Hike 107: West Fork of San Gabriel River

Hiked Monday, December 6.

Same trailhead as Hike 106. As with the last few hikes, you need an Adventure Pass to park here, but you do not need a Wilderness Permit. In fact, today's hike was almost entirely on pavement. It's the road to Cogswell Dam and Reservoir. I hiked as far as I was sure I was allowed, and turned around at the "No Trespassing or Loitering" sign put up the the LA County Flood Control District.

I wasn't even sure if I was going to go hiking today. But by 7am the rain had stopped and there was plenty of blue sky by 9am. I also figured the mountains would be wet and sloppy, which made this hike make so much sense. Walking on pavement, there'd be no problem with mud. Since the hike is largely level, there'd be no problem with slipping. So I put on my tennis shoes and headed up the San Gabriel Canyon. Opting for tennis shoes rather than hiking boots turned out to be a mistake, by the way.

The trailhead is located up CA-39, about a mile past the East Fork Road. It's the same one I used for the Lower Bear Creek trail.

According to the Tom Harrison Map, the trailhead is located at altitude 1575. It also gives a distance of 6.3 miles to Glenn Camp (alt. 2060), and an additional mile to Cogswell Reservoir (alt 2450). In other words, the first 6.3 miles, you gain less than 500 feet. Not flat, but pretty close to flat (although I did feel like I was walking a lot faster on the way back than going out).

The West Fork of the San Gabriel River meanders along to your right pretty much the entire trip, almost always within sight and sound. In some areas, it is nice and riffle-y. In others, it's got slackwater. There are native rainbow trout in the river, and the portion west of the bridge at the one mile point is a catch and release (single, barbless hooks with artificial lures, only) area. There are several platforms along the way for wheelchair access to fishing pools.

Because the early morning and late night rain was still making its way down the mountain, the water was a little murky in the morning. The cliff face to my left reminded me a little bit of Zion's Weeping Rock trail. Ferns and other assorted plants clung to the cliff while water dripped down to the road. In a few places, the water was heavy enough to qualify as a waterfall.

Just before the six-mile marker (there are yellow-painted metal stakes at one mile intervals from 1-6, plus a "7" painted on a metal railing near the helipad), there was a more substantial falls (about eight feet tall). Behind (above) and to the right of this falls was another falls feeding into its top pool. I could barely see part of that second falls. There may be more, but I couldn't safely climb above the first falls (it was even more dangerous than normal because the rocks were wet from the rain of earlier that day).

Shortly after the six mile marker, I arrived at Glenn Camp. There were picnic tables and pit toilets here. Picnic tables were also scattered along the way, and there was another pit toilet around 4.5 miles up the trail.

Not long after Glenn Camp, the road changes from asphalt to concrete, and a brief but steep segment of road awaits you. It levels off near a helipad. After the helipad, there's a chainlink fence and a gate (that was open). The No Trespassing sign was here.

The Harrison Map shows the West Fork National Recreation Trail as continuing to Cogswell Dam. However, the volunteer at the San Gabriel Canyon Gateway said people weren't allowed to go through the often-open gate, so I turned around there. Not sure if he was right about that, but I figured I had walked far enough.

Even with just those few hundred feet of gain at the end of the trail, it was enough to give a nice view to the west, on out to Mt. Baldy.

After heading back down, I made an attempt to go up Glen Canyon (south of Glenn Camp). There are supposed to be some very scenic waterfalls up this way. However, there was no easy trail up that waterway, so I turned around.

Unfortunately, I got a little bit of a blister on one of my feet today. I should have been more careful with how I put my socks on that morning. Or, I should have gone ahead and worn hiking socks rather than athletic socks, then put on my boots. Since I didn't I had a blister that'll keep me off the trail for at least a few days.

As I noted in my last post, this hike is surprisingly placid, despite walking on pavement. I had to step to the side of the road a number of times as LA County Flood Control vehicles and one 16-wheeler hauling bags of cement went by. There was also a small car parked about 1/2 mile in that a couple of young women who appeared to be counting birds came out of. They were either working for the Forest Service or got a permit from the USFS to get special access. But I don't think I saw any other hikers or walkers until I was on my way back. Most of them, I didn't run into until the last two miles or so.

