West Mesa of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Mesa in Spanish is table in English. To the Kumeyaay tribe of Native Americans, the original inhabitants of the plateau that is  now known as the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the plateau has been referred to as  "kwe ah mac" or what the rains left behind. 
Springs and creeks that the rains left behind nurture while globe lilies also known as fairy lanterns.
Red flowers that look like coral red honeysuckles based on my Googe search hits, 
checker looms, 
lupines,
summer snow, 
and splendid mariposa lilies are just among the many wildflowers growing along the West Mesa trail. 
A detour from the trail leads to Airplane Monument. 
The Memorial Day artifact is a V12 engine of a World War I De Havilland biplane that went missing on December 7, 1922.
The plane being flown by US Army  1st Lt. Charles Webber was supposed to bring US Cavalry Colonel Francis Marshall to Fort Huachuca, AZ. The plane was discovered by a rancher five months after it went missing. 
The West Mesa Trail is just one among the many trails I have explored in area. As I was telling Tamara, we seem to have crisscrossed the trail last Fall when we hiked the Kelly Ditch Trail. I remember the fallen oak trees unable to recover from their burnt traumas during the Cedar Fire of 2003.
As I was telling Roxanne a new acquaintance who happens to be a Scripps colleague from Chula Vista and a compatriot, Kay, my hiker friend who has become a hard core bent on summiting Mount Whitney this summer would have enjoyed climbing the tree which has become an obstacle course to the hike.
Purple fiddleneck flowers are best photographed crouching on the ground. Jim, today's hike organizer and Irene, my gracious carpool driver provided  the human interest on my wildflower photo. 
Juani Alvarez is trailed by fellow hikers along trails bedecked with  Native American (most likely Kumeyeaay) paintbrush flowers. 





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