Peace sign and arrow toward the fire road
Mysterious benchmark past fence, not at the high point
Fire road to top of the ridge
Next, you descend steeply 1150' into Fish Canyon where the trail merges with the easy main trail to the falls. This section of the trail looks little used. While the first section had litter (too much for me to pack out), the section descending into Fish Canyon was litter free. In many places, the grass, brush, and poison oak intrude into the trail. You are not bushwhacking through chaparral, but you do have to push through the obstructions. I wore long pants and was glad I did. Once you get to the main trail, it is easy going all the way to the falls with a fair bit of shade from the trees in the canyon. There are two stream crossings, but one was completely dry. There are also historical plaques along the way, most of them unfortunately vandalized.
Stream crossing without the stream
When I reached the falls, I was sad to see it nearly dry. I came for the big three tiered waterfall, and I all I got was a trickle. The main pool was not flowing into the lower pool, but both still had plenty of water.
A trickle is all that's left of the falls
Main pool below falls
Lower pool
On the way back, I could see that my car was still the only one in the parking lot. However, when I emerged from the brush into the parking lot, there was a green car parked right next to mine and one guy kind of loitering by the trailhead sign. We surprised each other. He asked me a few questions about the hike, then got in his car and left before I could even get my pack in my car. He was either casing the hike or casing my car. I decided it more likely he was casing my car, but no harm no foul.
Full report:
http://ironhiker.blogspot.com/2013/06/f ... ridge.html
