NF San Jacinto Mar 15

I took a half day off from the usual weekend activities of home and course improvement to check out a newly discovered canyon less than an hour's drive from our place in Riverside. We drove east through Moreno Valley, and followed the San Jacinto Fault on through the rural recesses of the Inland Empire. A subtle dirt road (we missed it the first time) led us windingly up to where we would park the car. Everything looked incredibly dry and scrubby, nothing to suggest we would soon be freezing cold. The view from the road was most discouraging- endless scrub and a very long hike down to the bottom of the valley. Fortunately it was all show and we were able to link up clearings with minimal scrub. After the first couple hundred feet, the going got considerably better. Without even trying we dropped the 600ft vertical down to the start of the canyon in 20 minutes. I hoped the climb out after would be similarly painless.

I was pleasantly surprised by the North Fork of the San Jacinto River. In contrast to just about everywhere else in Southern California, there was a healthy flow of cool, clear water, complemented nicely by water-worn granite and a near-endless supply of jumping frogs. In the three hours we were in the canyon we must have seen hundreds of frogs, each perfectly camouflaged to their native granite color and texture, until they rocketed across our path.

Despite the warmth of mid-morning, a quick hand dip in the water confirmed I would be wearing all my neoprene today. We suited up and downed a snack. Sara tried out a short waterslide into a deep pool, and I followed up with a longer waterslide into a shallow pool. A bit more rock hopping brought us to the first definite rappel, a nice 100ft slab with an overhang at the end.

Next we had a few hundred meters of easy scrambling- a frog or two jumped out of the way with each step. Turning a corner we saw the horizon line of a large rappel- a very scenic and wet two-stage rappel, ultimately finishing in an enormous pool. I climbed out to the side of the second falls to be able to jump the last drop. I also found a repeatable 10ft jump into the enormous swimming pool.

The last three rappels followed in short succession, each with enormous pools unfortunately plagued with rocks, sediment and awkward geometries for jumping. The rappels were all nice and refreshing though. Above the last drop was a neat hanging fern garden in an alcove above the river.

We did what we could removing some of the trash from the shores of the final pool, which sadly had more than we could deal with. I took a lap on the 15ft jump into the center of the pool and had a look at the interesting faults that cut through here. Sara was cold and ready to get out of her wetsuit.

I was a little worried about the climb back up to the car but it ended up being not too bad- a bit more bushwhacking than the way down and a lot more elevation gain, otherwise fine. And some neat succulents. It was a bummer about the sediment-filled pools and the abundant trash, but otherwise it ended up being a fun few hours away from Riverside. I can't wait for Sierra canyon season! Thanks to Sara.