TR: 20070926 - CA, Canyoneering San Gabriels

[AJ]

Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...61/t_=38054161

I had another trip to California come up for work, so I again added some play time on. This time, I was going to be in the Los Angeles area. I flew in on Monday 9/24; and had dinner with Sonny Lawrence. It was great to meet him, and his friend, Jason Martinez. Thanks to Jen for helping line it up.

Taught a class for work on Tuesday, then went to visit some good friends I hadn't seen in a while. Bernice and Arturo, then Ken, Kim and the twins. Taught another class on Wednesday for work, and finished up around 2:30pm. Got out early enough that I was going to try to hit a canyon today.


Wednesday 9/26:

Drove towards Pasadena. The plan was to hit Josephine, and be back in time to meet up with Jen and Jane. Got stuck in traffic a little on the way, and then at the start of the Big Tujunga canyon road; there was a police roadblock. Nice. Found out there was a bomb threat, and the road was closed down. Only in California. Never had canyoneering cancelled because of a bomb before... Changed plans, and headed out towards Bailey.

Got to Bailey around 6pm; and was debating on whether to go in or not. I really wanted to do the canyon, but I wanted to see the canyon. It would be dark (sunset was 6:40pm) by the time I hiked up to and dropped into the canyon. Another canyoneer, Bob, from ACA drove up. I chatted with him for a few while I was trying to decide. He and his girlfriend, Karen, were going to do Bailey; and they wanted a night descent. I chatted with Bob, and Karen as well when she showed up. Decided to skip the canyon as I really wanted to see the canyon; as well as Bob and Karen said it took them six hours last time. I still had to meet up with (and meet for the first time) Jen and Jane. Waited until 7pm; hoping to not hit traffic, and drove over to Jane's.

It turned out to be a good decision as Jane was home so I got to meet her. Jen was able to come by earlier than anticipated too; so we discussed the plans for tomorrow. We also got her geared up. She was anticipating stopping by her house, but it was another couple hours out of the way; so Jane and I just pitched in gear and got her all set. Had some awesome Pomagranite wine with Jane and visited for a few. Thanks for everything Jane! Went to bed around 10pm; it was going to be an early day.


Thursday 9/27:

Woke up at 3am. We were all packed, so had a quick granola bar for breakfast and drove out to the trailhead. Jen and I started hiking around 3:45am. The plan was to be at the drop in just as it was starting to get light. Had a great conversation all the way out there, and almost passed the drop in point. Didn't think we had gone far enough, until we checked our watches. Wow; need to pay better attention. Dropped into Bramble Canyon, and quickly realized that I should have put the long pants on. Quite a scratchy bushwhack down, with a bit of trash (which we picked up) and signs of bear (including a chewed up Nalgene.)

We hit the dryfall you were supposed to bypass. It didn't look that bad, so I decided to downclimb it. Nice warmup. Met up with Jen a little downcanyon, and continued on. We got to the intersection of Bramble and Fox, and headed down Fox; arriving at the beginning of the slot at 8:45am. Only 15 minutes ahead of Chris' estimated time. Hmmm. Not good so far. We were hoping to beat his times significantly so we could do multiple canyons today. Likely we would get better, as Chris' times previously seemed to slow down when he got to technical sections.

Did the first four rappels. There was a small flow of water in the canyon. Not enough to be any danger; but kept the pools of water supplied. We hit a little over waist deep water. It was a little chilly, but still no need for wetsuits.

We got to the Great Falls of the Fox around 9:15am (now almost 2 hours ahead of Chris' time; much better.) I set a contingency anchor, and Jen headed down. The rope wasn't long enough. Lowered it as much as I could, and we were still around 20 feet short. Hmmm. Now I see why he says 150 feet of rope, even though he says this is only a 100ft rappel. We had a contingency plan we discussed, and Jen tied some webbing, passed the knot and finished the rap off webbing. I then moved the anchor down into the watercourse by slinging a boulder, and the rope was a little short, but not much. Would pass the knot if I needed to as well. Didn't need to; and the rope pulled clean.

We continued downcanyon; not really rushing, taking photos, enjoying the views and even a jump on the sixth rappel. Warmed up in the sun, dried off a little, and had a bite to eat around noon. Continued downcanyon, finished the last rappel, headed up the Josephine exit and was back at the car around 1:45pm. Thanks to Matt Maxon for his work on the Josephine exit trail; compared to the bushwhack in, the hike out was awesome! 10 hours total. Not as good as I thought; but we had a fun time, took lots of photos, and had the rope length hiccup at Great Falls of the Fox. Still had time for more canyons though. We packed up, and headed towards Classic, because Jen had never even heard of it.

We descended into Classic, which was a steep descent with lots of garbage, lots of brush, and lots of loose rock. The descent continued to be brushy, with black piping. Had heard that black piping could have been used to irrigate fields of pot; and that it was a dangerous time because it was harvest time. In fact, there was just a shooting a couple of days ago between drug folks and the law where someone was killed. I was a little nervous. Would be quite ironic if drug folks thought we were after thier drugs; especially because I've never done any drugs in my life.

