Gabrielino in a day, or not

longcut · Post by **longcut** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:29 pm

A friend and I planned to start at Chantry and run the Gabrielino trail to exit in Altadena near JPL some 30 miles later. Sounded good on paper anyway. We got as far as West Fork campground without trouble.

After that the trail got a bit dodgy and had us doing a bit of back and forth. We got up the Devore trail quite a ways before we realized we missed our trail, probably added 4 miles here by the time we found where Gabrielino broke west from the Devore trail. At this juncture the Devore trail is clear but the Gabrielino in this portion is washed out a bit by a small drainage and is hard to spot when traveling east to west. We tried to get back onto the Gabrielino at this point but found it fouled with Poodle Dog bush so we opted to backtrack a bit and slide down a steep slope to the fire road adjacent the west fork and follow that up to Valley Forge instead.

Before too long we were up on red box and soaked from the rain. Instead of 15 miles at this point we had more like 20 and some extra climbing thrown in on Devore. By the time we reached Switzer it was dark and we had put about 8hrs in, which was our goal time to do the whole 30 miles. We were feeling good though and ahead lay just a straight 9 miles of downhill which even in the dark we should manage in less than 3 hrs. Yeah right.

Gabrielino trail just below Switzer is closed, not sure why but we suspected it was still in bad shape from the fire. So we changed our plan and decide to shoot for bear canyon trail up to Tom Sloan saddle. This turned out to be the most "fun" section yet. Pitch black, downed trees, and soaked to the bone thanks to car wash-type bush whacking. At around 9pm and after a couple hours of creek post holing and tree scrambling we decided that even if by some miracle we located the trail up to the saddle in the dark, it would not be a stroll in the park. We turned back again and finally had one thing go right. A good Samaritan driving by picked us up and drove us all the way to my friends house. I thought for sure we were sleeping out there but, maybe next time.

30ish miles maybe
9600' or so of up

Anybody been able to go over Sloan saddle lately? Is it doable in daylight? Anybody know why Gabrielino is closed west of Switzer?

Post by **HikeUp** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:36 am

Crazy stuff

Trail sounds like it's pretty rough in spots still - not too surprising I guess.

Glad it worked out for ya and better luck next time.

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:15 pm

It's been a few years but I've hiked the Gab from Chantry to JPL twice, it was in good shape both times but that was 2008 and 2009.

Great TR, sorry for all the craziness - my guess is that the closure is because it's part of the "Stantion Fire" closure. Maybe HikingJim or someone else has more details, haven't been on that end of the range since the fire - I'll bet Elwood would know as well.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:53 pm

I believe that some of the trail is still closed because of the Station Fire.

My son and I did the Gabrielino Trail as a day hike in 2009. We got around the need for a car relay by bicycling from the Windsor Ave. parking lot to Chantry Flats. That is an interesting warm-up to a long hike.

longcut · Post by **longcut** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:46 pm

Thanks fellas. It was an interesting day for sure but we laughed the whole way, it worked out okay in the end. I always learn something from days like this. It's entirely possible that if we continued on the Gabrielino and ignored the closure that we would have made it just fine. As you guys know, you make the best decision you can with what you got and then you go for it. Anyway, it was fun but I think I'll stick to areas outside the burn area for longer runs.

Thanks again!

666-The Beast · Post by **666-The Beast** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:39 pm

Had you done this trek before the fire you would have done ok in 8hrs. Unfortunately after the fire things have changed and if you are an overambitious first timer to this area then this is what happens to ya; speed and greed is very disorienting! You should have called it a day at the Red Box or at Switzers and had the car waiting for you there. The trek to any other place you desired to go after that especially in the dark is a hell trek for sure. Bear Cyn, you know what you got and things do get really nice past the camp with your favorite plant waiting for you to go by! Finally a smart decision to turn back. I am surprised you did not reach the Bear camp after 2hrs! If you had gone down the Dark Cyn, which is a CLOSED AREA, a sure way to get lost cause the trail is very spotty past the Oakwild camp! You should e-mail the FS and tell them to fix the trail at the Devore junction so next time all will be ok. The numbers are cooked a bit!!! Live and learn and do things a section at a time or join the AC 100 and train with them if you like to run around the mountains!

''Lord What Fools These Mortals Be'' Puck from the Tempest;not much progress since then as the great Shakespeare noted.
But then: ''All is well that ends well'' 666

Marty · Post by **Marty** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:37 am

I was camping at Valley Forge Sat-Sun, I wonder if you passed us? We got a little of the rain.

NOMAN668 · Post by **NOMAN668** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:05 pm

I was the other guy out there with longcut.

Yeah, we probably saw you at Valley Forge, Marty, I remember seeing a few tents. We were the guys jogging by wearing trash bags and freezing while you were probably warm, dry, and well fed in a tent.

I've run/hiked the Gabrielino in the past with 60% of it in the dark; it took me 9 hours and that was taking it *relatively* slow...I was totally not suspecting of what was to come on this trip. Bear Canyon was getting pretty silly in the dark- bona fide sopping cold bushwack. The conditions and some of our decisions on this trip were pretty ridiculous in retrospect, but all in all, it was a great day.

Hurray for adventure.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:18 pm

I admire the effort, longcut. I can only assume the stretch between Switzer Falls (the trail split) and Oakwilde is worse than Bear Canyon at this point, as the floods last winter really did a number on the trail there. Sections where the trail was cut into the bank above the streambed are sure to be wiped out in many places. Since the canyon gets wide below Oakwilde, one would guess that part down to the debris dam is passable, though probably weedy.

Tom Sloan - the ridgeline should be pretty good, aside from some poodle-doggy bits. It was always kind of dry and sparse, and no cliff sections, so that should still be the case. I definitely recommend against anyone trying the actual old historic Tom Sloane trail, since it was nearly impassable before the fire, let alone after it.

I'm sorry I didn't really understand what you were asking when you first posted about conditions on the Gabrielino. I thought you meant around the West Fork, which I knew had been worked on recently. Not many people do what you do, so I didn't think to include Switzer down to JPL (or Bear Canyon for that matter, though I know you weren't planning on that!)

Good effort, and I'm glad you got out safely and with good attitudes too!