After the day or two of rain last week, I figured I'd spend Sunday checking out some seasonal waterfalls and exploring a new area of the San Gabriels.
My route planning generally involves looking at the map, finding a cool feature and then figuring out to get there. The goal of Sunday’s trip was to seek out two unnamed waterfalls that were marked on my gaia gps map (not sure where they pull this data from). While there are several trail reports on the Pacoima Canyon Trail via Dillon Divide, I didn’t see any mention of these two falls (one was on Dagger Flat Canyon Creek and the other was in the ravine across from Laurel Canyon). I figured I would spend my morning/afternoon finding out if there was anything worth seeing.
When I arrived at the trailhead, cars had already filled out the pullout area and were parked along the road above and below the gate. I expected to see folks on the trail, but I didn’t see a soul until I ran into a group on the way back. Everyone must have been headed south, or stuck to the ridge road.
The hike was uneventful down to the creek where I tried, in vain, to build myself some stepping stones. Eventually I gave up and just walked through the stream. At the first crossing, the water was ankle deep, which turned out to be on-par with most crossings along the trail. Later in the hike, some crossings rose to knee deep, and there was one spot right before Laurel Canyon where the water was up to my thighs.
The rest of the trail to Dagger Flat was pleasant and unexceptional. The sound of the creek followed me as I meandered my way up to the flat. I didn’t see many signs of big animal life until I spotted some deer tracks near Dagger Flat.
When I passed the location where Dagger Flat Trail supposedly met Upper Pacoima Canyon Trail, I spotted a metal post propped up by some rocks, but no trail to speak of. After a bit of bushwhacking, I found what I believe to be the trail. It does exist, but looked more like a game path than a trail that had been recently maintained. I only made it up about a hundred feet before turning around and seeking out the waterfall on Dagger Flat Canyon Creek.
I was able to walk mostly unimpeded for a couple hundred yards up the ravine, but as it narrowed, I found myself unable to bypass the thick brush that filled in the steep canyon walls. Things… were slow going for this last part. Eventually I rounded the final corner and was greeted with a great flowing falls! Nothing spectacular, but the a great, cozy reward. I enjoy looking for those short-lived waterfalls in the winter. Catching these ephemeral gems at peak flow is always a great feeling—the less well known the waterfall, the better. That said, I’m not sure I would wade through the sea of thorny vines to get back there again.
After enjoying the falls and fueling up with a cliff bar, I made my way back down to the main trail. Up until this point, the trail had been well marked by cairns. At this point though, I began to consistently lose the trail. I switched between following game paths, bushwhacking and just walking through the creek itself.
My next goal was a falls supposedly located across the canyon from Laurel Canyon, however when I got there, I could see what I assume was the falls and they looked underwhelming. I snapped a couple photos and turned around.
Overall a great day, though I did notice that this was one of the more trashed low-usage-hiking trails I’ve been on. I didn’t see much plastic, but shattered glass and shotgun shells littered the walk out to Dagger Flat. Worth heading out there with a glove and trash bag next time.
