EISPIRATEN

The storm looked weak so we headed to the hills. I showed my dad around the Big Tujunga drainage which included Josephine Falls, the Fusier secret tunnel, and the beginning of the Tujunga narrows. We'd both never been up Trail Canyon, and it looked interesting so we gave it a shot. The stream flow was strong which made the waterfall very impressive.



Photos

Great shots Mike. Sounds like an enjoyable outing.

Thanks Augie, it certainly was a relaxing outing. The San Gabriels always seem to surprise me.

Beautiful pics! Chicks dig waterfalls *notes for next hike*.

Was this one of those "hafta get your feet wet" hikes?

I saw some chicks out with their dudes but they looked pissed.

Keeping your feet dry is no problem in trail canyon, even with a bunch of stream crossings.

cool photos, thanks for sharing....Trail canyon gets dissed for a lack of depth in scenery,but I have enjoyed everytime I have been there(3x-winter). You got an awesome photo of the falls which typically is very hard to shoot w/ the sunlight.

Thats odd, its gotta be one of the most beautiful sg trails I've been on, I'll be back for sure.

Definitely good pix. So, I've been to Trail Canyon many times and know right where TC falls is, but where are Josephine Falls? I'm not familiar with those. And the Fusier tunnel? I know where Fusier Canyon is, but not the tunnel.

Ignorantly yours,

HJ

Jim,

You can get to the base of Josephine by following a small unmarked trail maybe a half mile or more? downhill from this gate.

dirt parking area (at 34o17.82'N 118o10.20'W and elevation 3090ft) by a locked gate on Big Tujunga Canyon Road, 0.5mi southwest of the junction with the Angeles Forest Highway.

Its a small pullout with room for maybe 1 or two cars. Once over a small dirt berm the trail should be noticeable and easy to follow the rest of the way. There is a big cement pole sticking out of the ground early on, followed by a "rock sign" later on.

The tunnel going under the road is usually nothing too special, but when water flow is high its fun to go underneath and walk in the stream to the top of a 70 foot waterfall.

Then drive west on Big Tujunga Canyon Road (from the bridge)for 0.85mi to one of either two small turnouts just west of where the road crosses Fusier Canyon and near mile marker 590. Park here at 34o17.03'N 118o12.52'W and an elevation of 2240ft.

All of this stuff (except the Josephine Falls trail) is from Brennan's site:

http://www.dankat.com/advents/fusier.htm
http://www.dankat.com/advents/joseph.htm

>Thats odd, its gotta be one of the most beautiful sg trails I've been on

I think its due to other local areas. For example, the view of pic_028(drainage of Condor Jr) vs Rockbound canyon with snowcapped Mt.South Hawkins in the background on Hwy39(Asuza)...to me its like, give me a break, its just a pretty hike. Has its own uniqueness....so for those used to a bit more, my advice is stop at the falls. Dont go on muttering about Tom #%#$%$ Lucas camp. A waterfall,clean rock.... For some reason, everyone I meet on this trail is in a bad mood. Last time it was 2 women looking for a dropped GPS on the cursed trail. Other time it was people muttering about getting to the bottom of the falls, which could require a small amount of downclimbing. Also people complaining about the heat in the summer and low waterflow. Have mentioned the place to a few canyoneers who basically have asked if I was kidding. Last interaction was at the end, when a male hiker was going on the only barely barely iffy( I could do it with my eyes closed) stream crossing. He got very little water on his shoe and yelled out "F**k". I then crossed and told him good afternoon to you too.

Note on tunnels underneath Big Tujunga canyon road- both Ybarra&Vogel are also tunneled...although only Ybarra of those 2 has a cascade at the end. Scariest of the 3? Ybarra, IMO since it is has path erosion+it seems to have more of a vertical slant, although I could easily be wrong on that.

Mike,

Thanks for the info.

"He got very little water on his shoe and yelled out "F**k". I then crossed and told him good afternoon to you too."

haha

I'll have to check out these other tunnels someday, thanks for the info.