MtGoatMan just posted about his trip to Iron Fork. Purely coincidentally, Taco and I just went there too. We made a big loop: started at Crystal Lake, summited South Hawkins, dropped into S. Fork Iron Fork, took that down to the East Fork, then up to Vincent Gap, and then to Windy Gap and back down to the start. The plan was to take two days, or maybe two-and-change, depending on how we feel.
I just got a new camera that's fun to play with, so this will be well-documented. As usual, click for a preview, and click again for the full-size original. Here's Taco at the start,when we're still clean and happy and our legs work:
We quickly hiked the easy trail and old road to the summit of South Mount Hawkins. The views from the toilet are grand, as usual
It was a clear-ish day: Catalina and San Clemente Islands were clearly visible:
To the East were Baldy, Iron Mt, and Iron Fork, where we're going:
This guy posed for me, and I took a photo
We descended the ridge a bit
And dropped in here:
It was steep, and Taco complained about bringing the wrong shoes for this. Terrain was mixed. Soft in places, firm in others. It took a lot of work. There're a few tricky downclimbs towards the bottom, but nothing we couldn't handle:
Near the bottom we pushed through a sea of poison oak, and then we were at the bottom of South Fork Iron Fork, at 4800ft.
Surprisingly, there was a lot of water, even here. There were also lots of mosquitos, biting brown flies, biting black flies and stinging nettle. This guy lives here too:
There were a few dry sections along the way downstream, but there was lots of flow in most places. Terrain was mostly stone and small waterfalls falling into pools. Lots of trees, both dead and alive. Not a ton of brush. Taco approves:
Descent was slow going, and very pretty. You're downclimbing a lot of rock. And you're wading in the water most of the time. I tried to keep my feet dry initially, but it's a losing battle.
After hours of effort, the main branch of Iron Fork flowed in from the left
The pools deepened...
Then Taco's bag floated away ...
And he went after it!
This all took a lot of effort, and we finally called it a day after 11 miles.
Next morning we continued downstream, trying to keep as dry as possible, which involved some interesting bypasses
Eventually we were out, in the main branch of the East Fork. The canyon is wider here, but it's still wild and there's lots of water:
Travel is a bit easier. There's an intermittent trail on the banks here and there, but it's still very much a wading situation.
These bugs really like it here:
And we saw the great stalactites of the East Fork
This place feels wild
Then we got to the Fish Fork confluence and Fish Fork Camp
This weevil lives here
Above here the river is green
There's a cool boulder to climb
which probably fell down from this dihedral
Lots and lots of cool rock here
Around Alder Gulch the canyon opens up, and you can walk in drier areas to make faster progress
Vincent Gulch was dry, and we got water in Prairie Fork, next to this old sign. This would be the last reliable water before Little Jimmy, so we got a LOT of water, and left with heavy packs. It was getting late, and we talked about camping, but Taco really wanted to be able to rest the following day, so we decided to just push through, and to finish late.
Past this point is a consistent trail: in the riverbed initially, and then on the right bank. These bugs were doing their thing as we walked by
We slowly climbed up the trail to Vincent's cabin and then Vincent Gap
The sun set just as we hit Vincent Gap. We were both feeling pretty beat up at this point. Especially Taco, who did his usual 250-bike-miles work wee right before this trip. We wanted to finish this night, though, so we altered the plan: instead of climbing Baden-Powell, and walking the PCT to Windy Gap, we'd walk the highway instead. Similar distance, but 2000ft less gain. And easier to mindlessly walk at night. We saw strange light in the grass next to the road. It turned out to be some sort of glow worm
We entertained ourselves by trying to flag down cars driving by, to hitch a ride to Windy Gap. Apparently we looked too threatening though, and nobody picked us up. Well, one guy did stop right after we signalled, but apparently he just wanted to take a break, and had no interest in talking to us. Legs barely functional, we got to Windy Gap, climbed over the pass, and very slowly descended to the car, finishing at 3:30AM at the end of a 23 mile day. With the heat and the tough terrain this was too much, and we probably should have camped. We talked about how jfr probably has more fun on his trips because of a slower pace. Oh well.
We saw 4 rattlesnakes, one of those snakes with the two yellow stripes (garter snake?), a deer, and lots of bear sign. I was hoping to see some sheep, and if it wasn't so hot, we maybe would have. A solid type-2-fun trip. Right now I'm not thinking of coming back, but if you ask me in a week, I'd probably be down.