In addition to lots of smaller birds, I saw two great blue heron and one red tailed hawk. No shots of the heron. Only a couple of poor shots of the hawk.

All told, I hiked just over 14 miles, nearly all of it on pavement. I gained only about 800 feet.

The last shot here is just a crop of the earlier shot of the lower fall that was just before the six mile point of the hike.

Hike 106: Lower Bear Creek

Hiked Friday, December 3. Post edited December 4.

It seemed to make sense to try to check out the other end of the trail I hiked on Wednesday. Today's trailhead is located off of CA-39, just like the last trailhead, but about four miles further south. There's a small parking area just before the CA-39 crosses the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, and a much larger parking area immediately after the bridge. The "trail" starts on the south side of the bridge. It's a paved road that runs eight miles, to Cogswell Reservoir. It's closed to public vehicles, however. But you can ride your bike.

On summer weekends, this place is crawling with people and their styrofoam ice chests. After a weekend, the styrofoam, paper plates, pizza boxes, chicken boxes, empty beer and soda cans, and other garbage litters the place. At least it did. It's been a long time since I dared to try visit this place on a summer weekend.

On this late fall weekday, however, things looked pretty placid. I saw three other people around the parking area, and ran across two guys with their horses and one hiker while on the trail.

Back to the hike: To hike lower Bear Creek, you follow this West Fork road and bikeway for just one mile.

As you approach the one mile point, I passed a large arrow with no sign, which I assumed pointed up Bear Creek. That meant heading off the road and crossing the creek. I did not succeed in staying dry. Not a very auspicious start.

A smarter move would have been to ignore the arrow, walk past the metal "1" pole (indicating one mile from the trailhead), cross the bridge to get to the "north" side of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, then making a left turn off the road, then looping under the bridge. There's a very well defined trail there, although I didn't know this until I returned at the end of the day.

Doing that would have reduced the number of stream crossings by one, and the number of soaking wet hiking socks by one, as well.

Once under the bridge, the trail runs for about a 1/4 mile nice and level. Then you start making stream crossings. Lots of them. I lost count how many times.

The good news is, if you're patient and study the crossings, nearly all of them could be navigated without any hopping. It helps if you have waterproof boots, and can afford to stand on rocks that don't quite rise above the water level.

The lower sections of the trail have been maintained within the past year. Nearly each time the trail approached the river, a reasonable way across could be seen, and a clear exit point (cut area in the vegetation on the other bank) made knowing when to cross pretty easy, at least most of the time. Also, sections of the trail were lined with rocks. Not the whole trail by any means, but enough that it made it easier to follow the correct path.

Also, for the first 1/2 mile, someone with a green can of spray paint placed arrows directing the way.

Although I read of several "camps" along the way, I saw no signs indicating the official location of these camps. I did see some fire rings, but that's about it. The first apparent camp area was about 1/2 mile in from the West Fork bikepath. At the one mile point, a sign post and missing sign announced--well, I don't know what they announced, since the sign was missing. At about 1 mile, I passed the remains of a stone cabin.

Mileages are from my borrowed GPS. I'm still skeptical of how accurate it can be in the canyon, however. At one point, it was giving me an altitude with a margin for error of 450 feet! If it's that uncertain on the altitude, I'm sure it can't measure all the twists and turns I'm taking under the canopy of trees and between the canyon walls.

I headed a total of about three miles north from the West Fork Road. I'm pretty sure I passed the point where the West Fork of Bear Creek joins, and went an additional 1/2 mile or so past that. I stopped when I both lost the trail and came to a crossing that would be difficult to make while staying dry. By then, my legs were getting tired from all the boulder hopping (although I managed to make nearly all the return crossings without hopping, I did not do that going out. You walk and you learn). Yes, I could have taken off my boots or searched some more. But I knew I had a long walk back with each and every one of what must be a dozen crossings to re-cross on the way back. Total roundtrip walking distance was approximately 8 miles, and I didn't get back to the car until about 4:30pm. Needed to put the sweater on the for that last mile. That meant I made the right decision to turn around when I did.

