West Fork Bear Creek 4/7/08
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:27 pm
Arrived at the West fork early bird parking lot at 6:15am and one SUV was still there. Unusual morning, anyways headed off...campsite area as shown by TacoDelRio was after the 8th river crossing, and there is another area after the 10th crossing(this one has an eroding stone cabin,etc)...made it to the confluence of the West Fork at about 9:30am after getting bogged down just before that confluence. A lot of small flowers along the way, and a substantial increase in poison oak. In addition, mosquitos to the flies.
Headed west along the WF and had planned for this to be not as long..but it took me almost 2 hours to get to the confluence of the West Fork BC(which is coming from the north) & Chileno canyon watersource(from the west). The canopy layer of the canyon hadnt grown in yet, so conditions were good..however there was enough poison oak(mandatory travel).
Heading north along the West Fork Bear Creek, I had presumed to be horrible, and that was confirmed. Area north of this looked promising, but didnt have enough time, and had a blister on my ankle. Tried to get some views but none really to be found...needed about 800ft in elevation gain to obtain some seriously excellent views as viewed on Google Earth.
I did get a small glimpse of canyon X, a large gash in the west ridge of Twin peaks, but it seemed really far away. Anyways, headed back, arriving at 4:30pmish...
True west Fork of Bear Creek..there is a falls listed on the topo some distance from here, but the water was really low, so I imagine its not that spectacular anyway...the main water continued to the west..
West towards canyonX and Chileno...
View northwest/north..basically looking at a ridge that connects with the west ridge of Twin Peaks.
South..false summit of PK 4000(Big Mermaids)...
Back in the West Fork Bear Creek(east/west portion)...this is the only real obstacle and the swim is avoided by a downclimb/upclimb canyon right.
Confluence of West Fork Bear Creek& Bear Creek...
Stopped by Smith SW exit waterfall along the way back(not a pleasant entry/exit)..there is a steepish path up to a viewing point of Twin Peaks including Triplet of course(which was looking awesome as usual)....I would consider Smith SW to be dangerous for canyoneering as the bushwack is substantial in the lower portion...too bad....
Your local WF SG River ducky and its sidekick....
Headed west along the WF and had planned for this to be not as long..but it took me almost 2 hours to get to the confluence of the West Fork BC(which is coming from the north) & Chileno canyon watersource(from the west). The canopy layer of the canyon hadnt grown in yet, so conditions were good..however there was enough poison oak(mandatory travel).
Heading north along the West Fork Bear Creek, I had presumed to be horrible, and that was confirmed. Area north of this looked promising, but didnt have enough time, and had a blister on my ankle. Tried to get some views but none really to be found...needed about 800ft in elevation gain to obtain some seriously excellent views as viewed on Google Earth.
I did get a small glimpse of canyon X, a large gash in the west ridge of Twin peaks, but it seemed really far away. Anyways, headed back, arriving at 4:30pmish...
True west Fork of Bear Creek..there is a falls listed on the topo some distance from here, but the water was really low, so I imagine its not that spectacular anyway...the main water continued to the west..
West towards canyonX and Chileno...
View northwest/north..basically looking at a ridge that connects with the west ridge of Twin Peaks.
South..false summit of PK 4000(Big Mermaids)...
Back in the West Fork Bear Creek(east/west portion)...this is the only real obstacle and the swim is avoided by a downclimb/upclimb canyon right.
Confluence of West Fork Bear Creek& Bear Creek...
Stopped by Smith SW exit waterfall along the way back(not a pleasant entry/exit)..there is a steepish path up to a viewing point of Twin Peaks including Triplet of course(which was looking awesome as usual)....I would consider Smith SW to be dangerous for canyoneering as the bushwack is substantial in the lower portion...too bad....
Your local WF SG River ducky and its sidekick....
When I first started out, there was low cloud cover and Twin Peaks was not in view...and then a few clouds moved out revealing only the top of Triplet(of course to remember its a false summit that the hiker is looking at but who cares?).....the West fork area is riddled with high value scenic spots, but I usually find them to be either really short sections or next to impossible to get to.
well, next season..hehehe..this season is just about over for me.