Needless to say, we didn't take our time in this section; and kept quite aware. Thankfully, there were no incidents. The canyon was lame though; no good sections at all with lots of bushwhacking. Soon we hit the fire road (4:15pm.) We looked at the canyon below the fire road, and it still looked brush filled. Started to think that maybe it was a practical joke that was played on visiting canyoneers; again, it would be ironic since it's called "Classic." (Later found out that when Ken said to go from the road, he meant the fire road; not the highway. Thus, the correct canyon was lower.)

Jen and I discussed it, and since we only had two hours of daylight left, we decided we would go hit Fall Creek. We figured we could likely complete it with the daylight we had left. We stashed the longer rope, hiked back up the other side, and dropped into Fall Creek canyon. We hit the first rappel at 5:15pm, and finished the last rappel at 5:45pm; just as the light was starting to fade. Probably should have taken out my headlamp, as just before we got to the bridge, I slipped on an algae covered rock, hit and twisted my knee pretty good. Bummer.

Took a second, got my headlamp, and continued to the bridge (6:15pm.) We then took time to rinse all of our gear just in case we still had poison oak tanins on it; from all the bushwhacking to get into all the canyons. Especially because Fall Creek was completely dry.

We then hiked back up, and drove back to Jane's. By the end of the day, I was moving slower because of severe chafing. Not fun; and a little interesting because it's the same gear I always use, and don't usually have an issue. We unpacked and laid everything out to dry around 8:45pm. A great day, for sure. We chatted for a while, and then headed to bed.

At night, got hit by a couple of longer, pointed acorns. Luckily none on my head; could have been dangerous.


Friday 9/28:

Woke up early with the sun, and packed up. Jen was headed out, and I was headed over to Rubio. The weather didn't look so good; so I didn't rush too much. When I got to Rubio, it was raining; more of a misty rain, but enough to make me wonder if I should be heading into a canyon. Listened to the weather radio; 30% chance of rain. The misty rain stayed the same for a bit, so I decided to hike up and see what it looked like at the top.

Started the ascent around 9:15am, and hit the descent into Rubio around 10:30am. The weather stayed the same misty rain the entire time; so I figured I'd go for it. Seemed like it was a normal thing, and many of these canyons have lots of escapes if necessary. Dropped into Rubio and stayed in the tricky slot that Brennen bypasses, had a fun downclimb with a little water.

Hit Thalehaha Falls around noon. Saw some hikers up on the ridge. Rapped down, and they cheered. Funny. Farther downcanyon, I ran into them; and we chatted for a bit. Gave them some info on how to get into canyoneering. Near the Rubio pavillion (around 1pm), saw some hummingbirds that liked a little yellow bell flower tree. A couple of them buzzed close to me too; thinking my yellow shirt was something for them to eat.

I still had some time to kill as I wasn't meeting Ken until 4pm (but not enough for another canyon) so I decided to do the lower section of Rubio. Not really a great idea; quite a bushwhack with lots of poison oak. Wicked bushwhack up towards the subdivision too (I didn't have a car shuttle, so I was trying to hike my way back.) In hindsight, I likely would have been better just hiking the roads; definitely would have been more pleasant. Got back to my car around 2pm. Pretty good timing though.

Drove over to Little Santa Anita, and prepped for the canyon. Ken came in around 3pm; and we did introductions. Ken is the brother of a canyoneering friend, Keith, from Colorado. we did a quick gear discussion and were on our way around 3:15pm. I was moving slower today because of still having really bad chafing. Ken was moving fast. Tried to keep up for a few, but it was not worth the pain. Ken hung back then and we chatted on the way up. We hit the First Water section around 3:45pm.

From there, it was downclimbing, rappeling, and some thick and thorny bushwhack sections. There was again a small flow of water; pretty similar to the flow in Rubio. On rappel 2, Ken found a rope laying there. Looked almost new. We alternated our rope and that one on the descent. The third rappel down the spout was pretty cool, with a wade under a big chockstone for the finish. There were a couple deeper pools, a few just below my chest. We were moving pretty fast though, so no worries about warmth. I was the one slowing us down; through the chafing as well as taking photos and enjoying the sights.

We passed the first exit, and went through the lower section of the canyon. Hit the really wild pothole around 5:15pm. We finished the canyon, climbed up the side, and then hopped a barb wire fence to exit. Another new one in my canyoneering career. We were back to the car around 5:45pm. Wow, 2.5 hours; when Chris' estimate is 7 hours. We then dropped my car off at the exit for tomorrow's canyon, loaded my stuff into Ken's car; and headed over to Ken's. Met Anja, Ken's girlfriend, and then headed over to his friend Kevin's for a social gathering. Fun time.


