Fox Creek & grandiose idea(for me) of pk4544 loop 3/22/0

[AW~]

Started out on the Fall Creek fireroad at 6:30 am with the idea of combining 2 hikes together. A slow pace and arrived at Falls View saddle around 8am. Fall Creek had a nice lite flow for canyoneering & the Big Tujunga river was rather overgrown, in addition was some new graffiti.

Anyways, left the saddle and followed the newer trail approach for the GFF for a little bit, then headed down to Fox Creek. All the new sights & sounds left me a bit disoriented and surprised to see Fox Creek after a spring fed, steepish dirt drainage with no raps, but at least I knew where to go next time, if there is going to be a next time. A short walk upstream to view the Great Falls of the Fox and take a short snack. End of hike1, was so far so good and it was about 8:30am.

Then hike downstream to the GFF shortcut and the white rock doing a great job of heating things up even more. Poison Oak gully looked like a seriously brutal bushwack. The idea was to take this ridge to Fox pk4544 then go down the Fox SE ridge, however just a short distance along the notch, I called it off as a failure. It was hot, it was going to be 5th class, and it was too exposed and it was going to take way too long for me.

Fox Creek(not the GFF as there too much freezing water and I was not prepared for it anyway) was a nice defeat route though, and I ended back at the confluence of the Big Tujunga river at 12:30 pm after a 30min delay rappelling the waterfall. Umm, I thought the rope was too short?, when it was just the right length and I should have known it was the right length?
Ended up using a 15ft branch to extend my rope...hehehe...

Still some time left, so went to visit another waterfall for the last time since there was a good chance things were flushed out..and it was(woot! woot!..extend your arms like a chicken dance with your fingers in a hawaiian style and move your arms up and down). Still the constant drone of motorcycles though and returned back to the car at about 3pm, where good to find no breakins.

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Rise and shine on the way down to Fox creek.....dont try this at home

Short snack at the last waterfall....

Closeup of the GFF main waterfall....

Actual view..........

Fox Creek......

Another fox creek.............

Looking down at the GFF shortcut trail.....

Turning around 90 degrees counterclockwise....the GFF down below

Another 90 counterclockwise and basically a view of Fox creek,W Fox creek, and in the background MtGleason(ish)....

Ridge view....

Last waterfall, Fox creek....there was a belt slung on a branch on the tree...

Big Tujunga river.........

Waterfall..there was a serious patch of foxtails to go through on the way here with a field more waiting in the wings....

Doesnt like humans....

[MikeSash]

Very nice. Is that the last waterfall of White Oak Canyon second from the bottom?

[KathyW]

Those are some nice pictures of waterfalls, but not such a nice snake picture - snakes scare me - it doesn't matter what kind it is. I grew up in a house that had frontage on a creek (out here it would be a river) in upstate NY and sometimes in the summer when we were swimming in the creek we'd see a snake slither by us in the water - those big black eastern runners - yuck.

[AW~]

That was the last waterfall in White Oak canyon which doesnt run for long.

Snakes - I prefer not to encounter one either.

Route...green-actual, pink-planned route...

[Mike P]

Ah!!! Beautiful serpent! That is a Two-striped Garter Snake. Thanks for the picture.