Fish Fork Solo Backpacking (and lots of sheep)

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 9:46 am

Had an awesome 2 night solo backpacking trip to the Fish Fork camp. I was looking for solitude and definitely got it back there.

Lots of water still flowing everywhere even so late in the season. There was definitely more water flowing than last time I was at the East Fork in June 2022.

I saw about 10 sheep 2 separate times
on the way up before Iron Fork.

The camp at Fish Fork is quite nice and shady, I found it nicer than the camp at Iron Fork. It’s also easier to find from the river than Iron Fork camp.

I went a bit up Fish Fork, probably not more than a mile. I turned back because it was getting late in the day and I did not want to be out there in the dark.

I’d love to make it further up Fish Fork, does anyone know about how far you can make it up from East Fork without climbing stuff?

Now the only section of East Fork I haven’t seen yet is between Fish Fork and Prairie Fork. I’m sure I will make it there soon enough.

On the way back to Heaton Flat I saw about 10 sheep again, this time on both sides of the river. I heard the sound of the rams butting heads very close to me on my side of the river.
There were 4 males not 15 feet from me just above me on a flat bench. I was so lucky that they let me get so close and hang out with them for 30 minutes. They weren’t interested in me at all or scared or anything, they were more interested in what they were doing. I’ll never forget that experience!

I did about 22 miles over 3 days. I know I’ll be back to the East Fork beyond the bridge soon enough. That area’s got a power over me that I can’t really explain, but I know folks here will understand!

Thanks to everyone for sharing so much awesome and informative trip info on here, I really enjoy checking out everyone’s trips and it’d be cool to join some excursions with somebody some day as well.

Some pics:

I love the color of the water here.

Some of many sheep prints above the bridge.

First group of sheep

Falls Gulch

Fish Fork

One of 2 tarantulas

Bit of beautiful fall colors up Fish

Wall at Fish

Fish Fork Camp

Can anyone ID this peak above Iron Fork? Is it Ross?

Narrows

Sheep across the river

My friends the rams

So close I could smell them

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:15 am

Hey! That looks like an awesome trip. It’s so pretty back there and I can’t believe I’ve never been to fish fork yet

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:16 am

jeko1034 wrote:Hey! That looks like an awesome trip. It’s so pretty back there and I can’t believe I’ve never been to fish fork yet

Thanks! Yeah it is so nice back there and worth the effort to get there for sure. So peaceful and WILD

Matthew · Post by **Matthew** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:18 am

MtGoatMan wrote:
jeko1034 wrote:Hey! That looks like an awesome trip. It’s so pretty back there and I can’t believe I’ve never been to fish fork yet

Thanks! Yeah it is so nice back there and worth the effort to get there for sure. So peaceful and WILD

Did you see any fish back there?

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:27 am

jeko1034 wrote:
MtGoatMan wrote:
jeko1034 wrote:Hey! That looks like an awesome trip. It’s so pretty back there and I can’t believe I’ve never been to fish fork yet

Thanks! Yeah it is so nice back there and worth the effort to get there for sure. So peaceful and WILD

Did you see any fish back there?

Yes, I saw a few fish in upper East Fork and Fish Fork. They were super fast and probably not more than 5-6”.

Post by **Sean** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 1:17 pm

Wow, that's a great sheep encounter. Thanks for the report! Check your PMs for sticker info.

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 4:00 pm

It definitely was one to remember. Thank you very much!

Post by **Taco** » Sat Oct 21, 2023 10:03 pm

The lowest falls in FF should be marked on a regular USGS map. That's the furthest you can go without some scrambling up around em and so forth. Not long after passing those you'll encounter more falls.

I miss FF. Beautiful place. Nobody there. Great water. Very special place for me.

Great photos of those sheep. That one dude has huge balls holy shit. My buddy Amanda and I came across a group of about a dozen of em at close range when descending Iron Fork in 2013 or so. Really badass. They quietly climbed up the hillside. I love that whole place, all those pools.

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Sun Oct 22, 2023 7:48 am

Great pics.

So much water still. Amazing.

You are the sheep whisperer.

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sun Oct 22, 2023 11:56 am

Taco wrote:The lowest falls in FF should be marked on a regular USGS map. That's the furthest you can go without some scrambling up around em and so forth. Not long after passing those you'll encounter more falls.

I miss FF. Beautiful place. Nobody there. Great water. Very special place for me.

Great photos of those sheep. That one dude has huge balls holy shit. My buddy Amanda and I came across a group of about a dozen of em at close range when descending Iron Fork in 2013 or so. Really badass. They quietly climbed up the hillside. I love that whole place, all those pools.

Thank you and thanks for the info, my hunch about how far you can go was right then!
Yeah, it’s so special, peaceful, and beautiful back there. The fact that there’s no one there is one of my favorite parts.
Hahaha all of the rams had huge balls. I think they are in the rut which could explain their size. It’s so special to get up close to them. I love Iron Fork too, I think I will go back there next time and get really deep in. I’ve quasi-religiously pored over your TRs and photos of the San Gabriels and really enjoyed the stuff, man.

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sun Oct 22, 2023 11:57 am

Uncle Rico wrote:Great pics.

So much water still. Amazing.

You are the sheep whisperer.

Thanks! Yeah, lots more water than when I was back there last in June 2022. I was definitely really lucky to see so many of them this trip.

Post by **tekewin** » Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:58 pm

Wow, beautiful and healthy looking sheep. Great area, thanks for sharing!

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Fri Nov 03, 2023 8:19 am

tekewin wrote:Wow, beautiful and healthy looking sheep. Great area, thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot! It is definitely beautiful and a treat to get back there.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Fri Nov 03, 2023 3:39 pm

That peak is 5495 Ross!...nhps approved. I have a lot of pics of that one...east,west,north,south,up,down.and all around.

MtGoatMan · Post by **MtGoatMan** » Sat Nov 04, 2023 9:32 am

AW~ wrote:That peak is 5495 Ross!...nhps approved. I have a lot of pics of that one...east,west,north,south,up,down.and all around.

Thanks, I’d like to get to the top of Ross (and maybe peak 5495) some day, as it’s pretty much smack dab in the middle of the upper East Fork canyons.

Post by **dima** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 9:23 am

Where's 5495? Did you mean 5995? I've been to that one.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 12:57 pm

dima wrote: ↑Where's 5495? Did you mean 5995? I've been to that one.

Yes...5995! Thanks.

Post by **dima** » Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:12 pm

Oof. You've been there? How did you approach?

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Tue Nov 07, 2023 9:08 am

dima wrote: ↑Oof. You've been there? How did you approach?

From the top. I was going to go to IF on a 2 day hike, but bailed there...kinda of sadly, considering I brought my canyoneering and bivy gear.
The point of the hike was to recon the other side of IF, which I did...but it was so picky route wise that I would have to do that one a third time alone.