Frozen Waterfalls in the San Gabriel Mountains

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Taco
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Post by Taco »

I was curious if anyone knew of any waterfalls that iced up often in the SG's. I've been searching for years, so instead of more walking around I figured I might as well ask.

Lots of climbers are really secretive about this beta, which kinda sucks, though I can understand why one wouldn't want something to become real popular and possibly damaged.

I've been focusing on canyons lately, such as canyoneering routes that ice up.

Anyone?
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mattmaxon
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Post by mattmaxon »

Supercloud

Middle fork lytel creek
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Zach
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Post by Zach »

What's the elevation of Supercloud?
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Taco
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Post by Taco »

I saw some cool pics of Supercloud frozen. MFLC would be a blast!
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moppychris
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Post by moppychris »

This was taken at Cooper Canyon Falls on Jan 6th, 2007. It was a horrible snow season, so I think the falls could be better in wet, colder seasons.
Image

this was down the canyon, does not even look like winter.
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Ze Hiker
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Post by Ze Hiker »

What's the ideal conditions for a waterfall to freeze? I'm assuming as cold as possible, so higher elevations + covered from sun...how does flow affect ability to freeze?

Cooper Canyon is ~ 5600 ft.

How about any of the falls in your favorite place, Fish Fork? Upper portion would be above 5000 to 7000 ft.

what about Lewis falls? not sure exact location, but in Soldier Creek near Crystal lake, around 5000 ft.

Better yet, I wonder how this guy would be in the winter, at 8000 ft.
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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

Zé,

I'm not sure that there's a falls at that spot. The word "Falls" there is part of the name of the creek. The namesake falls is located much further down. This'd be a good one for an exploratory.

Sounds like a job for Super-Zé! :wink:

HJ
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Ze Hiker
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Post by Ze Hiker »

doh!
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AW~
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Post by AW~ »

wrote: what about Lewis falls? not sure exact location, but in Soldier Creek near Crystal lake, around 5000 ft.
Nope...anything south facing is likely to not get frozen. North facing is best prospects

South Fork Lytle Falls, I suspect gets frozen over.
Lower Snow Creek @ San Jacinto is another suspect...would like to see that one in Feb.
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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

wrote:doh!
Well, not completely. That's definitely an area where I'd suspect a falls. There are some falls marked on one of my old maps at home. This looks like a job for Acme-Fu! :)

HJ
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Taco
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Post by Taco »

The easier the access, the better. Fish Fork would be a huge undertaking just to find out it's flowing. Also has to be high enough to climb, so 25ft or so plus.

I have seen pics of some of the falls along West Fork to Cogswell Dam frozen before.

I don't care if it's thin (+/- 1inch thick), it can be toproped in most cases.

Haven't been able to drive along ACH in the winter to see if anything is frozen.
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Zach
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Post by Zach »

So does anyone know the elevation of Supercloud?
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cougarmagic
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Post by cougarmagic »

Zach wrote:So does anyone know the elevation of Supercloud?
Somewhere between 5k and 6k, depending where you are in there. It's north facing, shady all the time, with a trickle of water. I don't remember ever being there with no water. Several times, we dealt with ice. Once turned back because of too much snow and ice. It would be interesting to check out.
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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

Acme-Fu, please.

HJ
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cougarmagic
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Post by cougarmagic »

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Taco
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Post by Taco »

Bim bam bim. Them's a triple tier of cool ice, kinda funky sorta freehanging sorta stuff. Sorta icicle, sorta standard falls sticking to the rock.
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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

wrote:I wonder how this guy would be in the winter, at 8000 ft.
OK, so I looked at my old map. There is a falls just down stream from the point you marked. My map labels it "Allison Falls". It's tucked in behind a fold in the ridge in such a way that I think it would have a lot of shade. I marked on the Acme-Fu link above what seems like a logical approach to the falls. Now all we need is someone to check it out... :)

HJ
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Russel
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Post by Russel »

I've done Supercloud in February. Knee deep snow, ice, but not so much in the way of frozen waterfalls. Not fun in shorts and a t shirt!
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