5/13/18 One of the bigger surprises of a trail that I have had recently. I was worried about it being hot and crowded since the trailhead was so easy to get to. It turned out to be cold, wet, and wild, with beautiful, green, almost invisible trail for most of the way.
1 Definitely didn't need to worry about it being a hot day. It was 46deg at the trailhead with a light drizzle and very low visibility.
2 I really had zero idea what to expect on this trail, so it had constant surprises! Here dropping into the valley where the South Fork of the San Jacinto River runs. It's lush, green, and in the fog, it felt like a rain forest. I didn't even know there was a San Jacinto river.
3 Almost down to the valley floor.
4 East Fork of the San Jacinto. It's not flowing much here, but it's quite a bit of water.
5 Just past the river is the South Fork backpacking camp, about 1.5 miles in from the trailhead. This evidently is the typical destination, because the trail just completely dissapears after the camp.
6 After quite a bit of searching, I found what I thought might be a trail leading out of the camp.
7 The "trail" leaving the valley and heading-up to the ridge. It took a lot of squinting to stay on track. There was a lot of tree fall, some of it pretty big. I lost the trail more than once.
8 It didn't look like anyone had been up here so far this Spring. The blades of grass were untouched. There were just faint paths where the grass probably doesn't grow as much on the previously trodden ground.
9 There was almost zero trail tread width, so it was actually tricky walking in places. There was almost 2 solid miles of this. The perfect trail!
10 You know the trail doesn't get much use when it's covered with wildflowers.
11 Starting to open to up to some nice views of the valley below.
12 I can't get enough of the lush green. This is pretty rare in SoCal, especially in such a dry year.
13 And then all of a sudden boom, out of the green and onto the ridge. The sign would have been useful in several places down below.
14 Much different up here, but still great views. I've never seen this area before.
15 Wide, expansive views with no sign of humanity.
16 You can see Lake Hemet there in the distance.
17 Ultimately, the trail ends at a fireroad, which was my official turnaround spot. Now I had to rush back down and hope I could find the trail again on the way back.
18 A little better lighting on the valley on the way back. You can see the trail winding down to the bottom on the other side.
19 Back down to the river, this time with sun and no fog.
20 The view that I missed in the fog earlier in the morning. It's a great little valley and further proof that it always pays to explore new trail!
21 Almost back to the trailhead with a view of Tahquitz Peak, Marion Mtn, and San Jacinto from right-to-left. Another fun adventure complete!