1/23/20 Dad and I head out to Bear Creek for a 14mi, 3000' Patagonia training hike. An awesome day with no humans, lots of bushwhacking, and some dicey trail.
1 Heading-up the well groomed trail up to the saddle.
2 Made it to the saddle at around 4,300'. There's still a little bit of snow left on Baldy in the distance.
3 Dad looking down the other side of the saddle to where we'll be headed.
4 This sign looks older every time I see it.
5 I was afraid the trail down the other side might have been overly maintained since I was here last. Fortuntely, that wasn't the case. There's still plenty of overgrowth, treefall, and washed out trail.
6 Enjoying the view as we get lower down into the canyon.
7 The trail is not much more than a foot wide in places with loose footing and steep dropoffs.
8 Dad navigating a dicey section of trail. You don't want to slip here!
9 Fresh green grass on the trail means there haven't been too many people down here in a while.
10 Heavy treefall in places made for some tricky manuevering.
11 Singletrack doesn't get much better than this.
12 Even I would admit this trail needs a little maintenance. But just a little!
13 Strolling down the manzanita tunnel.
14 Almost down to the creek and we hit an area of trail that had been completely wiped-out by a small landslide. It's basically just loose sand with absolutely nothing to grab on to. Though it's probably less than 10ft across, there's just no way to safely get through it.
15 After multiple attempts to cross, I decided to go up and around instead. After a crazy scramble through the razor sharp brush, I finally make it to the other side. My legs looked they had been massaged by a cheese grater, but I was ready to continue on. Dad was nice enough to wait for me here.
16 Made it to Bear Creek. Unquestionably one of the best spots in the area and well worth the extra challenges on the trail. I've taken almost this exact same picture a few times now, and it never gets old.
17 There's a fair amount of water flowing today.
18 A look upstream.
19 And a quick video of the creek.
20 Heading up now. Fortunately, I made it around the slide area much easier on the way back.
21 I love it down here.
22 Back over the tree obstacle course.
23 Another "don't slip here" spot.
24 Dad's photo of me checking out one of the awesome, dicey sections of trail.
25 Almost back up to the saddle.
26 Made it back to the saddle in the nice late afternoon light.
27 Silhouette of me at the saddle.
28 Smith Mtn and the valley below almost at sunset.
29 Almost down and back in sight of the highway below.
30 One last shot of Smith Mtn. We made it back to the car just before needing headlamps, then headed for BBQ in Azusa. We hadn't seen a single human on the trail all day!