Triplet Rocks from below via Bear Creek - trip report and photos
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:02 am
Triplet Rocks! This one has been on my list for some time, so I'm pretty stoked to have made it and also to have done so via a non-standard route. For this trip I teamed up with Dima, who had checked out a different possible route last December. The plan this time was to drop in from the Twin Peaks saddle, follow the Bear Creek tributaries down below Triplet Rocks, then hopefully follow a minor gully back up the ridge with Triplets, returning via the standard route along the Triplets to East Twin ridge. Last month we scouted the approach, though we didn't say that was the goal in that thread because I wanted to make the full attempt first. A loop (or at least a lollipop loop) is always more interesting than an out and back, and while there was a claim of doing Triplets from below posted in Dima's Above Bear Creek thread, there was very little info on the route or evidence, so I figured it would be fun to maybe be the first to at least properly document an alternate route.
Here are a few good reports on the standard route for reference: Peaks for Freaks, TRVRS guide, SocalHikes.
I woke up at 2am to meet Dima at the La Canada Flintridge park and ride at 3:30am, from there we carpooled to the Buckhorn trailhead and started by headlamp at 4:40am. The goal was to do the trail section by headlamp and reach the Twin Peaks saddle at first light for when the off trail descent into the west branches of upper Bear Creek. Our timing worked out well and we reached the saddle on schedule at 6am, leaving 2L of water there for the return. The way down went smoothly since it was familiar ground, there was also noticeably less water than last time, which helped make it a little quicker and easier. Our turnaround point last time had a fair bit of trash from old grow operations and camps, so we were on the lookout as we went. We did see black tubing here and there, as well as some fertilizer bags and a sprayer, but less trash overall than last time and all of it was pretty old and clearly washed down from somewhere higher up. The terrain in this section before the start of the climb was pretty mild and once we found what appeared to be our gully we took a little break (including fresh pineapple from Dima!) before the start of the real work. The gully we took wasn't particularly prominent and started out fairly brushy, but before long as we gained elevation we were able to get into some boulder filled slopes that made for fun and easy scrambling, as well as sections of steep and loose dirt among trees and scattered rock. Fairly early on we in this random gully I noticed a cairn, which was quite unexpected. It was right where a faint trail crossed perpendicular to the gully so I wondered if it was put there by growers, but maybe it was just an animal trail and coincidence. Looking back at the other thread Sean said the person who did a similar route placed a cairn at one point, so maybe we found it. We went from 3500' to 5500' in less than a mile so it definitely took some work, but was actually much better than we expected, with very little bushwhacking and no major cliffs or other obstacles. There were a couple spots with some moderate class 3 that we went over but could probably be skirted if you wanted to take a little extra time. When we emerged on the ridge at about 5500' we had a good view of the Triplets right in front of us, but weren't quite sure how to actually get there. The SE face is mostly rock and very steep, so we started following the base around to the eastern side looking for a way up. We had to lose a bit of elevation as we went, so eventually we got tired of that and went for the first line up that looked like it probably wouldn't kill us. This ended up working out pretty well, with 200-300ft of fun steep class 3 with some easy class 4 moves and moderate exposure. From this direction we couldn't quite tell where the top was, but we soon emerged and realized we were there!
It's a very cool spot with quite a few other large boulders besides the three that give it the name. Only the first of the three rocks is reachable without actual rock climbing, but it's a nice big surface with great views in all directions. The register was here and it seemed to average two or three entries per year. The pipe bomb style register container had a hole in one end and was missing the cap on the other end, but the water resistant notebook inside was in good shape, so I guess it's still doing it's job. We spent a good 45 minutes or so resting and enjoying the spot, looking at the rugged ridge between us and East Twin certainly didn't motivate us to start working on it right away! There was indeed a register entry for April 1, 2016 from Dan Bay that says "Ascent from Bear Creek, 5.5 hours, nice route with water," so I guess we can't claim to be the first to reach Triplets from that general direction. Not clear from that entry on the exact route, but it makes for an impressive time no matter where he started from. There are also several repeat offenders in the register, I guess of the few people who go there, some really like it!