It was a very scenic hike. In addition to being able to see Twin Peaks from a different angle compared to what I saw on Wednesday, I also had plenty of river shots, some fall color, and early evening light on the clouds to enjoy for the last mile or so of my hike. I also came across some rock art.

Started the hike around 10:30am and didn't get back to the car until 4:30pm. Seems pretty slow, even with the stops to dry my socks and feet off, and picking my way across the river. Also, my legs feel a lot more tired than they should after just eight miles. On the other hand, I did need to do a lot of balancing and hopping on all those river crossings. Once I figure out how to plug my gps coordinates into a map, I hope to know for sure.

Nice thing about coming home late is the lighting gets very interesting. I got some nice shots looking down the road on my way home. Even with automated cameras, you can still play with the exposure some. Here's two very similar pictures, one in which I metered off the sky and exposed for the clouds, and one in which I metered off the foreground and exposed for the ground. The former is at the top of this post, while the latter is the last picture posted.

Hike 105: Upper Bear Creek Trail

Hiked Wednes-day, December 1.

From the 210 freeway, exit at Azusa (CA-39) and head north. Currently, the Upper Bear Creek trailhead is at the end of the road, at mile marker 32.14. (Edit--In March 2011, CA-39 was open to just past Crystal Lake. That means this trailhead is no longer at the end of the road. Look for the "30mph Ahead" sign, and that's your parking area). That's about five miles past where the East Fork Road splits off.

According to the Tom Harrison map, it's 5.6 miles to the end of the trail. According to the sign at the trailhead, it's 3 miles to the San Gabriel Wilderness boundary and 10.2 miles to the West Fork National Scenic Bikeway.

The trail starts just to the right of the pit toilet. It starts out with a shallow incline as the parallel highway 39 drops down towards Azusa. After about 1/4 mile, the trail begins a series of switchbacks as it climbs towards the west. You get some good views both up and down San Gabriel Canyon as you climb, and you can see your car for much of the first 1/2 mile. At about the 1/2 mile point, however, the trail curves around a bend and enters the Lost Canyon drainage.

Well after making your way into one "cove" and out the other side, you pass a metal stake and wooden stake, each with a "1" on them. My borrowed GPS confirmed that it was one mile from the parking lot.

However, when I reached the "2," my GPS said I had only gone 1.9 miles, and when I later reached a "4," my GPS said 3.8. I would tend to assume they got it right and mine was thrown off by the occasional tree and ridgeline interfering with satellite communication.

During this section, you may (depending on season and how early in the morning you're walking) be in shade. As I made my way along the various coves, I had a direct view of what my map says is Mt. Smith.

Not long after passing mile marker 2 (and seemingly well under one mile later), I reached the saddle that marks the boundary of the San Gabriel Wilderness.

Interesting bit of trivia: The San Gabriel Wilderness (previously the San Gabriel Primitive Area) was created under Forest Service laws and regulations prior to the 1964 Wilderness Act, so I was told there was no permit requirement to enter this Wilderness area. In fact, that's why I took this hike today: I was planning to hike out of Heaton Flats again but the entry station wasn't open when I drove in (about 9:40am) and there was no sign indicating when or if they would open today. Since I wasn't about to drive back down to Glendora or wait indefinitely to get a Wilderness permit, I decided on an alternate hike that wouldn't require a permit.

My GPS gave an altitude of 4281 for the saddle. It also gave an altitude of 3281 for the trailhead, which is nine feet less than given by Harrison. That means the altitude I got for the saddle is probably pretty close to correct.

I forgot to check the mileage I had walked to get to the saddle, but, as I said, it felt like it was a little less than 3 miles.

