Spring Break 2017 - Day 4: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

On day four we explored the nearby Green Valley Waterfall trail near our camp at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. We then set off for Casa Grande, Arizona to visit and stay the night with my parents as well as to visit some siblings.

- Day 4 -
Wednesday - April 5, 2017

As usual, I woke up before everyone else, eager to get out and explore our camp's surroundings. I also wanted to scout out what would be doable and worth returning to with the rest of the family later in the morning. I walked down to the other end of the campground and found the trail down to Green Valley Falls along the Sweetwater River.

Sweetwater River

Upper Green Valley Falls

Lower Green Valley Falls

Green Valley Falls proved to be very pleasant and was definitely something worth returning to with the family later on. From the falls, I made my way back up through the campground and then found the Pine Ridge Trail leading off from an unoccupied campsite. The Pine Ridge Trail lead to some nice views down into Green Valley and wild flowers were abundant along the side of the trail.

Green Valley from Pine Ridge Trail

Looking west from Pine Ridge Trail

Sweet Pea

Unknown wildflowers

Manzanita?

Unknown wildflowers

Flower bud

Penstemon?

After traveling up the Pine Ridge Trail for about a mile, I decided to turn around and head back to camp to rejoin the family.

Our tent

Waking up

Within our campsite was an odd looking formation. It was actually an old rotted out tree trunk. The kids and I had fun thinking up all the different animals it looked like. Bird, dinosaur, and more specifically, a raptor, were all mentioned. The kids also got to play around a bit while I worked on getting camp cleaned up.

Raptor

Or a bird

Playing at camp

Once camp was all cleaned up and everyone had eaten some breakfast, we drove on down to the trailhead for Green Valley Falls and made the short hike down.

On the trail to Green Valley Falls

Green Valley Falls Trail

Upper falls

Chilling at the falls

Group shot

Lower falls

Playing at the falls

Everett

Lower falls

After the falls we got back on the road and continued our travels eastward. Our next big stop was in Yuma along the banks of the Colorado River that provided the border between California and Arizona. We stopped on the Arizona side and wanted to see what the historic state territorial prison was all about.

Yuma State Territorial Prison Park

Upon arriving, we found out that because it was also part of the state park system, there was an admission fee to tour it and that it would take about a half hour or possibly more. Eager to get to my parents house a few hours further on in Casa Grande, we just browsed the gift shop for a few minutes and then got on the road again.

In due time we arrived at my parents house, where the kids were eager to jump in the backyard pool.