Middle Fork Lytle Creek -- Mini Trip

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:42 am

Just took my daughter out to the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek last Saturday for a quick mini trip (we had to be back home by 3:00 or so).

First, the road. The road's in lousy shape. Fortunately, my friend Jeff drove his XTerra, so we were fine, but I wouldn't think it would be a very good idea to drive a passenger car up there. In the past, my Accord has always been fine. I noted at the trailhead that there were only Jeeps, trucks, and SUV's.

There's a new sign saying that wilderness permits are required. I hadn't ever seen that sign before. I presume that you would get them at the Lytle Creek Ranger Station. I've never had a wilderness permit in that area, ever.

Second, the sign says that it's 0.5 miles to Stone House Crossing. Uh, no. Both my GPS and my friend's GPS said it's about a mile each way. Here's my GPS track for the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek. I'd say the elevation is a little low too, but close enough.

I wasn't sure how much water there would be given that we're in the middle of a multi-year drought, but the creek was not only flowing, but it was flowing well.

My daughter wasted no time in getting down to the serious business of playing in/with the water.

I turned her propensity for water play to good use; here she is fetching water for us to make lunch with.

Naturally, being a stove geeky kind of guy, I geeked out:

Left to Right: Sierra Zip Stove (note fan control unit at far left), Trail Designs Ti-Tri (the most practical for Southern California since it works equally well on wood, alcohol, or ESBIT), and a BioLite (which generates electricity such that one could charge ones smart phone or other device).

The trail is in good shape (unlike the road). The camp area (Stonehouse) was quite nice. I usually don't go down in there and just bypass go direct to third crossing, but since we were in a hurry and wanted to do stove testing, we went to Stonehouse this time.

The weather was pleasant and there were some pretty cool clouds.

The water was cool, clear, and plentiful.

I'd like to head back again when I have more time. It's been a couple of years since I've been all the way up to Icehouse Saddle from the east. I just wish they'd get that road in better shape.

HJ

longcut · Post by **longcut** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:12 am

darnit. HJ beat me to it again. I was going to head in there soon and report water conditions but you gotta get up pretty early in the morning/year to beat HJ.

Hey Jim, how far up did you hike? I was going to go down from the other side and I wasnt sure how far down i would have to go to get water for the return trip. Maybe I'll do that this weekend and report back. unless i get too busy preparing for my family hike next weekend.

thanks again Jim!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:29 am

Ha!

We just went up to Stonehouse and went no further due to time constraints.

The water at Stonehouse was flowing really well. I am pretty sure that there would be water at or near Third Crossing since the two major branches of the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek come together nearby. I don't know if Comanche would have water or not.

Post by **HikeUp** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:43 pm

Sweet!

That wilderness permit sign is new to me. But the last time I was there was about 4 years ago!!! The two signs below it were there back then though.

walker · Post by **walker** » Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:14 pm

Great trip, Jim. Beautiful area.

In early July, I hiked the Middle Fork all the way to Ice House Saddle and back. There was water at Stone House, then the creek went dry for a while beyond that. There was decent water at Third Crossing, but absolutely none up at Comanche. Maybe there's a little spring or pool somewhere up around there if you know exactly where to look. I think anybody coming down from the saddle would have to lose a lot of elevation before they got to a reliable water source and then have a bear of a climb back up and over the saddle. The trail was also washed out in one spot on a slope between Third Crossing and Comanche. Nothing super technical to cross, but it was on a kind of slippery slope descending into the canyon.

Tom Kenney · Post by **Tom Kenney** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:29 pm

Sounds like a very pleasant day out. Cool stove collection!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 2:12 pm

HikeUp wrote: ↑Sweet!

That wilderness permit sign is new to me. But the last time I was there was about 4 years ago!!! The two signs below it were there back then though.

My experience exactly.

HJ

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:13 pm

walker wrote: ↑Great trip, Jim. Beautiful area.

In early July, I hiked the Middle Fork all the way to Ice House Saddle and back. There was water at Stone House, then the creek went dry for a while beyond that. There was decent water at Third Crossing, but absolutely none up at Comanche. Maybe there's a little spring or pool somewhere up around there if you know exactly where to look. I think anybody coming down from the saddle would have to lose a lot of elevation before they got to a reliable water source and then have a bear of a climb back up and over the saddle. The trail was also washed out in one spot on a slope between Third Crossing and Comanche. Nothing super technical to cross, but it was on a kind of slippery slope descending into the canyon.

OK, good report. That was basically my thinking that there would be water somewhere around Third Crossing but not above. Sounds like that's basically how it is "on the ground".

The washouts between 3rd and Comanche have been there for a number of years. I think they occurred in 2005. They were certainly there in 2006 when I visited. In subsequent visits, there have been some makeshift repairs, but the trail has never been back to pre-2005 levels. At least one of those washouts was really sketchy as I remember it. Haven't been back that far for about 3 years.

HJ

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Oct 02, 2014 3:15 pm

Tom Kenney wrote: ↑Cool stove collection!

Ha! You haven't seen the half of it.

(I have a ton of stoves)

HJ

rck · Post by **rck** » Tue Oct 07, 2014 7:41 pm

So the question on the wilderness permit, where would you pick up the permit at?

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:25 am

Here's my GPS track for the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek. If you zoom out a bit, you'll see the Lytle Creek Ranger Station. I assume that's where you'd get a permit. I'm not aware of any quota.

HJ

DaBaba · Post by **DaBaba** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:18 pm

I faxed in my request to the ranger station and they faxed it back to me. Kind of a pain, since I had it faxed to work, but apparently they don't do email.

That looks like a lot more water than was there the two times I went up this summer. There was some water at Third Stream Crossing, but it was bone dry at Commanche.

I like that trail a lot. The road isn't too bad. I did it in a crossover vehicle. AWD but not a real hardy 4x4. I'd be leery about leaving a decent bucket there overnight. There were two trucks broken into when I pulled up to the trailhead. Ran into the owners camped at Third Stream Crossing, they were not pleased but not surprised either.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:15 am

DaBaba wrote: ↑That looks like a lot more water than was there the two times I went up this summer. There was some water at Third Stream Crossing, but it was bone dry at Commanche.

My photos are from Stonehouse Crossing. There's probably more water at Stonehouse than Third.

DaBaba wrote: ↑I like that trail a lot. The road isn't too bad. I did it in a crossover vehicle. AWD but not a real hardy 4x4.

Hmm. What do you think about an ordinary passenger car?

DaBaba wrote: ↑There were two trucks broken into when I pulled up to the trailhead.

THAT sucks. That really sucks.

HJ