highway 79 exit. Go north on 79 toward Julian, then take Old Highway 80 toward Pine Valley. ...
Your Dad Arrested My Dad
For most people who live "down the hill," as San Diego's backcountry residents refer to everything west of the mountains, the thought of living "on the mountain" usually ends when the subject of work arises. ...
Best of 2001: Best Country General Store
Al Atallah's Pine Valley Store 28820 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley 619-473-8723 Talk to the old folks, and they lament the loss of the old general stores, where you knew Al and Al knew you, ...
Hike under a 400-foot-high bridge carrying I-8 traffic over the gorge of Pine Valley Creek.
Starting from the spacious Pine Creek Trailhead outside Pine Valley, the Secret Canyon Trail weaves and bobs its way along the canyon of Pine Valley Creek, finally emerging some 15 miles later at Horsethief Canyon, ...
Return of the Mountain Lion
Ten years ago when Buzz Johnson moved from Colorado to the 650 acres he owns on Angel Mountain, ten miles south of Mount Palomar, the property was so thick with manzanita and chamiso that a ...
