Julian Stories
The awe of nature or the snuggle of a warm snout or cute paw give us a fill of joy that we're looking for around this time of the year. For those of us without …
One of the biggest parts of my job as a beer journalist is keeping up on work-in-progress brewing companies looking to come online throughout the county. The current number of upcoming breweries I’m monitoring is …
A crowd of about 30 gathered at the Julian Town Hall on Wednesday night (December 4) for the second official meeting of the newly formed Back Country Voices, a group that sprung up in opposition …
Gazing downhill at a former jailhouse, being met by a cuttingly chilly wind carrying with it the scent of freshly cut cedar — this was my introduction to Nickel Beer Company (1485 Hollow Glen Road, …
Julian’s Old Banner Road, now a hiking trail, starts in a suburban-like setting among Coulter pines and black oaks and descends through lush chaparral, providing a chance to explore a fascinating bit of San Diego’s …
Hike this year-round trail through chaparral and oak woodland to stunning views and to see a mounted 12-cylinder aircraft engine.
“I’ll try not to be too verbose,” says Doyle Reno, “but it does take some explaining.” He’s trying to define his sculpture process, by which he completes large-scale works of art that he doesn’t see …
Earlier this year, I shared the local brewing projects I was most highly anticipating. Most of them (Pizza Port Bressi Ranch, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, Benchmark Brewing Company, Hess Brewing …
Field Notes: Fifty, 100, even 200 years after a historical event, you can get the feel of a place just by being there. Stand at the ruins on Presidio Hill, for example. Erase all the …
Somewhere in the Cuyamacas there’s a box canyon wide enough to include 50 armed men on horseback and tall enough to conceal at least 200 Kumeyaay warriors lying in wait around the rim. But try …
Earlier this year, I named some of the upcoming brewery operations I was most excited about. That included big businesses like Pizza Port Bressi Ranch, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, Hess …
Readers of San Diego Beer News are hip to the fact new brewing companies are opening at a rapid clip, with a glut of other businesses working their way to their public debut. But the …
I love hiking, but I forget to do it again for months at a time. It usually plays out like this: 1) I trek along a path (or non-path) getting lost in the moment… sometimes …
Easily accessible falls and multiple crossings of the Sweetwater River through chaparral, riparian, and meadow habitats.
County government is poised to take over the Julian Cuyamaca Fire Protection District. Whether that’s good or bad is an open question, even to those residents who are emotionally involved.
Follow this switchback trail to granitic 5730-foot-high Stonewall Peak for views of Cuyamaca Reservoir and the nearby peaks of Cuyamaca, Middle, and North.
Interviews with alpaca owners, spinners, and weavers who live in San Diego’s East County mountain region.
Plenty of snow in downtown Julian this morning. I flew over at 9 a.m. in a light plane at 8000 feet above sea level, about 2000 feet above the ground, and was mesmerized by the …
Hike up to 4927 feet for Glen’s View, with panoramic views that include North Peak, Julian, and the desert.
The December 8 meeting at the Peacefield Orchard on Wynola Road was described by the Julian Apple Growers Association as a lesson in pruning trees. About 30 people showed up. Ray Meyer, acknowledged as the …
On the eastern slope of Japacha Peak, in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, is the location of a little known and most unusual monument anywhere in San Diego County. This piece of history began 90 years …
Go gobble on the mountain — a revisit to Julian’s Bailey Wood Pit Barbeque.
I rearranged my legs with more force than necessary. The wooden bed-frame creaked, and I followed the note with an overtly audible adjusting of my half of the comforter, balling it up so I could …
San Diego flatlanders open a brewery in the local mountains.
Sixty-two miles away from downtown San Diego, a strenuous three-mile hike on Five Oaks Trail. No. Dogs. Allowed.