From there, you can just see a portion of Mt. Baldy, to the east-northeast. To the west, the San Gabriel Wilderness looked surprisingly green. Lots of live oak. Also some scrub oak, really tall manzanita, and many more plants I don't recognize.

There's a pretty impressive peak to the northwest. The only named peak on the Harrison map in that direction is Twin Peaks, and the mountain did have a sort of twin peaks appearance.

Mt. Wilson is also easily visible from the saddle.

While the trail up to the saddle was very wide and well-defined, the trail on the other side is much narrower and not as well maintained. Downed tree branches and rock slides made the going a little tricky. It's not dangerous, but it wouldn't take a very long distraction to find yourself falling quite some distance.

In shaded spots, small amounts of snow remained. On some of the snow were paw prints. Don't know if it's from a dog or a coyote. Here they ware with my feet for reference (size 8 boots, probably a little over 12 inches long on the outside).

I wasn't sure how far I would go. If I could have found the five mile marker, that would have been fine. Otherwise, I figured I'd just go until I reached Bear Creek. Since I never did find a "5" marker, it was plan B.

I could hear the rushing waters of Bear Creek long before I could see it. The tree canopy around the river was very thick. They covered a number of very large pools, and a lot of boulders that had been polished by years of waterflows. Yeah, they were slippery.

When I finally did enter my "turnaround" in the GPS, it said I had gone 5.1 miles. (Oddly enough, when I got back to the car, it said my total distance traveled was 9.8 miles). Again, I suspect it's inter-ference that causes it to miss some of the distance covered in tight and covered switchbacks. The vegetation is pretty thick in the Wilderness, particularly as you get closer to the river.

The altitude at my turnaround was 2525, which is 125 feet higher than the trail end indicated on the Harrison map. I'm pretty sure I didn't quite go to the official end, so the altitude and distance indicated reflects what I would expect it to be.

That meant a total hike distance of between 9.8 and 10.6 miles, and a gross altitude gain of about 2750 feet. It was a pretty good hike. Much shorter than many I've taken, but long enough to feel like a full day.

Angeles Crest Highway Reopens?

This seems like it would be big news, but I have been having trouble finding stories confirming the reopening.

The Mt. Wilson Observatory says they are definitely expecting it to be open this weekend and are expecting a flood of eager curiosity seekers, so the Cosmic Cafe is scheduled to be open for the first three weekends in December.

I came across this Caltrans press release that seems to suggest the highway opened this morning. However, the issue date says 1/2010, which makes it odd.

The other stories about the road opening all seem to be from last year. So I don't know if the highway is now open, or will soon open. Either way, however, when the highway does open, it sounds like rock slides will be common and great care should be taken by motorist on the Angeles Crest Highway.

Hike 104: Henninger Flats

Hiked Sunday, November 28.

Yeah, nothing new. But I had a friend visiting from out of town and we decided to meet someplace we both knew to take a little post-Thanksgiving hike.

The air was brisk, blowing like it often does in Autumn. That meant the skies were incredibly clear. Santa Catalina Island was easily visible, some 40 or 50 miles away. I could see ships out in the ocean. Closer to the mountains, I could see a bit of unnatural fall color among the trees along the streets and in the yards of Altadena and Pasadena. People were out walking their dogs and riding their bikes, or just walking. It was a good day to be out and about in southern California.

Oak Glen

I didn't bring my camera because I wasn't planning to do any walking. However, now I'm starting to think I should just keep my camera with me always (or get a phone that takes decent pictures).

My main reason for coming out here was to buy an apple pie for Thanksgiving. My wife and I are partial to Los Rios Rancho. They sell these humungous pies, filled with five pounds of apples. And their taste is as big as their appearance!

Oak Glen is easily accessible via the I-10. Exit at Yucaipa Road, head north/east about 3 1/2 miles, then turn left on Oak Glen Road. After passing by a huge regional park, Oak Glen Road crosses Bryant Road. To get to Oak Glen, continue straight. However, if you were to turn on left on Bryant Road, you'd hit CA-38 in about three miles. That's one of the main access routes into the San Bernardino National Forest. Angelus Oaks is about fourteen miles further on CA-38.

