EISPIRATEN

Part 1 ended with a retreat after encountering a waterfall. I started this trip off much the same way...up to the South Hawkins fireroad to the saddle where I learned my camera battery was barely charged .
The super steep descent down to the river avoiding the snowed out north facing slopes. I went a different route that was twice as long in time, staying in the gully....glissading in the middle section which was fun. I encountered the river downstream of the first set of waterfalls. It wasnt long before I got to the first waterfall, approx 65ft. There was a 40ft waterfall right after that, which I bypassed canyon left.

Then it was a long slog down a steep river. It seemed the snow was never going to go away completely, but luckily I only had to go through it for a short section of the river. This route can be described as a wide canyon with Copter ridge on one side and the Hawkins ridge peaks 6345 and 6327 on the other. Interestingly the river disappeared for some length, which was fine by me. Time was going short and I wanted to get to the Iron Fork. When the river did appear again, it did so with a vengenance. The canyon had narrowed quite a bit, with a couple of very pretty small waterfalls. I made it to the Iron Fork with about an hour of daylight remaining.

After a cold night and early morning, I set out to complete the route. Cold temps had obliterated most of the vegetation up to this point, but that doesnt make this section use up much less energy avoiding pools of water. There had been a landslide at one point that had covered a pretty section, but the creek removed 1/4 of it, making travel easy. Then I hit the swim, which is a turn around point for dayhikes from Heaton. BRRRR, ...and ouch as I swam as fast as I could ,ending up in hypothermia stage 1 right away. Changed clothes and finished the lower canyon. The water level was just below flood CFS, but nothing above 3ft of water. A lot of the trash was gone, and the rest was organized at least.

At Iron Fork camp, all this camp needed was some plastic side walls to complete the house? I spotted some dogs resting along the path to the river and tensed up, but the owner spotted me downclimbing and noted the dogs were friendly. The East Fork of the San Gabriel river was much the same as usual. Trails everywhere, a lot of tents.

Downstream of Laurel Gulch, there were signs of the FS and LAFCO posted to not travel on top of a boulder pile. This useless short segment I believe was constructed by the stimulus money and the CCC corps....and I hope no one was hurt on it. The sign noted the situation was waiting for the San Gabriel trailbuilders to show up to construct a new trail(most of which was already forged out) across the river and back. Apparently there is no end to the sissification of this place. All of this to avoid walking over and around some low height boulders. Graffiti removal of the beginning was nice, but its sad to see the new graffiti farther upstream thanks to the improved access.

Clear day out along the road


Descending into South Iron canyon


The downclimb just before the rappel


Bottom of first rappel


Next drop from the top


Bottom view


One of the tallest trees in the Gabes, if not thee tallest.


One side of the canyon or the other was typically missing. This wall is part of Copter ridge.


A long section of a lot of whitish rocks


Some snow at 4600 ft still


canyon travel


camera ran out of power at pk 6327

Great TR AW

Any chance you did any observing of conditions between the ridge leading down from South Hawkins to where it goes over to Rattlesnake Peak? The fire damage was marked on the map last summer as reaching almost the last 300/400 feet up that ridge below S. Hawkins?

I cannot image how cold the water is at this time a year, crazy cold

Nicw work.

Patrick/Lilbitmo

lilbitmo wrote: ↑ Any chance you did any observing of conditions between the ridge leading down from South Hawkins to where it goes over to Rattlesnake Peak? The fire damage was marked on the map last summer as reaching almost the last 300/400 feet up that ridge below S. Hawkins?
Patrick/Lilbitmo

I didnt see the Hawkins ridge south of the peak.... alas I was out of the snow at the trail junction and looking at increased snow coverage along the road to the peak.

I like it! Nice pics.

That's my kind of canyon. For me the reward is in exploring and the technical biz second. It looks beautiful in there.

Thanks for the pictures! I wish I could do a hike like that down south fork but I doubt Id manage that.
Out of curiosity, was iron fork camp in bad shape? What was it like.

Millennium wrote: ↑Thanks for the pictures! I wish I could do a hike like that down south fork but I doubt Id manage that.
Out of curiosity, was iron fork camp in bad shape? What was it like.

The official camp is in excellent condition, although occupied when I was there. The setup is like a brand new carport tent about 10ft high and is well supported by hand crafted wooden beams. Featuring a iron tile floor, complete with huge fireplace&oven(with grill), a rock table for sitting, and comfy sitting chairs.

Could have used a king-sized memory foam mattress(or waterbed), plastic side walls, a sink and toilet, with some air conditioning unit. Just need to toss a solar cell on top of the roof there....for a neon sign saying "Iron Fork camp"...or is a cattle ranch branded sign in order?

Haha wow. I was worried you were going to say there was trash and shit everywhere. I met a bum that was living for a year about a quarter of a mile just south of IF he seemed nice and seemed to show an appreciation for the area but when he finally left he just trashed the place. I'm sure you saw the mess, across the river from backpacker daves rock cabin. I guess thats what i was worried would happen.
Iron tile floors? Oven with grill? Sounds like somebody is trying to move in.
Id say that spot is my favorite to go camping in that portion of the SG mountains. Clear water, tons of fish if you like to fish, and all the wild animals and berries. Not to mention it makes a good point to explore the rest of the area from.
What did you do to prepare yourself for your trek down south iron fork. Id love to do the same trek but I'm sure you have to be in marathon running shape or something. Would you say that there was a lot of climbing involved or were you able to just bushwack a trail around the steep obstacles?

Once again thanks for all the info!

Millennium wrote: ↑What did you do to prepare yourself for your trek down south iron fork. Id love to do the same trek but I'm sure you have to be in marathon running shape or something.

AW is a machine. They don't need to train.

You're a mad man dude - hard core exploring! Love the pictures.

HikeUp wrote: ↑ AW is a machine. They don't need to train.

LOL, hardly. Thats where a person would get into trouble thinking that they are fit as a fiddle so they can just take it on ( ) ....although it did feel like a marathon distance. Going single its going to be risky no matter what. These routes tend to have their own epicness ready to spring on the unsuspecting traveller. For this one, I already knew most of the traps ahead of time. Its a lot harder than travelling up or down the East Fork because it involves hiking,climbing w/ropes,and swimming.

Downclimbing/scrambling...its da shoes! Im raving over these Adidas FastX(not to be confused with FastR ) ...pricey, but excellent. They have this tire tread on them that Im sure we'll be seeing in canyoneering shoes.

The camp is nice....since its on a plateau of sorts, it accomodates quite a number of people. Its just that there are a lot of slobs.