Above Harding Canyon Falls

Archived TRs for ranges in California.
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tekewin
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Post by tekewin »

Sean, Henry, and I had bigger plans, but were foiled by the USFS closing key roads. Our backup plan was to explore the Harding Canyon in the Santa Anas, and check out what was beyond the main waterfall. I had hiked to the waterfall once. This was a new area for Sean and Henry. This trip was a little more difficult than my first visit because there was a lot more water in the canyon (a good thing). It's a great time to hike Harding Canyon with all the falls flowing. Salamanders and frogs were abundant in and along the many pools. At the main waterfall, we took a break. The water was about knee deep to the base of the left side where it can be climbed. We spent about 20 minutes building a rough rock bridge to the base, then made the class 3 climb.

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Salamander

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Henry at the main waterfall

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Climbing left of the waterfall

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Above the falls, the canyon was narrower. It started with more rock hopping in the stream. The use trail was gone, the brush grew more troublesome, and the poison oak more abundant. In particular, there were a lot of downed trees, sometimes piled like pick-up sticks from run off. Many of the dead trees were crawling with ants and we had to brush them off frequently. We continued about a third of a mile beyond the main falls. We passed many more small waterfalls and large boulders. It was very nice, but we didn't discover any new spectacular attractions. We stopped at a fall where the scrubby continuation would have been rather unpleasant. On the return trip, Sean and I both found unattached ticks. With a warm afternoon, I expected to meet a snake or two on the way back. Sean was the only one who spotted a snake on the trail, but it slithered off before he got a good photo. I had thought about placing a trailcam in the upper canyon, but the lack of animal trails or signs of anything larger than a lizard dispelled that idea.

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Small fall and pool where we turned around

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Sean
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Post by Sean »

Here is a video I made of Keith and Henry climbing the falls.



And here are some additional pictures.

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Starting on the truck trail.

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Dropping into Harding Canyon.

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Neat maple tree.

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Beautiful scene below the falls.

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Amphibian chilling on a rock.

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A reflecting pool.

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Us at the falls.

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Keith and Henry at the top of the falls, before climbing down.

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The only known photo of this particular snake, which slithered off before I could get a better view.
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headsizeburrito
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Post by headsizeburrito »

Looks like a fun trip, some pretty dramatic sound on that video too!

Cute salamander, I spend most of my time around the higher ridges and peaks so I was all excited the other day to actually see one in the wild for the first time after 6 years of living/hiking here!
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tekewin
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Post by tekewin »

headsizeburrito wrote: Looks like a fun trip, some pretty dramatic sound on that video too!

Cute salamander, I spend most of my time around the higher ridges and peaks so I was all excited the other day to actually see one in the wild for the first time after 6 years of living/hiking here!
Only the second time I've seen salamanders. A real treat. I try to work a few canyons into my schedule, but often they are dry and snakes are the only herps around.
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dima
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Post by dima »

Are these salamanders the same thing as "newts"? I've seen similar-looking red things before, and assumed they were these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_newt
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headsizeburrito
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Post by headsizeburrito »

I don't know the difference either, I did a quick search and most people seemed to call them salamanders and they looked sorta the same so that's what I went with. If somebody actually knows what they are I'd be happy to learn!
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

A newt is a type of aquatic salamander. I believe we found California newts, which are typical for this area. Here is one that I saw.

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hikeandhike
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Post by hikeandhike »

Anything swimming in the creek aside from the newts?
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tekewin
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Post by tekewin »

Newts and frogs was all I saw.
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

tekewin wrote: Newts and frogs was all I saw.
Aren't you forgetting something?

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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Sean wrote:
tekewin wrote: Newts and frogs was all I saw.
Aren't you forgetting something?

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That's just AW.
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hikeandhike
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Post by hikeandhike »

tekewin wrote: Newts and frogs was all I saw.
Too bad. Used to hold some finned friends.
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