EISPIRATEN

I did a little cross country travelling this past weekend up in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. One of the routes I did was a route up high Creek from the Halfway Camp area. Here is my GPS track showing the route I took from Halfway Camp to High Creek Camp.

There was some pretty heavy brush between Halfway Camp and the drop in at High Creek.


However, once in the drainage, the brush generally wasn't bad.

It was a nice route with plenty of water.


Of interest to me were the three water falls between the drop in point and High Creek Falls. I've known about High Creek Falls for a number of years (it's visible from the Vivian Creek Trail), but I wasn't sure what I would find below High Creek Falls. I found another three falls.

A word of warning to anyone who might be interested in ascending High Creek: Each of the falls requires a certain degree of rock climbing skill (this is not hiking). The falls generally require class three moves to surmount. See backcountry travel classes for definitions.

First falls (really more of a steep cascade):


Looking down from first falls:

Yes, you need to scale straight up the face.

Second falls:


I thought the second falls was really interesting. It had these beautiful fluted grooves worn into the rock by the water.


Looking down the second falls.


Third falls:


Looking down the third falls:


Above the third falls there were some unpleasant willow thickets, but nothing horrible.


And finally, one comes to High Creek Falls, which is just below High Creek Camp. I've always thought this was one of the most attractive falls in the San Gorgonio Wilderness.








A very interesting trip, but again one would be well advised to consider what rock climbing skills are involved before embarking on the journey.

Regards,

HJ

Water!

Looks pretty cool HJ!

Yeah, I was very pleased at how much water there was. A couple of weeks ago I did a trip to, among other things Dollar and Dry Lakes. There was no water at either lake or at the springs near the lakes. I had to dry camp. Fortunately I had packed 3 liters of water just in case.

HJ

What's the source of that water HJ?

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑What's the source of that water HJ?

Presumably the past. It sure isn't recent.

HJ

Very cool. I'm going to add this to my to-do list.

I'm doing the Dobbs loop soon, dropping down the south ridge to High Creek Camp. Ever do that one?

I haven't, Sean, but I know it's a "go". I've talked to several people who have done it.

The Dobbs loop I want to do is one going up the ridge from Vivian Creek Camp, and then down Falls Creek to Allison Falls and Dobbs Camp, and then exiting at Forest Falls.

Allison Falls is one of the better kept "secrets" of the SGW. Very worth seeing in my opinion although this is a drought year.




HJ

Awesome....I suspected SanBerns were keeping secrets LOL.
'All we got in the San Bernadino mountains are some short granite leftovers and trees....nothing to see other than that and a couple of lakes...move on'.

Ha, ha, no way. Allison is maybe 60', and those falls on High Creek were all at least 25', some bigger.

HJ

Great trip, Hikin' Jim. You may have to write a book some day. In the mean time, you could add more secrets to your blog (hint, hint).

tekewin wrote: ↑Great trip, Hikin' Jim. You may have to write a book some day. In the mean time, you could add more secrets to your blog (hint, hint).

yeah. Just a matter of having time to do it. I've got years worth of good hikes I'd like to document in the SGW alone. Don't know if I'll ever get to it. We'll see.

Fun stuff over there.

HJ

Allison Falls, eh? Hmmm.

Taco wrote: ↑Allison Falls, eh? Hmmm.

Here you go, Taco: Ten mile loop including Allison Falls and several canyoneering options.

HJ