Started off short of 11am at Manker on my 3rd different SG heavy duty wilderness route . I was thinking the ski lifts would be open but no such luck. Slowly moving up through the heat, but at least a cold wind would blow now and then. Reached WBaldy almost 5 hours later. Hmm...already behind schedule. Started down San Antonio ridge, running into a couple of backpackers coming up from Heaton. "Where are you going?," they asked.
Coming down the ridge and hit a patch of buckthorn on the Heaton side..arrgh, it seems people prefer this side, but the Fish Fork side is where I spent most of the time. Went down a ridge to FF that was obscured by pine trees. Better than Copter ridge if I do say so. Ended up in a feisty tributary to Fish Fork, that kept on trying to scare me with not so surprise drops . Met Fish Fork at elev 6900, a bit above where it was taming. Rappelled a short jump into a pool in some narrows and setup for the night, wondering where was that grotto at 6600?
Next morning 5:30am, past the scenic grotto, but FF wouldnt relent. I thought I would hit some easy section once I got to the Campsite peak/SA Ridge draw that the Sierra Club used long ago, but no such luck. Now it was straight up wilderness creeking. I think I spotted Little Fish Fork, but I was in a hurry. Finally hit drop 1 at like 8am. Rappel 1 into the bowels below the chockstone, worrying that my rope was going to get stuck in a crack. Once in the water, a small current towards the waterfall... A long creeking of various difficulty then it was time for rap2 aka the falls. Did a silly job replacing one of the webbing here, wondering again, why I didnt push the anchor out closer to the edge of the rappel. No water hazard at this time and it was 2:45pm. 2 more rappels and one almost swim(a nice log was floating that I grabbed a ride on
later it was a hurry to the finish line.Sprained my ankle, then kept on respraining it. The creek wasnt too bad initially, but once past a tributary, it was slowing me down. Finally at the San Gabriel river & Fish Fork camp with about 1 hour of daylight left. A bit of creeking until past Falls Gulch, the trails started, although they were a tad overgrown. Met some prospectors before the Narrows who were very concerned about how this was going to turn out. Gave me a MRE, which was yummy considering how hungry I was. Almost to the bridge I decided to call it a day, considering I had no headlamp.Next morning off at 5:15am and eventually the sights were 99 cents store, Modelo, writing I couldnt deciper, empty Nissin ramen cups,etc. A preview to Memorial day. Finish 8am.
Snow!
Time to go the right on the SA ridge
Fasten your seatbelts
Thats our creek off to the right
One of the last looks at Baldy
In the tributary. There still is a better put together pair past the falls, left over from a previous tr?.
Technical bugger of a tributary...quite a few waterfalls bypassed, mainly in the 40ft range.
Rap into a pool...then setup for the night
Grotto area...I knew my camera wouldnt pick up how good it looked early in the morning so I didnt even bother with the main seepage.
Mucking towards Little Fish Fork.
The nifty pothole(byapssed)
Thats just how it hits the viewer.
Tributary waterfall
Tall(maybe 300ft?) something or another
It aint over yet.
