EISPIRATEN

I went to Bichota Canyon with vague plans to follow the canyon up from its mouth. If I made it to Rattlesnake Peak, that would be awesome, but I wasn't expecting to actually get there. So anyway, I started at Chimneyville. A small sampling of the fine chimney specimens on display here:











An old report says that Lower Chimneyville is clean, while the upper one is trashed. Today, they're both tagged-up and trashed. Can't say I'm surprised. So anyway, Upper Chimneyville sits right at the mouth of Bichota Canyon, so I kept going.

It's mostly wild and overgrown, but as usual trails come and go. I guess there was an official ANF trail here at some point? I can imagine that I kept seeing an old human trail. It's followable in many places, but very inconsistent, and overgrown.

This is a good time of year for this trip. The North fork of the San Gabriel is flowing well, but Bichota creek is either dry or consists of stangant pools. Water in the creek would make none of this easier. Representative section:



There's lots of bear sign



(and lots of scat). And woodpecker sign



And these bugs really like it here





Also cougar sign



And human sign



At the junction where the old road from Chamisal Mesa is supposed to come in is this marker:



I scrambled up a tiny bit to see if the old road was still there, but I couldn't find it. Either I didn't look hard enough (possible) or it's completely gone.

This was slow going. Definitely not as slow as the most clogged canyons we've got, but slow. There was a strong Santa Ana wind event happening, with howling winds gusting in both directions in the canyon. This kicked up a lot of the ash from the Bobcat Fire, to make a pretty ominous scene. It didn't really affect what I was doing, but was kinda demotivating. I was also a bit concerned about getting stuck in the forest if a new fire started somewhere. So at about the half-way point, I called it a day. This was around where Schvaterfall canyon comes out, about 2 miles in. Probably about 2 miles left. The remaining terrain would get much steeper, which maybe would make progress easier: less dense and poky brush possibly. Or maybe it would make it worse. I guess I want to try it again before the rains come. Anybody want to come with and cheerlead?

Sad to see the cabin ruins. Was it the curve fire that took those cabins out? Used to be well-kept cabins there.

Seems like the trail has been pretty long gone for a while - I once hiked the overgrown road grade switchbacks on the south side of the canyon up to the ridge. The ridgetop seemed like an easier route to reach rattlesnake, but you're pretty much right above burro canyon shooting range up there and I was nervous I'd end up as collateral damage and I ran out of time so I didn't make it.

I'd love to visit again someday and see what's up in there.

You hiked these: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=34.2639 ... 7&z=17&b=t ? Are these discernible at all? I didn't even bother to look.

dima wrote: ↑You hiked these: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=34.2639 ... 7&z=17&b=t ? Are these discernible at all? I didn't even bother to look.

I started up that route about 7 years ago where the flat/start was recognizable and was able to find the beginning but then it went into loose rockfall that could be climbed but I was alone so didn't clamber up it.

I tried this a few years ago when there was more water. The trail eventually disappeared into the south bank where it climbs up to the ridge, and scrambling upstream became super challenging as the bottom narrowed and filled with vegetation and more water.