Eventually we decided we better get moving, and soon it was clear why the standard route has the reputation it does. The first half mile was particularly difficult, with a lot of upper class 3 scrambling and a good bit of bushwhacking. There may be one ideal line, but it's rarely obvious, and a minor deviation can lead into a nearly solid patch of manzanita, a big drop, or some other obstacle. After an hour of this we looked back and spotted two people on the Triplets! It was pretty surprising given how rarely the spot is visited, and because it was already 3pm at this point. With how rugged the ridge is and how many possible lines you could take it's very believable that we passed each other along the ridge without seeing each other. I suppose the other possibility is that they took an alternate route there like we did. Whatever the case we didn't see them again, but Dima wrote in the register that we came from Bear Creek and would have a trip report on Eispiraten.com, so hopefully they are intrigued by the near miss too and find this post! We continued along, making very gradual progress. As you get closer to East Twin there is less big rock and more loose and slippery stuff, which is hard in a different way and requires close attention to avoid slipping and falling down one of many steep chutes. We did eventually find a faint and intermittent use trail and some occasional rock markers, which make things a little easier. As you get closer to East Twin you get more trees and less brush and rock, which helps a lot. We generally stayed on the north side of the ridge, which tended to be less steep and have less vegetation, but there was still a fair bit of crossing back and forth. We finally reached East Twin at 7pm and even though we still had some distance to cover, the hard part was over! We retrieved the stashed water at the saddle and somewhere between there and the trail junction to Waterman and Buckhorn it got dark enough for us to need our headlamps. We spooked a buck on the way back, but the trail section was otherwise uneventful. We made it back to the car at 9:30pm, quickly getting into our stash of gatorade, chips, cookies, and peanut butter cups. We also found a fee notice form on the windshield, it turns out Dima's pass was expired by a week, although technically a pass isn't required because there are no bathrooms or other maintained infrastructure at this particular parking area.
It was a very long and demanding day, but it was an excellent adventure. It was great to get to Triplet Rocks just because it's a cool and rarely visited location, doing it from a non standard route was an extra bonus. Dima and I both agreed that while the approach is longer in mileage, it's probably actually easier than the standard ridge route because the terrain isn't as rugged. I could also see it being done from the Smith Mountain trailhead, taking Bear Creek upstream, then joining the route we used. This report is a bit sloppy and I might come back and edit things, but for now I'm going to call it good so I can caption the photos and then go to sleep!
Stats: total time almost 18 hours, 16.7 miles, 6,600ft gain/loss, approximately 15 balloons found and packed out
Here are a few good reports on the standard route for reference: Peaks for Freaks, TRVRS guide, SocalHikes.
I woke up at 2am to meet Dima at the La Canada Flintridge park and ride at 3:30am, from there we carpooled to the Buckhorn trailhead and started by headlamp at 4:40am. The goal was to do the trail section by headlamp and reach the Twin Peaks saddle at first light for when the off trail descent into the west branches of upper Bear Creek. Our timing worked out well and we reached the saddle on schedule at 6am, leaving 2L of water there for the return. The way down went smoothly since it was familiar ground, there was also noticeably less water than last time, which helped make it a little quicker and easier. Our turnaround point last time had a fair bit of trash from old grow operations and camps, so we were on the lookout as we went. We did see black tubing here and there, as well as some fertilizer bags and a sprayer, but less trash overall than last time and all of it was pretty old and clearly washed down from somewhere higher up. The terrain in this section before the start of the climb was pretty mild and once we found what appeared to be our gully we took a little break (including fresh pineapple from Dima!) before the start of the real work. The gully we took wasn't particularly prominent and started out fairly brushy, but before long as we gained elevation we were able to get into some boulder filled slopes that made for fun and easy scrambling, as well as sections of steep and loose dirt among trees and scattered rock. Fairly early on we in this random gully I noticed a cairn, which was quite unexpected. It was right where a faint trail crossed perpendicular to the gully so I wondered if it was put there by growers, but maybe it was just an animal trail and coincidence. Looking back at the other thread Sean said the person who did a similar route placed a cairn at one point, so maybe we found it. We went from 3500' to 5500' in less than a mile so it definitely took some work, but was actually much better than we expected, with very little bushwhacking and no major cliffs or other obstacles. There were a couple spots with some moderate class 3 that we went over but could probably be skirted if you wanted to take a little extra time. When we emerged on the ridge at about 5500' we had a good view of the Triplets right in front of us, but weren't quite sure how to actually get there. The SE face is mostly rock and very steep, so we started following the base around to the eastern side looking for a way up. We had to lose a bit of elevation as we went, so eventually we got tired of that and went for the first line up that looked like it probably wouldn't kill us. This ended up working out pretty well, with 200-300ft of fun steep class 3 with some easy class 4 moves and moderate exposure. From this direction we couldn't quite tell where the top was, but we soon emerged and realized we were there!
