Cuyamaca Peak Double Ascent Trip Report
© January 2015 Adam Helman

Trip Review

In the effort to increase my stamina after a multimonth hiatus due to sciatica, I climb Cuyamaca peak twice, back-to-back - entailing 10 miles and 3,300 feet of gained elevation.

Carrying a moderately sized daypack, I "max out" my effort by doing the first ascent in 57 minutes elapsed time - including a pair of breaks summing to 5 minutes. The calculated ascent rate of 1,940 feet (590 meters) / hour seems adequate.

I intentionally leave my sandwich in a Tupperware container at the summit - and an article of clothing which dries under the sun - as impetus to reascend the peak even though it's a most boring proposition.

The second ascent is a bit slower, at 1 hour 2 minutes - and that's even though I promised myself to go sigificantly slower. All-told the elapsed time for both round trips is 4 hours 41 minutes, including a nearly half hour summit break the second time around.

Both the outbound and homeward drives are uneventful.

western vista
View west from the summit.