I had been wanting to visit the burn area since the most recent openings and see how things have grown back. I decided on a loop that would allow me to do this which I had never done before. The start was Switzer up to Red Box via the Gabrielano, skip over to the Mt. Disappointment trail take that up, scoot around San Gabriel Peak to the fireroad. Down the fireroad to the Tom Sloan Saddle trail, saddle down to Bear Canyon, Bear to the Arroyo Seco, and then back up to Switzer. This would give me a good feel of a lot of territory.
I started at Switzer at 9:30 and headed up the trail. Work has been done to it but it is pretty overgrown near the creek and sometimes difficult to follow. This area was completely torched there is lots of low lying plants and flowers but nothing else remains. Saw a little rattlesnake trying to swallow a mouse until I passed and then it skittled away. This trail is mediocre as it is since it is so close to the highway and the motorcycle noise is a real distraction. The only people I saw on this section were two mountain bikers. Once you start switchbacking up, the trail becomes obvious and had minimal damage. There was one section with some oaks that survived and made a nice rare canopy.
I reached Red Box in 1:20 and headed over to the Mt. Disappointment trail. This section was completely untouched and is a real pleasure to hike, I shortcutted up under the poles and reached the summit turnoff in about a half hour. The moment you start for the saddle between San Gabriel and Disappointment, the devastation unfolds in front of you, what a contrast to the hike up from Mt. Wilson Road. The trail skirting San Gabriel has always felt unnatural to me and is just asking to fall off the side. The trail was in as good shape as I can remember it and other then perhaps rockier then usual is in the exact shape it was prior to the fire. Likewise the fire road down to the Tom Sloan turnoff was in fabulous shape.
The trail to the Tom Sloan Saddle is in great shape when it is on the ridge. Once it starts switchbacking down to the saddle itself, it gets overgrown and difficult to see where you're placing your feet. You need to move slowly since the ground is uneven through here. Once at the saddle the route up to Brown looks fine but the trail down to Millard looks like its toast, I could barely see the direction where it goes.
The next section is the wildest and most difficult portion of the hike. I was at the saddle in three hours and was optimistic about finishing the hike in five hours..err not. The route down to Bear Canyon starts reasonably well but then quickly gets overgrown, first with grass, and then more problematically large bushes. The ground is really uneven here with lots of erosion making placement of feet once again difficult. As I turned to get down the last half mile to the canyon floor, the route became more indistinct but was still able to be followed. I reached a section that crossed over a gully and a large amount of small dead trees was covering the route where the trail was. It was difficult if not impossible to find the trail from here so I opted for the gully which steep was pretty uncluttered and got me down to the canyon.
I was hoping for some use trail through the canyon as before but with the devastation and tree destruction it was rarely possible. I found one truly indistinct section of trail that let me bypass a particularly knotty section but realistically this is now all boulder hopping and bush whacking. I didn't see a foot print in this section until a got within an eighth of a mile of Bear Canyon Camp. This small section took over a hour and a half from the saddle but was quite enjoyable. The growth in Bear is nothing short of astonishing you can barely tell that it was burned. Once at the camp, the trail appears with ribbons and ducks keeping you more or less on the right path. Your pace will increase dramatically and you will be able to stay on point as far as the route. The high bypass is in good shape with minimal erosion through the narrow section of the canyon.
I finally got to the confluence of the Arroyo and Bear. I had seen no one since I left the San Gabriel trail/fireroad junction. There was some major chopper activity in the canyon where apparently a person fell by the falls. From my intel it sounded like the fellow was talking and was able to move. I think they rappelled down to him and were planning to have him walk or be assisted out of the canyon. Lots of firemen with stretchers and walkie talkies as I ascended the canyon keeping busy. Finally as I started going up the Arroyo I started seeing familes hanging out by the pools, humans. This section of trail back to Switzer is as it was before and has no real feel of it being changed and it seems like most of this section did not get burned either.
The whole route took just under six hours and I have no idea about the gain and mileage but it was a great route to get a feel of this section of the burn area. An option is to take an extra couple of hours and peak bag as there are lots of peaks just off this route.
Arroyo Seco Burn Area Loop
thanks for the TR. i posted a report a few months ago about this area as well. We started at chantry in the morning and then found ourselves trying to wack our way up from Bear canyon to Tom Sloan saddle in the dark, and it was raining too. It was, er, interesting! we turned back after much futile searching the up the grassy banks with our headlamps. sounds from your TR that conditions havent changed much in there, good to know. cheers!