Another adventure up the East Fork with some old trail exploration and a taste of Fish Fork.

Final Stats:

16 miles, 2500 ft

Photos are geo-tagged
Click for more stats & gps files

The Fish Fork of the San Gabriel river is known to be pretty wild. Steep canyon walls and waterfalls make it an epic canyoneering trip, as evidenced by Zach and Taco just a few weeks ago. Without technical equipment, one can only check out the lower end for perhaps 1.5 miles and even less at the upper end that is accessible via Pine Mtn ridge to Upper Fish Fork campground.

Ryan (Taco) and Zach were heading back to retrieve some equipment they had to leave, and Patrick, Johanna, and myself joined along to help…well at least to give moral support. I wasn’t sure how long of a day I was up for and it was hard to predict how long it would take, especially the ~ 1.5 miles up Fish Fork to find their gear.

We left ~ 6:30 am and made good time, arriving at Iron Fork in ~ 2:40. Without thinking, I was pulling myself up the steep beginning of Ross’s SE ridge. I hadn’t thought about it, but have always wanted to check it out for a potential ascent of Baden-Powell from the south, so up I went. This beginning part was pretty nice, with a bit of scrambling and steep dropoffs to the east.

I stayed on the top of the ridge to avoid the brush to the west, but as you can see there wasn’t much room for error. I continued up until I had gained about 500 ft, when I came to a junction with an old trail that you can sometimes find on topo maps. Naturally, I decided to check that out.

I’d say the trail wasn’t in bad shape in general, about half in the clear and easily passable and the other half not so much. I was initial wearing short sleeves so I began to strip to put on pants and long sleeve shirt when I noticed the others had spotted me, and probably wondering what in the world I was doing. I pointed in the generally direction of Fish Fork hoping my excellent non-verbal communication skills would get across the idea that I would meet them ahead.

On I went, barreling straight through some brush, crawling underneath the brush in a few spots, and climbing over it in others. I kind of enjoyed it to be honest.

Overall I was making okay time, moving between fast and slow a bunch. After maybe 0.6 miles, I came upon a brush filled gully I had to cross, and at the same time the others below were shouting out to try to come down. I indicated I would (was almost the end of the trail anyways), but I had to get across this gully first.

It was terrible, covered in everything. I would have dealt with the brush fine if it was for poison oak being everywhere. I wasn’t sure how I could avoid it. I attempted some succession of terrible maneuvers attempting to climb on top of the brush, then holding myself up only by my arms, and other ridiculous moves. Once I did collapse near / on some poison oak, but hopefully it didn’t get on me bad.

Finally I made it out, and I was toast! I was breathing so hard. A nice sort of interval training, I guess. I kept going and started looking for a way down, but nothing looked great. I started descending and traversing, while getting myself into a few non-optimal spots. Finally I did make it down where Ryan and Zach were lopping off – yup, more poison oak!

We continued up the stream a short bit to Fish Fork campground. The water in this small section was really cold, and I was hoping it would not be like that up Fish Fork since it would be hard to stay out of the water there.

I needed a short break at the campground while Ryan, Zach, and Patrick departed. Johanna was planning on not going further and hanging out here for a while. While I was quite content to just stay at the campground, I decided I should at least check out a little bit of Fish Fork, so I headed up.

At first I tried to look for any spots to stay out of the water, but that seemed more hassle than it was worth. Plus, there was no poison oak in the stream and the temperature was quite nice. It was quite enjoyable actually. I kept going up, then checked to see what I did – 0.5 miles in 50 minutes, yikes! According to Jerry Schad’s description of the canyon, it would be 1.5 miles until a small 10-12 ft waterfall would create an impasse, which is located 0.2 miles below the main falls. Zach and Ryan’s gear was probably located between these two falls, so they had another 3 hrs ahead of them. I knew there’s no way I would be able to catch up or do anything, so I turned back.

At the campground there was some random sleeping bag, so I rolled that out and took a nice nap for a bit. Then Ryan’s voice came through the radio and mentioned that they were still a bit more away from the gear – over 3 hours since departing up Fish Fork. This meant it was going to take them over 4 hours to get back down…Patrick had just turned around but it was going to take him probably 3 hours to get down. We packed up some of their things they left and ‘hid’ it in a spot they would find (per a note we left). Then we headed back.

The way back was pretty nice, good weather mixed with heading in and out of the water, it was quite good. Resting at the bridge, I kept hearing some squeaking and then we found bats were hanging out in one of the cracks in the bridge!

Ryan and Taco did get their gear, getting back ~ 11 pm. I’m sure their TR will be quite interesting!

Driving with Taco

Final Stats:

15 miles, 4500 ft (my path)

To paraphrase,

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different result.”

