I had done a mountain bike on the Santa Ana River Trail a few years before with Keith, 29 miles from Angelus Oaks down the Post Office loop to South Fork then back on Middle Control Road. This time he invited me to join him and a couple others to bike the full SART from South Fork back to his house in Redlands, 39 miles with 2600ft elevation gain and plenty of total loss. The others clearly more capable bikers than me, my old bike being one-fifth to one-tenth the worth of the other individual bikes, and myself being deep in a pandemic fitness slump, I was fully expecting to be the weak link and struggling to keep up. The bigger question to me was what would break first, me or my bike; despite my 27-speed bike dropping down to 3 functional gears by the end of the ride, I think I was the one that broke first.
I was the only one that opted not to start with a jacket layer and the cool mountain air cut through my lungs and goosebumped my arms for the first few minutes out of South Fork. Happily I quickly warmed as I tried to keep pace with Keith and had no regrets about the jacket. This upper part of the trail was much as I remembered it, fast, swooping corners in and out of gullies, often with thin screed out sections of trail and steep dropoffs to suffer if my balance was ever so slightly off. To add to the challenge many of the shady corners had surprising patches of snow covering the trail from the freak thunderstorm event about a week prior. The section closest to Glass Rd remained one of my favorites, particularly flowy and fast singletrack. I more-or-less managed to keep up with the others until we started the Middle Control Rd climb. Here they smoked me while my low fitness levels let me down more than my bike. Eventually I reached Angelus Oaks. After catching my breath and a quick snack we continued on, the rest of the ride now new to me.
Looking up Mill Creek
After dropping off the forest road back onto singletrack, I was surprised that somehow the trail seemed even steeper and narrower. I clinged white knuckled to my handlebars for dear life hoping I did not bounce my way off the cliff. I was managing until we reached Thomas Hunting Grounds where my rear shifter cable snapped. Keith locked it in place and I took my considerable handicap, from 27 speeds now down to three. I did my best but certainly began to limp further behind the others as we continued.
Dropping off Morton Peak
At the base of Morton Peak I was severely tempted to call it quits, ride out the highway and meet the others in Redlands but decided to fight on up the last uphill, slowly walking my bike. I was in pain, my calves burning but made it up to the others for the final screaming downhill. Traversing some of the Tertiary sandstones, the trail was different in style, perhaps not quite so steep but still technical with plenty of challenge. We rode out the creek and through the backroads of Redlands, eventually getting back to Keith's. After downing a milkshake I shuttled Keith back up to South Fork before heading home. It was a solid, exhausting day with 5 hours of dense activity. It would have been better if I was in better shape and my bike as well but it was still excellent to be able to get out for a bigger ride.
Bodie is another one of those tucked away places I somehow managed to miss seeing until now. We did some Poverty Hills fieldwork on the drive up, a quick crowded soak at Wild Willys, a smoky drive past dinner at the Lee Vining Mobil, and then camped on the chilly north shore of Mono Lake. The next morning we drove into Bodie for a stroll around this remarkably well-preserved ghost town doing its best to defy the rough elements (often being one of the coldest and windiest places in the state if not the country). The "open air museum" style of the place is really quite unique and we had a good time looking at all the little details of the buildings, the in stasis disarray of the interiors as they were abandoned, and trying to imagine what life would have been like in this remote dry valley. It was staggering to learn that less than one-tenth of Bodie's buildings remain from its heyday- it would have been a jampacked, bustling place. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
The Right Fork of North Creek does not get the same buzz that its Left Fork (better known as Subway) sibling gets but has scenic splendor and technical challenges to rival. On any given day the Left Fork will be filled with its 80 person permit quota, while the Right Fork is more likely to not see any canyoning visitors the same day. The Right Fork offers a dizzying variety of options with at least four approach options including a entry canyon (Hammerhead) and a stout flooded pothole slot section that most seem to bypass (Right Fork Direct). All of these options coalesce as the canyon turns a hard right to erode its way through the base of the Navajo sandstone, and eventually open up into a wide Kayenta floored canyon. Being a fast and light group of two we opted for the best bang-for-buck option: West Rim Trail (5mi) to Hammerhead (6 rappels to 165ft, 0.5mi) to Right Fork Direct (4 rappels to 80ft, 2.0mi) to camp at the Grand Alcove (2 rappels, 1.0mi) and then the long exit along the more open Right Fork to its trailhead (2 rappels, 6.0mi).
Though I had gotten a permit reservation ahead of time guaranteeing our trip (weather permitting), I suspected the crux of the trip would be going to the Zion Visitor Center in the main part of the park at the start of the holiday weekend to pick it up. To both Keith and my surprise the town was completely empty when we arrived Thursday afternoon before Labor Day and there was only one car in front of us when we pulled up to the entrance station. We managed to hit the calm before the storm! The wilderness permit desk still took some time but we had some time to hang out in an empty Springdale park before heading out to find a camping spot. Happily the BLM campspot near the base of Kolob Terrace was nearly empty and quiet so we had no need to drive up towards Kolob Reservior. We camped right next to the creek.