It's a very cool spot with quite a few other large boulders besides the three that give it the name. Only the first of the three rocks is reachable without actual rock climbing, but it's a nice big surface with great views in all directions. The register was here and it seemed to average two or three entries per year. The pipe bomb style register container had a hole in one end and was missing the cap on the other end, but the water resistant notebook inside was in good shape, so I guess it's still doing it's job. We spent a good 45 minutes or so resting and enjoying the spot, looking at the rugged ridge between us and East Twin certainly didn't motivate us to start working on it right away! There was indeed a register entry for April 1, 2016 from Dan Bay that says "Ascent from Bear Creek, 5.5 hours, nice route with water," so I guess we can't claim to be the first to reach Triplets from that general direction. Not clear from that entry on the exact route, but it makes for an impressive time no matter where he started from. There are also several repeat offenders in the register, I guess of the few people who go there, some really like it!
Eventually we decided we better get moving, and soon it was clear why the standard route has the reputation it does. The first half mile was particularly difficult, with a lot of upper class 3 scrambling and a good bit of bushwhacking. There may be one ideal line, but it's rarely obvious, and a minor deviation can lead into a nearly solid patch of manzanita, a big drop, or some other obstacle. After an hour of this we looked back and spotted two people on the Triplets! It was pretty surprising given how rarely the spot is visited, and because it was already 3pm at this point. With how rugged the ridge is and how many possible lines you could take it's very believable that we passed each other along the ridge without seeing each other. I suppose the other possibility is that they took an alternate route there like we did. Whatever the case we didn't see them again, but Dima wrote in the register that we came from Bear Creek and would have a trip report on Eispiraten.com, so hopefully they are intrigued by the near miss too and find this post! We continued along, making very gradual progress. As you get closer to East Twin there is less big rock and more loose and slippery stuff, which is hard in a different way and requires close attention to avoid slipping and falling down one of many steep chutes. We did eventually find a faint and intermittent use trail and some occasional rock markers, which make things a little easier. As you get closer to East Twin you get more trees and less brush and rock, which helps a lot. We generally stayed on the north side of the ridge, which tended to be less steep and have less vegetation, but there was still a fair bit of crossing back and forth. We finally reached East Twin at 7pm and even though we still had some distance to cover, the hard part was over! We retrieved the stashed water at the saddle and somewhere between there and the trail junction to Waterman and Buckhorn it got dark enough for us to need our headlamps. We spooked a buck on the way back, but the trail section was otherwise uneventful. We made it back to the car at 9:30pm, quickly getting into our stash of gatorade, chips, cookies, and peanut butter cups. We also found a fee notice form on the windshield, it turns out Dima's pass was expired by a week, although technically a pass isn't required because there are no bathrooms or other maintained infrastructure at this particular parking area.
It was a very long and demanding day, but it was an excellent adventure. It was great to get to Triplet Rocks just because it's a cool and rarely visited location, doing it from a non standard route was an extra bonus. Dima and I both agreed that while the approach is longer in mileage, it's probably actually easier than the standard ridge route because the terrain isn't as rugged. I could also see it being done from the Smith Mountain trailhead, taking Bear Creek upstream, then joining the route we used. This report is a bit sloppy and I might come back and edit things, but for now I'm going to call it good so I can caption the photos and then go to sleep!
Stats: total time almost 18 hours, 16.7 miles, 6,600ft gain/loss, approximately 15 balloons found and packed out
