General Conditions

[Tom Kenney]

Some general notes on West Fork San Gabriel River as of 01-AUG-2023:

1) Water - It is still available almost everywhere. Most small side canyons have at least a trickle, and the West Fork itself is flowing well starting somewhere above Camp Happy Helmet.

2) Trails - Most have been worked recently, including 'sweeps' for poodle dog. I can confirm Kenyon Devore and Gabrielino (KD to WF CG) are in great shape except a couple water crossings. Gab from Valley Forge CG to KD is reported to be OK also. The section of Gabrielino from Red Box to Valley Forge CG is still supposedly rough. Rincon Road has been graded and is smooth! Rincon is still closed east of West Fork CG due to Bobcat Closure, so I didn't check out the Newcomb Pass area.

3) Flora - Blackberries are ripening, looks to be a bumper crop this year. I saw a few that were good dark color, but most are still lavender. Large bushes of mint growing near the river.

4) Fauna - No bear tracks, a few deer tracks, a few snake tracks. There were some folks camped or stopped at West Fork CG. I'm guessing the bears will return with cooler weather and increased human traffic (food smells in camp). As for humans, it was kinda busy for a weekday: 4 packers at West Fork, 1 other bicyclist at KD-Gab junction, 1 other bicyclist ahead of me on climb up Rincon.

[Girl Hiker]

Thanks for the update.

[Tom Kenney]

EDIT: False alarm, looks like prescribed burn at Crystal Lake.

The Mt Wilson HPWREN East cam is showing a fire in Iron Fork (west of Baden-Powell). Looks like it just started. That's an odd place for a fire to start, no lightning and good rain recently.

http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/cameras/S/SD/wilson.html

[Taco]

I was eyeballing it from GMR today. Looked like it was near the little short road that's south of Soldier Creek near Crystal Lake.

[Tom Kenney]

Ah, thanks for detail. They did Chilao too. It turned the air to pudding over here in the 818.