Not wanting to travel a great distance for Labor Day weekend but hoping to escape the heat, we decided to head up Lytle Creek in the eastern San Gabriels. Though I had driven past many times I had never had a chance to drive up. This also seemed like a good chance to take Keith's family on their first canyoning trip. The Middle Fork of Lytle Creek is supposed to be one of the more beautiful and wetter canyons in the area, so seemed like a good place to start. From our house we made it to the trailhead in less than an hour sans traffic and were delighted to see the trailhead empty on the holiday weekend. We all seemed to have some hesitation packing wetsuits- it was already hot at 8am- but in the end made the right decision packing them.
The hike up was hot, steep and sweaty, but pleasant enough. We passed from open scrub to forest then eventually some nice groves of cedars as we reached the base of the middle fork canyon. From here about seven long switchbacks brought us up to the top of the canyon. We could see the canyon consisted of two gorge sections with a more open section between. Upon arriving at the top of the first waterfall it seemed we could get away without a wetsuit, at least initially, so we only put on harnesses. The first drop went easily enough and was beginner friendly.
This was followed shortly by a longer second drop into a shallow pool. In the right conditions it could be a very deep pothole.
After the first two rappels we had a bit of a walk to reach the second
half of the canyon. It was pleasant enough with some nice trees and some
large logs. The creek ran intermittently, not a surprise given the late summer drought conditions. We eventually reached a horizon line with a really nice looking drop. It also looked suitably wet at the bottom to prompt us to don the neoprene.
This drop had a particularly smooth chute that looked great for a controlled rappel slide. I set up an anchor in an optimal location and gave it a try. Good fun! The smooth chute allowed for pretty high speeds. At the bottom the waterfall was steeper such that as you rappeled over it the rope would pendulum you a little back to the side and into the cold pool. I decided it was enough fun to ascend back up and tried to instruct the others about how to execute a smooth ride. Some rides were smoother than others.
I could have taken a couple more laps but some of us were getting cold from the immersion so we rigged our way down the next drop. Though not the tallest waterfall, this one probably had the nicest spray that you could get into. This would be a very different canyon at high flow!
The final rappel was less noteworthy other than apparently being the longest. I had to do a slightly creative maneuver to make the 200ft rope work on a 105ft rappel but was easy enough. A short walk brought us down to the main wash where we changed in the old debris flow rubble. The walk back down the hill was considerably more pleasant despite the heat thanks to gravity. It wasn't the most exciting canyon but was certainly worth doing. It was a great first canyon for Kari and Maia and it was excellent to go a whole holiday weekend day without seeing other people. Thanks to the group for a fun day out.
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