This weekend's turkey hunt at Santa Ysabel Preserve will go off without, or rather, with a bang, despite pleas from the Animal Protection and Rescue League to suspend the hunt. According to a report from …
"This is Steve Reed with the DEA," said the man on the phone. “You called the DEA several months ago about a possible irrigation line you found in Cuyamaca State Park,” he continued. “I have …
We’ve always wanted to fly around the world in a small plane — my pilot’s license dates back to 1978. But we couldn’t afford a plane, so we had to build one. After taking six …
Drury “Drew” Bailey and the Founding of Julian City, Part Two In 1858, asked to write about why “A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss,” Drury “Drew” Bailey compared it to “the wanderer who starts…with bright …
Drury Bailey and the Founding of Julian City, Part One On November 10, 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno sailed into San Miguel Bay. He renamed it “San Diego,” after his flagship and the saint of Alcalá. For …
Civilization and Its Malcontents “Julian was never the hell roarin’ town commonly associated with mining camps,” wrote Dan Taylor in 1939. And that’s been pretty much the image ever since. Even so, the lure of …
After gold had been discovered in the Cuyamacas, ranchers accustomed to outback solitude witnessed an eerie parade: would-be miners trudging up an old Indian trail from Santa Ysabel to Julian City. The steep and rocky …
’Twas Gold that Made ’Em Do It “Enchanting visions of the good to be accomplished,” an unnamed author wrote in Hutchings’ California Magazine (1857), “of pleasures to be enjoyed, turned [a miner’s] footsteps toward the …
A photo of Lake Cuyamaca, taken February 28 from a private aircraft at 1500 feet.
The Life of a MinerIn August of 1870, when Louis Redman went to pick wild grapes along a creek over the mountain from Julian, he happened upon the American Dream. Something glinted in the rust-colored …
On Tuesday, February 8, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors passed a motion in a 3-2 vote to amend the County Code of Regulatory Ordinances "to allow a mentored, youth-only wild turkey hunt at …
In 2011, California fishermen will find that the procedure for purchasing annual fishing licenses has changed. And if one waits to buy their license once they arrive at a local lake, they may be out …
Traffic was slowed to a crawl on eastbound highway 78 last week, as a mule-drawn wagon took the right-of-way. Apparently the laws allowing horse and wagon the right-of-way are still on the books. Gene Glasscock …
The only sign of life in Julian at 5:00 a.m. this April morning are men in white paper toques rolling out pie dough at the bright-lighted Julian Bakery. It’s a deep black morning when I …
The Butterfield Stage line between Warner’s Ranch and Oak Grove was a narrow trail, dusty in summer, soggy in winter, rutted the year round. On its weekly treks, the stage always stopped at Deadman’s Hole, …
If you think the only way to see a wolf is to watch Dances with Wolves, think again. Two top-tier North American predators, the Alaskan and Mexican wolves, have dens at the California Wolf Center. …
Omygod. She’s eating her pizza with her knife and fork. Then again, she’s English. “What do you think, Robin?” She takes a sip of her English breakfast tea. My old buddy Robin looks up from …
BALBOA PARK Another Perfect DayBy downtownphotoguy, June 26Today we were in Presidio Park in the morning and Balboa Park in the afternoon. We were shooting with a variety of lenses and techniques…. It seems everybody …
On Saturday, August 22, almost 400 curious stargazers descended on Menghini Winery in Julian armed with red-cellophane-covered flashlights and heavy jackets, all wanting to have a peek at the night sky. The second annual Julian …
The history of wildfires in San Diego’s backcountry has yielded a vigorous volunteer firefighting subculture. Its foundations are self-reliance, strong community involvement, ingenuity, independence, and thrift. Today, those who embody the tradition feel threatened. They …
If water is an element essential to your hiking pleasure, then this hike in the Cuyamacas may be for you. Along Juaquapin Creek, you can sit in the shade and listen to the most peaceful …
Witnesses reported a motorcycle crash at approximately 1:45 p.m. on April 29. Volunteer sheriff's deputies were the first to reach the scene on Highway 79, near the Green Valley state campgrounds. No rider could be …
At about 6 a.m. on March 26, just south of Pine Hills, two Julian residents heard sounds of distress coming from the vicinity of their livestock pen. Upon arriving at the scene, one resident discovered …
On March 18 at almost 4 p.m., witnesses saw a red late-model sedan pull into the back parking lot of Jack's Grocery in Julian at a high rate of speed. A man was seen jumping …
There were in St. Elizabeth’s all the accoutrements you might expect to find in a grand-scale Catholic church; it was just that the statues of the saints, the stations of the cross, the devotional banners …
Five-year-old Janie Ann Galvin, rescued after wandering away from Paso Picacho Campgrounds in the Cuyamacas, April 17, 1961. She'd followed a squirrel. She fell asleep before dark and awoke in the morning. She didn't try …