Condor and Fox-Christmas Day
Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 5:59 pm
I've been wanting to get into the NE section of the San Gabriels and a nice cool Christmas day gave me the perfect opportunity. I was quite interested to see what shape the Condor Peak trail was going to be in. The trail is cut into the hillside for most of its length which makes it more prone to erosion and landslides. The flip side is the trail has always been in great shape except the last mile traversing Fox.
I started at Vogel Flats where the old trailhead begins. The fire has made this trailhead more evident where before it was difficult to see until you were right on top of it. This trail climbs steeply until it traverses around a ravine and climbs to the main trail. This section of trail takes a long looping climb between Fusier and Vogel canyons. This section of trail is in the best shape with minor degradation and growth. In about 45 minutes you will reach a cool saddle between the two canyons with nice drop offs on both sides. The Fusier side has some nice healthy trees that managed to evade the fire.
From here you start a very long contour around the Fusier watershed to access the ridge that takes you to Fox. This lower section is where you will notice sections of the trail that are narrow and have washouts in most of the ravines that you cross. There were a couple of places where saplings had fallen over the trail, I did my best to remove them from the trail. As you start to climb the upper section, you will notice how this ridge is going to be quite rocky as you pick your way carefully over many rocky sections. This section also has some nice dropoffs on narrow trail.
Finally you access the ridge to Fox about 1.5 hours into the hike. The trail skips over to the other side of the ridge to bypass a steep section on the West. After this bypass through some sandy white rock you hit the brushiest section of the trail as you switchback up the ridge. The trail on the way down was difficult to follow in this section.
You reaccess the ridge and start the first of your contours around the steep high points on the ridge. This section of trail was rough prior to the fire and now is narrow, eroded, and with some washouts. The worst section is the final contour around Fox itself that has a 30 foot section in various sections of slippage but with care is not too difficult. The final section of trail before you get to the Condor/Fox ridge has slumped and has an interesting tilt to it. If this section of trail ever does get more problematic you can access the ridge directly and climb through brush to Fox. I reached this ridge 2 hrs 15 minutes into the hike.
The climb up Fox is a steep affair up an old firebreak. There was a waterlogged sign in register on top since the last person up there turned the cannister upside down where it had a hole on the bottom and didn't close the plastic bag, that takes talent. The views were hazy since it was so gray and cloudy. From there you drop down to the Condor ridge heading west and get some rollercoast action with two drops and one sustained climb. Finally you get to the final scramble on a use trail to the top. The proper route is to follow the apex of the ridge for the lower section and then head to the more gentle south side to get around some rocky sections with vegetation. There are plentiful ducks showing the way. This route re-connects to the ridge near the top and then you're there. This register is older and has sign-ins from prior to the fire. I reached the top 3:45 from the start. The last sign in was a month prior.
I took another rest on top and then headed down. The way down seemed to be less problematic then the way up. The entire hike was about 15 miles with 4800' feel elevation gain in 6:30. Some observations, the brush, narrowness, and rockiness slowed down my pace sunstantially. The grade on the trail is amazingly consistent which really give you a gentle incline to gain this elevation up to Fox. This trail had minimal shade, now it has none so requires a cool day. Finally if you do hike it, try and do a little clean up since it is in pretty bad shape in the upper sections.
I started at Vogel Flats where the old trailhead begins. The fire has made this trailhead more evident where before it was difficult to see until you were right on top of it. This trail climbs steeply until it traverses around a ravine and climbs to the main trail. This section of trail takes a long looping climb between Fusier and Vogel canyons. This section of trail is in the best shape with minor degradation and growth. In about 45 minutes you will reach a cool saddle between the two canyons with nice drop offs on both sides. The Fusier side has some nice healthy trees that managed to evade the fire.
From here you start a very long contour around the Fusier watershed to access the ridge that takes you to Fox. This lower section is where you will notice sections of the trail that are narrow and have washouts in most of the ravines that you cross. There were a couple of places where saplings had fallen over the trail, I did my best to remove them from the trail. As you start to climb the upper section, you will notice how this ridge is going to be quite rocky as you pick your way carefully over many rocky sections. This section also has some nice dropoffs on narrow trail.
Finally you access the ridge to Fox about 1.5 hours into the hike. The trail skips over to the other side of the ridge to bypass a steep section on the West. After this bypass through some sandy white rock you hit the brushiest section of the trail as you switchback up the ridge. The trail on the way down was difficult to follow in this section.
You reaccess the ridge and start the first of your contours around the steep high points on the ridge. This section of trail was rough prior to the fire and now is narrow, eroded, and with some washouts. The worst section is the final contour around Fox itself that has a 30 foot section in various sections of slippage but with care is not too difficult. The final section of trail before you get to the Condor/Fox ridge has slumped and has an interesting tilt to it. If this section of trail ever does get more problematic you can access the ridge directly and climb through brush to Fox. I reached this ridge 2 hrs 15 minutes into the hike.
The climb up Fox is a steep affair up an old firebreak. There was a waterlogged sign in register on top since the last person up there turned the cannister upside down where it had a hole on the bottom and didn't close the plastic bag, that takes talent. The views were hazy since it was so gray and cloudy. From there you drop down to the Condor ridge heading west and get some rollercoast action with two drops and one sustained climb. Finally you get to the final scramble on a use trail to the top. The proper route is to follow the apex of the ridge for the lower section and then head to the more gentle south side to get around some rocky sections with vegetation. There are plentiful ducks showing the way. This route re-connects to the ridge near the top and then you're there. This register is older and has sign-ins from prior to the fire. I reached the top 3:45 from the start. The last sign in was a month prior.
I took another rest on top and then headed down. The way down seemed to be less problematic then the way up. The entire hike was about 15 miles with 4800' feel elevation gain in 6:30. Some observations, the brush, narrowness, and rockiness slowed down my pace sunstantially. The grade on the trail is amazingly consistent which really give you a gentle incline to gain this elevation up to Fox. This trail had minimal shade, now it has none so requires a cool day. Finally if you do hike it, try and do a little clean up since it is in pretty bad shape in the upper sections.