My alarm went off at 5:30a, plenty of time to get organized and to the trailhead by 6:30a. Amazingly the shuttle van was right on time and we loaded in for the ride up the mountain. By 7:30a we were on the West Rim Trail, enjoying the cool morning air and gentle downhill, though still sweating plenty. Other than a nice view into the head of the Left Fork drainage, the ~5 mile hike on the trail was uninteresting. Our pace dropped with the final off-trail approach to Hammerhead Canyon; here we managed to mostly link clearings but had some inevitable short bashes through the scrubby forest. Loose slopes then led us downward into the northern gully and to the obvious drop-in rappel, 2 hours from the trailhead.
View into the Left Fork drainage
This first rappel was the biggest of the trip at 165ft; the airy freehanging top half led into a rubbly tilted joint passage. Just as we throw our rope over we could hear the faint sound of a group somewhere down canyon; we wouldn't run into them until the afternoon. We continued steeply down the head of the hammer with one other rappel and many downclimbs.
Hammerhead drop-in
At the sharp right turn onto the "handle" of the hammer was the third rappel as a double drop. This straight hallway continued on as the rest of the canyon with no real water sculpted features and plenty of chockstones defining the drops, more of a narrow gully than a true Zion canyon. The fourth and fifth rappels were awkward drops over chockstones, but fortunately we found anchors on everything, which sped our progress. The sixth rappel had a slot spanning pool beyond, which happily we both managed to stem across dry with care. The canyon opened up, then one final short slot section to downclimb to drop onto the floor of the Right Fork. The Hammerhead section took us about two hours, not too shabby.
Next we had a mile of the Right Fork to contend with. This was a mix of bushwhacking, bypassing dryfalls, downclimbs, pool avoidance, and logjam traversing. The logjams seemed to be particularly unstable which much fine litter, suggesting a recent flood. At an open section with some shade and bedrock pools we took the opportunity to have a lunchtime snack before heading on. The dark and committing direct section started unceremoniously with a canyon spanning pool. We both suited up. I forgot how much of a struggle pulling on tight dry neoprene was but eventually got there. Splash down. These first few pools were particularly cold, but despite my exasperations, the wetsuit was doing its job. It started with several deep wades, then soon came the swims. The direct section started with some short corridors with more open canyon between and some bypassable pothole chains, but soon dived into a deep and continuous canyon. The potholes were filled to the brim from a recent flood with chocolate waters and organic flotsam.
The scrubby Right Fork section
And the wading begins
The main slot had a couple rappels near the start including one that bypassed an interesting hanging bridge pool. This section had many swims and many wades, and a fair number of places where Keith and I passed packs or partner assisted. Generally we seemed to be making good progress despite the sporty nature of the slot. Some sections had some nice golden light, others had moody dark bends.
A short section above the canyon's main drop we caught up to the group of three in front of us. We helped them work through a tricky partner assist downclimb and then they let us play through as first down the 80ft drop. We doubled a wedged log overhead and I managed to retrieve the webbing anchor, which mysteriously had been relocated out of reach over the drop. Below was more downclimbs, flooded hallways, swims, and some of the best moody sculpted slot sections. The canyon briefly opened up then dove back in for one final slot and short rappel. The direct section took us two hours to get through; we were certainly on the short side of all the suggested times but the day was still starting to add up. It was a great stretch of canyon and it seemed a shame that many groups bypass it.
We were now in the main section of the canyon that the bypass route merges into. Here it was particularly obvious from footprints and bedforms that the canyon had a minor flash (10-20cm deep flood waters) very recently and that we were the first through the canyon since. This section started with an awkward rappel over a chocked log and then a downclimb into a green pool beneath an enormous canyon spanning chockstone.
After a turn in the canyon we had a long flooded corridor to contend with, known as the Black Pool. Though more green in color, the middle reaches of this long pool had some of the thickest, nearly impenetrable, log soup that we would have to icebreak our way through. Thankfully it was fresh and not decomposing yet, but it was still gross to be coated in bark, twigs, and pine needles. The mass was stiff enough that it was hard to push through and pliant enough that we couldn't really crawl over the surface; certainly the most physical challenge we encountered in the canyon. Notably a small mouse hopped along the top of the flotsam. Once through we did our best to rinse off before continuing on. A second rappel dropped us into another long pool with swimming and some more log soup, this time not so bad.
Extra-thick log soup
After the flooded hallways the canyon widened and dried out for a stretch with some sandy passages and golden light turns. At 5:00p we finally reached the obvious overhanging bend in the canyon known as the Grand Alcove. We briefly dropped packs to scout out camping spots. We walked to the edge of this balcony level to see where people apparently rappel down and past a meager patch of sand that was supposed to be the prime camping spot for overnighters like ourselves. It was alright but the floor of the Grand Alcove seemed to be more scenic with an even better sand patch. Still suited up, we decided to work our way through the flowing stream's pools and downclimb falls to the floor of the alcove. The late day's sun cast golden light onto the graceful walls of the alcove.