Saturday 9/29:

Ken and I woke up early to do West Muir; but didn't do too well. First, he forgot his wallet, so we drove back to his house. I then forgot the keys to our shuttle vehicle (darn mornings) and so we drove back again. Made the long drive to the trailhead, and started hiking around 8am. Still had to go slower today; was definitely a bummer. Chatted with a few hikers and ATS canyoneers on the way in. Made it to Panorama point around 9:30am, enjoyed some spectacular views.

Started dropping in from the Rock Saddle around 9:45am. The descent down the gully wasn't bad at all, compared to the bushwhacks from the previous day. There were some fun downclimbs in West Muir; and compared to the other canyons, some more advanced rappels. Still nothing too bad though; lots of anchor material for natural anchors. Need to pay attention to pulls; but everything came clean for us. We made it to the bottom of rappel 4, the two stage slanted rappel around noon.

There were a bunch of loose rocks on rap 5, which Ken knocked off for safety. We continued down the canyon, and finished 11 rappels to get into the intersection with Eaton canyon at 1pm. West Muir was completely dry, but now there was flowing water in Eaton. West Muir was a little more technical than the other canyons, and definitely a lot of fun. We had a quick bite to eat, and then put on our wetsuits. The flow in Eaton was more than double the other canyons. Still not too rough though; compared to a bunch of the Colorado and other class C canyons.

We jumped the first rappel in Eaton. Fun stuff. Some downclimbing, and then came across graffiti. Nice. Three new experiences in canyons (bomb threat, climbing barbed wire and graffiti); not ones I'd like to repeat though. I guess you can hike up this far from the bottom. The next rappel/slide was awesome. Instead of rappeling, you can slide down a 20-ish foot chute, and then it launches you into a 30 foot freefall into a deep pool. Wild sensation when you feel your back leave the ground and into the air. Very fun; took a couple movies.

Found the hike around and went and did it three times. We then continued downcanyon; where there was a bunch of poison oak, and down to the final rappel at Eaton Falls around 3pm. We rappeled down while a bunch of people were watching from the bottom of the falls. Washed off our gear in case there was poison oak tanins on it. Changed out of our wetsuits, and headed down the canyon.

The water soon disappeared into the ground. Passed many tourists. A few kids were very happy to hear there was still water ahead and a waterfall. Climbed up the steep side of the canyon, and came up to another tall barbed wire fence. Carefully climbed over it, and then noticed that around 100 feet away around a little corner was a gate. Funny. Ken and I had a good laugh over that. We were back to the car around 4pm. 8 hours is not bad, especially considering we were playing at the Eaton slide for a while and that I took a lot of photos. Chris' estimate is 10.5 hours. This time, we left Ken's car upcanyon; we would get it tomorrow when we did Supercloud.

It was still early enough that we went back to Ken and Anja's and made dinner. Anja's friend, Debbie, had flown in from teaching in North Korea; so we made dinner and chatted for the evening. We planned the next day; Debbie, Anja and Mike would join us for tomorrow's canyon.


Sunday 9/30:

We woke up at 7am, and picked up Mike around 7:30am. Mike, Debbie and I started hiking up around 8am as Ken and Anja went and got Ken's car and dropped off the shuttle vehicle. We made it to the entrance of Supercloud, and waited for Ken and Anja to catch up. We dropped into Supercloud around 8:30am. It was Debbie's first canyon; so we gave her tips on rappel, and made sure someone had her on a fireman's belay.

Was able to downclimb a couple of the rappels. The fourth rappel was awesome with a large pillar resembling flowstone usually found in caves. We hopped ropes today since we had five people, and since I had a flight to catch later in the afternoon. Had plenty of time though. We finished the final rappel around 10am, and even though we missed a turn and had to backtrack, we were still back at the car around 10:45am.

We headed back, dropped off Mike, and then got back to Ken's. I loaded up the car, and headed back to the airport. Stopped at a Subway on the way; and got to the gate. More California adventure when an alarm went off and they evacuated the terminal. Nice. Flight was delayed several hours; could have done another canyon...

Overall it was a great time. Thanks to everyone who joined me when I was out there. The California canyons definitely have a different character than the Utah canyons. They are quite a bit more open, with more water and definitely more bushwhacking. Will have to come back in the spring sometime, when the water levels are much higher. They would be even more fun with some good water flow.

Hope you enjoy the pics!
A.J.


Movies:

20070929D2-02 Panorama Point 180.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-mriQIBD7w

20070929D2-36 Ken and Loose Rocks.avi
(Vertical Vid, have to hit the second button from the bottom right to see correct size)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOtAjAoK110

20070929D2-71 Ken Sliding.avi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CDTdoNCFug

20070929D2-76 Ken Slide.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f5brlNnVs4

20070929D2-77 AJ Slide.avi
(Vertical Vid, have to hit the second button from the bottom right to see correct size)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VJaMOJjWac


Photos: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...61/t_=38054161