Meanwhile, if you were heading to Los Rios Rancho, you'd reach it about five miles east of Bryant. You'd also pass about two miles of other shops and working farms before you reached Los Rios.

The land is owned by The Wildlands Conservancy, which also owns several other lands in the state, including the Whitewater Preserve that I hiked on a number of months ago.

Oak Glen was gorgeous today. On the way up the mountain, I could see what I believe is Mt. San Gorgonio, snow covered and looking very inviting (but cold!). The peaks closer to Oak Glen (Wilshire Peak, Oak Glen Peak, etc) also had a dusting of snow. Meanwhile, the oak trees down in town had their rusted yellow tint of autumn. Especially with today's brisk weather, it felt very fall-like and very un-Los Angeles.

The view was so wonderful I just had to get out and walk a bit. There are several short trails around Los Rios, but even if you walk all of them, you'll cover no more than about 1.5 miles. So don't drive to Oak Glen for the hiking. Drive there for the apples. And the apple cider. But, especially, drive there for the pie. :D

Hike 103: Heaton Flats Trail

Hiked Monday, November 22.

Today's hike started at the end of the East Fork Road in the San Gabriel River Canyon. As yesterday, I took the 210 Freeway, exited at Azusa (CA-39), and headed north. About nine miles into the canyon, I again turned right on East Fork Road. However, this time, I took it all the way to the end.

There's a little bit of a tricky spot near the end. When you reach Glendora Mountain Road, the road makes a sharp hairpin turn to the right. If you stay on the "main" road, you'll be on GMR, and heading back down into the Basin. Instead, you need to make half of the hairpin turn, then make a left, across a lane of traffic, on the right side of a pine tree, to continue to the end of East Fork Road.

At the end of the paved road, there's a locked gate and a very large parking lot. Even on a weekday, many cars were parked there. I don't know how many were left by backpackers, how many by people camping near Heaton Flats, and how many by people practically living up here.

Pass around the locked gate and proceed 1/2 mile up stream. When you reach a bathroom, it's time to turn right. The trailhead sign is there. There was no wilderness self-permit material here, however. I assume now you need to get that at the San Gabriel Canyon entry station.

The sign at the trailhead says it's 1.2 miles to the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, 5 miles to Clearwater Saddle and 6.2 miles to Clearwater Canyon. That makes it a total of 1.7 miles from the parking lot to the Wilderness boundary one way, or 3.4 miles roundtrip. With a bit of extra wandering I did on the trails today, I probably did about 3.8 miles. Again, very short for me. However, the climb out of the East Fork is pretty steep, so it did get my heart pumping. Looking at the topo, it seems to be a 1,200 foot gain.

It's a little hard to be sure, however. If the Sheep Mountain Wilderness is accurately portrayed on my map (Tom Harrison Maps: Angeles High Country Trails), then it should be a good bit further than 1.2 miles from Heaton Flats trailhead to reach the Sheep Mountain Wilderness. Yet, there was the sign, from which it only took me about 30 minutes to get back to the trailhead sign (not my car).

In any event, from the area around the signed boundary of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, there are some nice views east and west. To the west, I could clearly see the road cuts where Shoemaker Canyon Road ran, high above the north side of the East Fork. To the east, I could see up what I believe was Coldwater Canyon (a few aspen or cottonwood, narrow and yellow, were visible way down there).

I could also see a whole bunch of clouds, which obscured what I assume to be the top 3 or 4 thousand feet of West Baldy.

To the southeast, I could see Glendora Ridge Road, which connects with Glendora Mountain Road a bit south of where I stood and runs east, past Cow Cattle Saddle and all the way down to Mt. Baldy Village.

Along the way, I passed some colorful sycamore. I also took a few shots below the clouds that obscured the late afternoon sun, showing some of the ridges to the southwest. Despite the shortness of the hike, it felt good to get outside, and the views were definitely worth it. On a clearer day, I'll have to return this way with a wilderness permit so I can explore further to the east.