The Search For Alder Crag

TRs for the San Gabriel Mountains.
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jeko1034
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Post by jeko1034 »

A little over 2 years ago, I took a drive along 2N17 to the turnout at the junction of Pacifico Campground to take some drone shots and look into Alder Creek. I noticed a gigantic crag at the junction of Alder Creek and Chilao Creek, creating a huge shadow on the canyon below. I was stunned by it's size, but especially stunned that I haven't heard of it before nor heard anyone talk about it in the past. When I got home, I looked on google maps to see this unassuming shadow over the canyon in it's place. I switched over to my favorite aerial image site to get better images and found an absolutely massive rock with a giant overhanging arete!
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My climbing buddy Mikey Wally and I scowered the internet for mentions of this "Alder Crag" and came out empty handed. There was a brief mention on SuperTopo: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/threa ... 3388&tn=40 but other than that, it seemed to be unknown.

Mikey made a trek down Chilao Creek but turned around early. He made note of massive cliffs all around with possible TR and Lead, lots of boulders too.

On Monday, I got the gang together (Nate, Sean, and I) to try and find a route along the ridge just south of Chilao Creek. The ridgeline was good for most of it with some brushy sections but got reallllyyy bad just 1500 feet from the crag. Nate and I got haulted by some dense-ass brush which was both of our first times calling it quits for that reason. Honestly, surfing down a steep ridge on brush is just not the best move.
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

Another beautiful day in the mountains....
Hangin n chillin...
Lookin for the good shit.
Fillin that bottle with cool Chilao stream.
Fillin that bottle with cool Chilao stream.
Up on the ol' firebreak.
Up on the ol' firebreak.
Lookin over the cliff.
Lookin over the cliff.
Big rock with Vetter lookout in background.
Big rock with Vetter lookout in background.
Nate and Matthew headin back.
Nate and Matthew headin back.
Roundtop in the distance, across Alder Creek canyon.
Roundtop in the distance, across Alder Creek canyon.
Droppin into East Fork Alder Creek through ticklish thorns.
Droppin into East Fork Alder Creek through ticklish thorns.
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Nice.

I think I have some pictures of that crag from my trip up to Round Top...will post later.
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jeko1034
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Post by jeko1034 »

Ohhh????!!!!
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Nate U
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Post by Nate U »

Matt proposed this expedition at like 6pm the night before. He did all the right things to get me interested in joining a hike: A theoretical, never-attempted route x-country to a mysterious, obscure and unnamed feature in in the mountains that has only been seen from satellites. It’s the single best way to get me to clear my schedule! Being between gigs right now helps, too. (yay freelance life!)

The silver moccasin trail down from Chilao has seen better days and probably hasn't been maintained since the Station Fire. Once leaving the trail, The brush situation was highly variable throughout our route - initially a nasty and beautiful buckthorn barrier you had to get through in order to gain the ridge, but once there progressively opens up, and became a lovely walk from bump to bump, including some flats with a small meadow and grove of coulter pines.

The ridge became more rugged as we got lower with some nice crags to take photos from, and probably climb if you wanted to. At about 4870 along the ridge Sean (wisely) waited while Matt and I forged ahead. As we descended towards Alder Creek the brush got progressively thicker and thicker, and taller and taller, sort of like we were in a boiling pot, until at about 4220, just above the saddle before the final little bump 4224 that the crag was on, we found ourselves just absolutely swimming hopelessly in an ocean of Chamise. Thicker and taller than I have ever seen before. Doing my best to climb a bush to see over the top, it was evident it stretched on before us as far as we could see, with no way around. It’s the first time I've ever been turned around by brush, and was the worst I've encountered along a planned route. If the mission was to find a viable route to Alder Crag, then this was not it. We ate spicy dried mango lying in the dirt beneath the canopy and retreated back up the ridge to rejoin Sean and march back to Chilao after a Matt-nap/philosophic music discussion.
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Nasty and wondrous Buckthorn entanglement not far from Silver Moccasin trail. Thank you Station Fire for the gift of Buckthorn you have given us. ("The San G. tickle")
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Nice crag, but not the one we were after.
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mango and lunch at the turnaround point in the chamise jungle. Matt had to clear away chamise in order to make room for a spot to sit.
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Alder Crag is actually at the meeting of Alder Creek and the Alder Creek East Fork. Scoping out a possible approach via coming down the Alder Creek East Fork from the silver moccasin, it looks reasonable except for these waterfalls evident on the GIS map that Matt alluded to. The drops range from about 20 feet with the smallest up to 70 feet for the largest. *Probably* need canyoneering gear of some kind....
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And here is Alder Creek Crag on this GIS:
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Has anyone ever been to Loomis Ranch? Is it possible for anyone to go there? Coming down Alder main fork from there is probably the easiest approach.
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Tom Kenney
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Post by Tom Kenney »