Grand Alcove balcony
Grand Alcove streamcourse
It was about 5:30p when we finally dropped packs and called it a day. The moment of truth (opening our drybags) proved us mostly successful, my air mattress being the only wet item (easily dried). All in all it was a solid day and we were both impressed at the length and challenge of the terrain we traversed. We hoped by camping on the floor of the Grand Alcove we could avoid swimming the following day and dry our wetsuits out for good (we were right). We set up a drying line with one of the ropes and set about peeling off wetsuits after filling up on spring water at the far side of the final pool. Though the name Grand Alcove seemed a little overly generous it was nevertheless a stunning spot with a long arching wall of hanging fern gardens and the projected sounds of the babbling creek. A little after 7:00p the other group worked their way past us, camping around the next corner in the canyon. Weirdly a consistent downcanyon wind blew much of the night, making sleep a little more fleeting but helping to dry all of our gear.
We awoke the next morning at daybreak and made quick work of packing. It turned out the other group camped just above the Barrier Falls rappel. They were nearly ready to head out too but let us use their rope to rappel ahead of them. This section of canyon was surprisingly scenic, and steep, with many horizonline waterfalls to work our way down and around. We passed several beautiful deep green pools, excellent cliff jumpers closer to the midday heat. For a solid 0.6 miles these scenic falls continued until we reached Double Falls.
Restocking on spring water
At Double Falls we were led into the watercourse where we found an anchor for a short final rappel over the overhanging ledge of the falls. We knew there was a bypass trail somewhere on canyon left but it seemed just as easy to do one more rappel. Double Falls clearly had three side-by-side cascades and was a scenic spot. From here the going got a little easier going, still plenty of shallow wades and boulder scrambling but easier going than I thought. We stopped for a snack a fourth of the way out the escape, just before the sun reached us.
Double (Triple?) Falls
The canyon briefly gorged up which meant so wading but nothing too uncomfortable. At one point we heard strange noises and then later witnessed the dust cloud aftermath of a rockfall up high on a tributary's wall. In many places river terraces had trails cutting bends in the stream allowing good progress. It was hot and I was sweaty but overall the hike was a lot less of a slog than I was expecting.
The final climb up the hot black lava flow to the canyon's rim was the final challenge. We conquered the exit from the Grand Alcove in 4 hours, which both Keith and I were pleased with. This gave us a late lunch in St George and a comfortable afternoon arrival back into Riverside.
We noticed the traffic on the road and I could not help but check the Zion entrance webcam for this holiday Saturday: yep cars lined up out of sight into Springdale. We managed to have an excellent holiday weekend in one of the most popular national parks while seeing hardly anyone. Right Fork made a nice little adventure and much needed escape. I had been spoiled in recent months by high quality canyons but this trip still held up and was more than worthwhile. Thanks to Keith for joining.
In dire danger of being the first month since mid-2008 I did not find something to write up, I snuck in a quick solo getaway to Vivian Creek near Forest Falls before the calendar struck September. I had been curious about this one for its relative proximity to Riverside but expectations were suitably low. I left the parking lot at 7:40am. Things were quiet apart from squirrels and the air was pleasantly clean. Mill Creek was running at a trickle and I was expecting similarly low flows in Vivian. Despite the elevation and early hour things got sweaty on the switchback climb to the lip of the Vivian Creek hanging valley (a tectonic hanging valley, not glacial). In about 50 minutes I reached the obvious pourover at the start of the canyon.
Mill Creek boulder field
Top of the canyon
After a little exploring I found the most obvious way down to be a slung tree upslope about 15ft to the left of the first falls. I rapped about 80ft over the cliff face down to a prominent tree on a hanging ledge, which as I guessed, had webbing slung as an anchor. The pull was frictiony but easy enough and I smoothly rethreaded the rope through this next drop. The second stage down this first 180ft falls was a clean 90ft. Awkward scrambling over angular boulders and thick leaf litter was next. I downclimbed canyon right of a falls that in hindsight was supposed to be a rappel (oops).
The third rappel was also pretty clean, 80ft off a tree on the left. The fourth had two bolts just right of the watercourse for a 50ft rappel. A great mess of logs jammed the top of the final rappel but eventually I found the anchor far down at canyon right for a clean and wet 95ft rappel (best of the canyon) with a short overhang section. More thick leaf litter covering angular boulders awaited until I reached Mill Creek, then a short stroll back to the car. Car-to-car was 2hrs 15min, certainly a quick blitz despite no specific intention of speeding through. It's probably the least interesting canyon I've been in, which probably says how spoiled I've been. It has been quite a while since I have done a canyon solo; the photos suck but it was nice to just enjoy the quiet. It was still a worthwhile escape, which particularly hit home when I drove out of the San Bernardinos and into a thick smog+smoke layer filling the Inland Empire. It was nice to enjoy a little mountain air and some splashes in the water.
