The trip that wasnt in the western San Gabriels Sun 1/27/08

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:10 pm

I had been pacing around all week........the storm AFTER the storm was forecasted to hit the area. I was mulling over an interesting trip to try to get a photo of Fox creek closer than the photo I had. I had never thought it would be so quick after 2005 that the opportunity would arise...so I set off for the Big Tujunga canyon road and was promptly met by a closure sign at mile zero. I almost immediately was too frustrated and was voicing what a sissified area we have, and if a rock is thrown on the road then they have an excuse to close it.

So I drove over to Hwy 2...I still had enough time to complete the route...and then bam..road closed due to snow at La Canada...ok maybe this is blowback for the previous Sat with the accidents and cars...so I went over to Chantry Flats....

"Road closed"...I should have realized this is the first place to close when water drops from the sky and might be closed for months....heres an interesting video to the area though.....

http://www.adamspackstation.com/Quicksand.html

So then I decided to try next door, the old Indian trail named Sierra Madre that is quite popular...open! Well, open but it was drizzling ....

horrible hiking in the fog, but there is worse(such as Horse Flats trail @Eaton)....
The first stop is a place called First Water, about 1 mile I think from the trailhead, although I was hearing the creek from wayyyy before that.

Interesting "froth" along the creek at parts....

I would be returning the way I came and the area cleared rather rapidly...view of the city below...

Luckily I was able to salvage the day and grab some photos I was missing & ended up a satisified user.

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:48 pm

AW wrote:... but there is worse(such as Horse Flats trail @Eaton)...

LOL... the horse trail is a necessary evil since the 2005 land slide covered the toll road. Short and steep, but it gets you to where you're going...up! A bitch on the knees on the way down though.

The Mt. Wilson Trail out of Sierra Madre is a classic and it takes a lot to close it. Nice pics.

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:45 am

My hat is off to all those people who run it to Mt.Wilson. As it were, coming back downhill I wondered what I had been thinking. I got to First Water in about 30 mins, I blame it on a combination of low visibility(that photo is at the beginning, later there was almost zippo visibility) for uneven stepping and carrying more weight than I usually have.

Heres another picture of the canyon as I came back downhill...