re: "Has anyone ever been to Loomis Ranch?"

Not I, but I read a report from MTB Bill, used the Alder Creek Trail as part of a route. IIRC, the ranch itself is still private, and doesn't look abandoned on the satellite views.
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Where is 2N17? I can't find it. 3N17? TIA.

OK, for what it is worth, here are a couple of pictures I have of what I think is your crag of interest. I took these on a hike up to Round Top I took from Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road back in 2009. Two pics and my route. Also a link to my initial TR (without pics now) with some possible relevant comments regarding Loomis Ranch.

Previous TR...https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=1176

Pics...sorry they are much more distant than I remember...
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My route...
Round Top.jpg
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

Has anyone tried going up Alder Creek from Upper Big Tujunga Road? Looks like about 2.75 miles XC with an old trail partway, then a rocky stretch before the crag.
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dima
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Post by dima »

Wow. What an adventure! The crag you did get to looks like it could be worth climbing too? We haven't heard of anyone going to the "goal" crag? No trip reports, no mountainproject? Nothing?
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Sean wrote: Tue May 21, 2024 9:43 pm Has anyone tried going up Alder Creek from Upper Big Tujunga Road? Looks like about 2.75 miles XC with an old trail partway, then a rocky stretch before the crag.
Alder Creek Trail? Maybe Matt knows current status (see my 2009 TR link above).
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

why do i bother
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

HikeUp wrote: Tue May 21, 2024 9:51 pm
Sean wrote: Tue May 21, 2024 9:43 pm Has anyone tried going up Alder Creek from Upper Big Tujunga Road? Looks like about 2.75 miles XC with an old trail partway, then a rocky stretch before the crag.
Alder Creek Trail? Maybe Matt knows current status (see my 2009 TR link above).
I suppose. Looks like the trail drops you into Alder Creek a mile above the crag, but who knows current condition?
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

dima wrote: Tue May 21, 2024 9:47 pm Wow. What an adventure! The crag you did get to looks like it could be worth climbing too? We haven't heard of anyone going to the "goal" crag? No trip reports, no mountainproject? Nothing?
Just this from the Supertopo.com link:
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jeko1034
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Post by jeko1034 »

I've been talking with Troy Mayr on insta and he's been to the crag. His approach was from chilao creek starting at chilao and working his way down. He mentioned that he had to bypass a few waterfalls and rappel down at least 2 of them. Mikey and I are going to try this approach in 2 weeks if anyone is down to come with. Troy even mentioned that there's some solid crack climbing on the crag!
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AW~
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Post by AW~ »

You were on the right path, but deviated from it.
https://ropewiki.com/Chilao_Creek

I consider this a wilderness zone, so...
https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=5523
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jeko1034
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Post by jeko1034 »

Thank you so much! I spot big rock
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Post by jeko1034 »

Originally, Mikey and I were going to rappel Chilao Creek to East Fork Alder Creek down to the crag but he bailed last minute due to bad poison oak. With a free day and still lots of stoke, I did a solo attempt taking a different way.