East Fork to the Narrows & Stanley Miller Mine at EveryTrail

meetup link and other’s photos and comments

I think there was some insanity in this hike as well. What a hike.

This was part 3 out of 4 in the hiking series “Mines of Iron Mountain”. #1 was Allison Mine, and #2 was Baldora and Widco Mines. I expected this one to be harder than the first two, but even so it was a bit harder than I predicted.

We started off with 9 people hiking up the East Fork around other people heading up to the the bridge. The water level was lower than last time I was there in the spring, so the few crossings were easier and sped up our pace. We made it to the bridge in 2 hrs.

From there, we continued into the Narrows, a section that I don’t think anyone in the group had been to before. I really liked the area, with plenty of watering holes around smooth rock, nice areas to camp, and a little more isolation. Apparently there is a guy named Hobo Dave who resides back here.

So the plan was to get to Stanley-Miller Mine. I can’t say it was a well thought out plan. I studied a map beforehand as well as made gps coordinates and tracks around the area, and I read one Sierra Club trip report that hiked up the west ridge of Iron Mt and passed by Stanley Miller on the way.

If you study the USGS topo map, you’ll see a bunch of trails around the Narrows and Stanley-Miller. The one used in the trip report seemed to be the one ascending from Iron Fork straight up to the mine. The other trails I had heard were non-existent.

Well this certainly was a nonexistant trail to! In fact, I wonder how it could even be considered a trail. We started ascending up, passing up a bit of poison oak (mentioned in the Sierra club TR), and then went up the steep gully formed with lots of steep rock slabs. This was alright for some, but harder for others. One specific spot that had few decent handholds slowed the group down and had some turn around.

Once we got past that obstacle and continued up the rocks, it seemed the “trail path” was going straight into brush. So I decided to veer NE along the rock in hopes to eventually cut across south and avoid the brush. Well, rocks heading NE were even worse. As many of you know, the San Gabriels have some terrible, crumbly rock. Well there I am, climbing up this crap with a nice steep drop to my left on the side of freaking Iron Mt.

Of course I paid attention checking and testing all the holds before I would make a move, but it was unsettling when so many holds would give out. Even large slabs of rock would give out. At point I tested a rock and it came out so quickly I almost lost my balance.

At that point I said ‘screw this’ (actually I said some more colorful things) and cut across south to deal with the brush. I was in the area of the mine, but I couldn’t see anything. The gully was covered in brush. Rudy and I waited for the other 4 to meet up (Hugo, Tim, Winston, & Andy), and they saw on the other side of the gully the chimney from old pictures. We then also thought we saw a mine entrance, and I took a pic of it.

At that point it just seemed we would cut across through some brush and find everything. For some reason, it was harder than it seemed. The brush was annoying but we made it across. The we started ascending, but apparently we ascended to far, so after looking around we descended again, and finally found the cabin ruins along with other artifacts.

The cabin is basically right on top of a ridge along the trail that connects Stanley-Miller to Allison Mine. We did not see a mine right around it. We went over the picture we thought was a mine entrance, and determined based on the trees in the picture it would be higher up. Tired already, we went up a bit again and then I continued up determined to find this SOB. I went up 500 ft or so, but no luck.

At that point we had spent 3-4 hrs up there and were resigned to not seeing the actually mine entrance but happy we did find the mind ruins. We descending down slightly south of our path up, on the other side of the brush which had some loose dirt making for a quicker descent. We connected back up with the rock-slab filled gully near the bottom which took some strong friction/wedge moves to avoids sliding down.

Back at the river, I just dropped my stuff and walked right in. Cooling off never felt better after that hot, brush-filled and exhausting climb. After everyone came down, we headed back.

Along the way back we saw Hobo Dave’s hut. I went over hoping he would be home and explain where the mine entrance was, but no luck.

On the way back past a rock slide we heard some rocks falling, and looked up to see about 8 Bighorn sheep. My first time seeing them!

All in all, it was a great, frustrating, dangerous journey.

Post: Later on, Tim pointed out to me the picture in the LA Gold Mines site. When I looked at that link previously, I thought the picture was just detailing the inside of the mine so I didn’t pay attention carefully. What a moron I am!

The picture shows the location of the mine relative to the chimney and ruins. Apparently the mine is about 100 yds south of the chimney. This means while we were going up and down along the northern side of the ridge, the mine was actually south at the same elevation. Ugh. In hindsight it makes sense since there was an open area around there, but we were focused with the illusion of a mine entrance we thought we saw on the northern side, so we didn’t even consider it.

The best part about this map is the fact that the guy labeled the route we took as the “really stupid way to stanley-miller mine”, and he had a better way. From what I can tell this better way is something he found and not on a map anywhere. Suffice to say, I would agree with him!

