Grizzly Gulch is TOUGH!!!

[Sean]

I tried to get my butt up Grizzly Gulch today. I parked along the Stockton Flat Road a little before the Lytle Creek Shooting Range. After following a use trail across the Lytle Creek wash zone, I picked up the Grizzly Gulch wash and followed it upward. It was flattish and sandyish until a left turn put me into more rocky stuff with a small stream coursing over the boulders.





I followed the water, which sent me up the south branch, where the canyon splits.



I subsequently found myself negotiating some rather difficult waterfall and cascade obstacles. At least the beautiful scenery would provide a lovely graveyard site if I fell.









At some point I was above the water and scrambling up the steep, loose headwall.



The wall was so steep with no real holds that I had to turn my palms inward and brace them against the sides of narrow runoff channels in order to propel myself upward at a radical angle. At one point I slipped and fell about fifteen or twenty feet before catching one of a few stable rocks. I kept ascending in a sketchy manner until my turnaround alarm went off.

So I turned around, perhaps a few hundred feet from the ridge. I slid down the wall on my butt, tearing up the seat of my pants.



Downclimbing the waterfalls proved scary, but I managed to not fall. On a couple of them I used some rather unpleasant bypasses, but the other ones did not have obvious bypasses, and I was probably doing Class 4 or 5 moves with not-that-solid and tiny holds.

It gets really maze-like in the upper reaches of Grizzly Gulch and navigation was also an issue.

[HikeUp]

Is Grizzly Gulch the one "west" of Chalk Peak?

[Sean]

Is Grizzly Gulch the one "west" of Chalk Peak?

Yeah, that's it.

[cougarmagic]

There needs to be a medieval castle up here.

And a dragon.

[HikeUp]

Is Grizzly Gulch the one "west" of Chalk Peak?

Yeah, that's it.

Beautiful place. I didn't get up it as far as you did and now I know that I made a good decision for me...no way I'd get up those falls.

Trying to get to high point 7465 on that ridge above? Then try this route. The only obstacle that is obvious is the water fall and narrow steep stretch of canyon at and above point B on the map I link to. Here's a picture of it... from nearby high point 5610...

[Sean]

Trying to get to high point 7465 on that ridge above?

I was trying to get to somewhere along the ridge. But mostly I was trying to scare the crap out of myself, which I accomplished.

That looks like a fun route. I'll definitely be exploring that whole area more. I'm planning a traverse of Telegraph's East Ridge to Chalk Peak, and I'd like to know more about possible exit routes.

[HikeUp]

Look forward to the TR!

[Uncle Rico]

I'm content living vicariously through Cucamonga Man on this one.

[tekewin]

That marbled shot that cougarmagic highlighted is very beautiful. The whole area looks cool, but mostly hiker unfriendly. Congrats on scaring yourself I'll be on the sidelines with Rico cheering you on.

[Hikin_Jim]

Good thing you were wearing brown pants. Zoiks, dude.

HJ

[Taco]

Good thing you were wearing brown pants. Zoiks, dude.

HJ

Yes please do be careful when you climb up these loose dry waterfalls.

Awesome place. One of the coolest spots in the San Gabes for sure. 8)

[Ellen]

Howdy Sean

STUD!

If I ever feel constipated, I'll just go to this forum and look at this picture



Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Sean]

Did this again with Willie and Henry.



Not much else to report, except that I focused on finding the easiest bypasses around the first three major obstacles in the south fork.


This is Willie preparing to go straight up the first one.


But it can be bypassed on the near right using Spiderman and Tarzan techniques where you crawl up smooth boulders and hang from roots and branches. Or the far right where you Spiderman up a steep slope then Tarzan on some branches. Neither option is very nice.


Here Willie is wandering too high on the direct path up the second obstacle. He kept going up when he should have cut to the left.


The easiest bypass is far left up the rocky gully, then cut right over a baby ridge to drop back into the main fork above an unseen fall directly above the big one. This bypass is difficult class 3.


This is Willie on the third obstacle, a 30-40 foot near-vertical, smooth wall with tiny holds and lethal drops.


The bypass for this thing is on the left. You will see a narrow gully that is barely ascendable. Go up maybe 100-150 feet, then get yourself over the baby ridge on the right and look for a narrow chute to downclimb. I turned around with Henry before observing the chute, but Willie said it's awesome. He used it to get back down after climbing up the direct route.


This is the view I had in the bypass gully, a few yards below where you cut over the ridge to the narrow chute.

There is at least one other major obstacle beyond the third one.



Then you have the headwall.