Photo: Trail to Airplane Monument in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Hello Hikers!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am over this hot weather and ready for fall! Luckily, it looks like things should start to cool off this week so relief is in sight.

Note that the staging areas in the San Diegiuto River Park are now on winter hours and gates will be closed at 6 p.m.

Next Sunday, October 16th, is the Palomar Apple Festival at Palomar Mountain State Park from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be free admission to the park for the entire day, as well as games, arts and crafts, apple pressing demonstrations, apple goodies, live music and more!

CBS 8 reports that a human skull was found near Lake Hodges on Friday morning. Detectives suspect that it may belong to Marisol Lopez, who went missing last year. Some bones belonging to her were found in October of last year in the same area. A cause of death was not determined, and investigators hope that if the skull is hers that it may help the medical examiner finally determine a cause of death. Hopefully this will all result in some closure for her family.

In happier news, a bald eagle that was found near death in Ramona last month is recovering. The bird was suffering from West Nile Virus, but was found and treated early enough that it appears to be making a full recovery. It is currently being housed and cared for at the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center after being treated at the Pet Emergency and Specialty Center in La Mesa. Officials hope the eagle will be released back into the wild in a couple of weeks.

Here’s the latest outdoor and fitness deals from Amazon:

• Save on Kelty packs and tents
• TNH Outdoors Premium Self Inflating Sleeping Pad $34.95
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• Iwatani Corporation of America 35FW Portable Butane Stove Burner $74.38
• Save On ULTIMATE SOCKS – Merino Wool, Midweight, Hiker Crew Sock
• EZOWare 8pc Camping Cookware Mess Kit 8 Piece $23.99
• Save 25% on The North Face Girl’s Fleece
• Columbia Pre-Winter Sale, Up To 50% Off

Have a good week!
Photo: Tijuana River Valley Regional Park