Alder Creek Trail is an abandoned trail that starts at Upper Big Tujunga Canyon road and ends close to Loomis Ranch. It hasn't been touched for probably a decade with the condition of the trail teetering on barely visible, washed out, or perfect. My plan was to take the trail to Alder Creek just south of Loomis Ranch and walk south to the crag but my stoke diminished due to heat and no shade or trees anywhere. The trail begins and immediately becomes brushy and hidden.
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Theres a small creek crossing 1.6 miles in where I took a peaceful break at.
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The trail begins winding around the hillside and is consistently a slope and rarely flat.
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Yes yes I know I was only 2 or 3 miles in at this point, but due to being alone and without any shade on this exposed ass trail, I began to have less fun and less motivation to continue. I gave up after a short break under a shady bush but here is what the rest of the trail looked like.
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I still had lots of energy to continue hiking so I looked at my map and found a ridgeline that beelined to the main Alder Creek. I started heading down that which was super easy and not brushy at all. Then I found my first snakeskin! It looked pretty fresh but fell apart into about 5 pieces which I stored in my pack so I could add it to my home museum.
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A little bit further down the slope, I found the Gopher Snake who was most likely the one who littered the skin. He was about 3 feet long and just hanging out by the creek.
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Now begins part 2 of this adventure, The Long-Ass Creek Only Wading Hike. As most of you know, wading through a creek isn't ideal and you almost always want to avoid it. Lower Alder Creek forces it upon you and it is honestly not that bad and very very rewarding. Highly recommended. I wanted to take this up as far as I could go, but I knew that I would be stopped at the narrows or possibly before due to the canyon getting cliffy and rocky closer to the crag.
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Now most of the time the water was knee deep but for maybe 2 sections, it was waist and chest deep! I was surprised to find some decent swimming pools that would be of high demand to your typical day hiker. But I must worn you that it will be 2 miles of trudging through water to get there.

I was eventually halted by a GIGANTIC POOL (and I must stress how large this pool actually was. I'm talking about the size of the average home's pool) which has this big rock to the right and thick foliage to the left. At the base of the little waterfall was a deep section that was maybe 10-12 feet deep.
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I traversed this rock and could most likely get over it but the risk of falling in the pool with my bag was really high. There was another steep climb to the right of the rock which was definitely doable but I was just so far out and alone I didn't want to attempt it. I ended my hike here with a long swimming time and lunch.
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The hike back was chill. I found a turtle somehow just swimming around.
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That was it. Didn't make it but highly recommend getting to that pool!
I want to end on this photo of the Alder Crag in the distance. This was taken at the TR.
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P.S. SO HAPPY THAT I DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR TAPATALK PREMIUM TO UPLOAD 5+ PHOTOS DAAAMMMMNNNNN!!!!
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Tom Kenney
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Post by Tom Kenney »

<like />

Did not know we had turtles of that kind. Makes me a bit concerned I've bee blindly stumbling around the streambeds. :(
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Sean
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Post by Sean »

A snake, a swimming pool, AND A TURTLE!

I think you just won some kind of honorary degree in the hiking arts.
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dima
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Post by dima »

That's fantastic! Thanks for exploring and writing the report. Mind sharing a track?
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Nice TR. Nice pics.

As suspected, no shade. Trail looks restorable! Thanks for doing the beta/recon!
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jeko1034
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Post by jeko1034 »

Thank you for all the feedback guys!
dima wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2024 7:28 pm That's fantastic! Thanks for exploring and writing the report. Mind sharing a track?
So here is my track attached.
HikeUp wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2024 7:50 pm Nice TR. Nice pics.

As suspected, no shade. Trail looks restorable! Thanks for doing the beta/recon!
There's always shade under bushes if you lay down but there is not a drop of shade anywhere on that trail.
Sean wrote: Mon Jun 03, 2024 6:27 pm A snake, a swimming pool, AND A TURTLE!

I think you just won some kind of honorary degree in the hiking arts.
I couldn't believe I found a turtle in the water honestly. I know they are native to the desert but just finding a singular turtle in the creek was crazy!
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HikeUp
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Post by HikeUp »

Thanks for the track!
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Nate U
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Post by Nate U »

Excellent trek sir! Thanks for the track, looks like a good adventure. That pool you stopped at looks like good swimming. Man that Crag does not give itself up easily. I have another idea for a route I'm going to pitch to you.
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