So with all the ups and downs I did ~4500 ft for something that should have taken much less. I’m not sure if I feel I have unfinished business with the hike yet…

To Stanley-Miller Mine
Miles: ~15
Elevation Gain: 2000-3000 ft
Terrain: Same as above, PLUS: total cross-country exploration. No trail. Bushwacking. Yuccas, steep loose terrain. Bring protective clothing.

We will be adventuring up the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. But we won’t simply be stopping at the Bridge to Nowhere, about 5 miles up.

Instead, we’ll continue on up to an area less explored. We’ll pass through the Narrows, an area with deep canyons and many nice swimming holes to relax in. Some people may choose to stop and relax here.

For the few that are very adventurous, I will be continuing on to attempt to visit the abandoned Stanley-Miller mine. This is one of the mines around Iron Mt that very few ever get to.

For those who are interested in going that far, you must read our previous trip reports to 2 other mine exploration adventures to get a feel of what it will be like.

Allison Mine

Baldora and Widco Mines

I have no idea how hard exactly it will be to climb up from the riverbed to access the mine. It should only be about 1000-1500 ft above the river, but who knows the navigation difficulties we’ll encounter.

Ideally, I would like someone to lead a hike up to the Bridge / Narrows, and then I would take the few people who are moving quickly up and beyond to the mine.

I do not know how long this will take. Therefore, expect me to move at a brisk pace during the beginning of the day. I will not wait very long for the whole group to catch up. Please agree to stay with at least one other person.

Article written by Joe Blackstock from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Read the article after the jump.

It was the perfect mining town, right down to its name – Eldoradoville.

The place had no shortage of alcohol and gambling dens. Shootings and stabbings were commonplace.

And it was obliterated almost as quickly as it arrived on the scene.

This hellraiser of a town was only a couple of miles west of Mt. Baldy Village and north of San Dimas in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Eldoradoville was the gem of the little-known gold fields on the East Fork of the San Gabriel River a few years after the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill in Northern California.

The East Fork drains the western and southern slopes of Mt. Baldy and, during El Nino-like conditions, can be a dangerous, formidable force.

For years it has cut through and pounded the rocks of the San Gabriels, loosening flakes of gold that were trapped in the river’s sands.

Gold was first found in significant amounts in 1859, and the rush was on. For $7 – no small sum at that time – you could take a stage from Los Angeles in the morning and arrive at the camp at the confluence of the East Fork and Cattle Canyon that afternoon.

One November night in 1859, a tremendous flood washed away the diggings following an especially strong storm.

Undeterred, the miners reassembled the camp in a few weeks.

For two years, the rebuilt Eldoradoville was in full operation. Even at this isolated location, politics wasn’t ignored, especially in those turbulent

days around the start of the Civil War.

During the election of 1860, there were political rallies at the camp, and some local candidates even made their way up the river to speak to miners.

Abe Lincoln finished a poor third among miners at the camp, getting only 14 of the 61 votes cast.

Federal officials saw Eldoradoville as a hotbed of Southern sympathy and kept an eye on what they thought were Confederate spies in the camp.

Politics, and everything else, came to an abrupt end in mid-January 1862 as the East Fork exerted its power again, washing away Eldoradoville forever. Where a gold camp operated one day, nothing but mud, rocks and frustration existed the next.

Eldoradoville never recovered from the deluge, as miners scattered to other camps where drowning was not such an important issue.

The East Fork won its victory that day and, nearly eight decades later, did it again.

In 1938, there was a place on the East Fork euphemistically called Hooverville, a Depression shantytown on the river housing some down-on-their-luck folks trying to scratch out a living panning for gold.

At the same time, far up the canyon, the state was cutting a highway destined to reach all the way to what is now Angeles Crest Highway west of Wrightwood.

Started in 1929, it was a difficult undertaking, especially since the Narrows area of the East Fork is one of the steepest in the San Gabriels.

As March 1938 arrived, a long graceful bridge had been completed over a side canyon well up the canyon.

Disaster struck March 1 and 2 as arguably the most damaging flooding of the century struck the area, routing the inhabitants of Hooverville, sending their shanties down the river.

It also destroyed much of the road work in the Narrows, forcing the state to admit that a road couldn’t be built there.

The only real remnant of this 140-year effort to tame the East Fork is the isolated highway bridge, known to hikers as the Bridge to Nowhere. It’s still up there but now in a wilderness area where all vehicles are barred.

It’s a five-mile hike to the bridge which today serves no purpose except for the occasional bungie-jumper.

Today there are no roads in the upper East Fork, no towns nor mining camps. In a battle of wills, the East Fork has always won.