Continuing a relentless assault in the San Gabriels Mike Schasch and I did Bailey & Hastings Canyons yesterday.
Of the two, Bailey is obviously the most popular. Both canyons had about a dozen rappels each. We might have done one or two more in Hastings. Thus, in total we probably did about 25 rappels. Accessing Bailey was rather easy and it's a fairly clean canyon. Hastings was another matter. The bushwhacking to get to and also some inside the canyon was a bit unpleasant. There were also a lot of foxtails. Some of the rappels in Hastings were interesting (and there was a lot of downclimbing) but overall we weren't sure it deserved a 3 star rating. Still, anything's worth doing once and together the two canyons made for a day filled with many rappels and substantial downclimbing. One mostly dry waterfall rappel in Hastings had a small swarm of bees that we had to rappel through. Looked like they tried to sting the rope a few times but fortunately neither Mike or I got stung. We joked about what might have happened had we encountered a swarm of killer bees. Oh, and we also just about stepped on a baby rattlesnake (12 inches) at the base of one of the rappels.
I'll post up a link to photos later.
-Rick
Bailey & Hastings 10/21/07
Yes, our exit was onto Ranch Top Road. We followed Brennen's description for the drop-in. From the stone hut remains we dropping into Bailey Canyon, followed it up canyon a bit and then followed a sort of use trail (many actually) that worked its way up onto the ridge that seperates Bailey and Hastings canyons. Once on this ridge we followed it up a bit further before dropping down into the canyon.
Rick,
I was wondering if you had a gps track of your climb from the stone hut in Bailey Canyon to your drop in point in Hasting's Canyon.
From Hastings Peak I was looking down the ridge between Bailey and Hastings canyons and wondering if it would make a good shortcut route to descend from Hastings Peak to the hut. Looked doable from above but it would be crucial to know where to drop down off the ridge.
I was wondering if you had a gps track of your climb from the stone hut in Bailey Canyon to your drop in point in Hasting's Canyon.
From Hastings Peak I was looking down the ridge between Bailey and Hastings canyons and wondering if it would make a good shortcut route to descend from Hastings Peak to the hut. Looked doable from above but it would be crucial to know where to drop down off the ridge.
I thought for a second that Rick Kent had resumed posting on this forum. Then, I saw the date. What ever happened to Rick? The last entry on his website www.rickkent.net is July 4 of last year.
