CCC RIDGE TO DARK CANYON

TRs for the San Gabriel Mountains.
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Girl Hiker
Posts: 1335
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am

Post by Girl Hiker »

I'm so behind on posts because I have not been in a good place lately due to recent events in my life. However hiking helps me de-stress and for a few hours I can forget about all the evil people in this world.

Anyways, a few weeks ago, I re-visited these two areas and brought along two friends including a new hiking buddy.

It was a cool, overcast morning and the CCC ridge was filled with wildflowers. Still a bit overgrown but it was nice. We hiked down to the mini waterfall and I showed my friends where the BM was that most hikers don't take notice.

We found mushrooms and the Humboldt Lillies that where there last year hadn't bloomed yet. But by looking at the amount of long stems it will soon be very plentiful along this portion of the trail. I'm looking forward to going back soon.

After a short break at the waterfall we started to hike up the ridge. The trail was very loose and the trail gets lost almost impossible to follow but we carefully got through it.

The fog was so dense that we couldn't see the other big waterfall from the top but we could hear the water flowing.

After descending the ridge back to the highway, we walked a short distance to Dark Canyon trail.

I met Bill Bovard who was doing trail work. He's the one who restored a trail from Clemons Saddle.

We were surprisingly amazed by more wildflowers and an abundance of Rockrose flowers that are quite often mistaken for Matalija poppies. There were many varieties and the bees were loving them. The Rockrose wildflowers were all along the fire road for quite a long distance.

Last time I was there, I didn't see any. It was such a beautiful sight to see. Of course I took tons of pictures.

Anyways, we did a loop and met Bill Bovard at the saddle as he continued his hard work on the trail.
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Tom Kenney
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Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:51 pm

Post by Tom Kenney »

Foggy days up there are the best! Your focus shrinks to the tiny world around you, peaceful and muffled, colors all different, cooler greens.

I saw some tiny parasol-like mushrooms up by Little Jimmy few days ago, dozens sprinkled on a shady slope:

Image
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Girl Hiker
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Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am

Post by Girl Hiker »

So tiny and adorable!
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Nate U
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Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2023 7:38 pm

Post by Nate U »

I've been around Dark canyon, but have yet to descend into it. Looks appropriately mysterious in the fog!
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