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Dan's Hiking Pages: Hikes in the San Gabriels and Beyond |
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Fish Canyon Falls
Azusa / Los Angeles County
Angeles National Forest / Southern California
 Hike report: Fish Canyon Falls - March 8, 2008 Hike Description
The last time I hiked Fish Canyon (7-7-07) the falls were completely dry. So I decided to take advantage of Vulcan's free shuttle access. The weather was sunny and pleasant, but a little hazy—a perfect day for a canyon hike. When I signed in at 9:31, 138 hikers had already signed in. Started the hike at 9:35. The grasses and herbaceous plants were lush green from the abundant rains this season, but the deciduous trees were still pretty leafless. Not a lot of flowers in bloom yet, but I took pictures of the primary ones I saw: vinca, larkspur, blue dick, lupin, Bermuda buttercup, wild cucumber blossum and fruit, pearly everlasting. Along the way I ran into Paul, who I first met on the Fish Canyon Trail on May 13, 2006.
Arrived at the falls at 10:40 and counted about 25 people. The falls were quite showy. Met Nick, who recognized me from this website. I enjoyed visiting with him and his wife, Jyoti.
Left the falls at 11:35 with clippers in hand, trimming poison oak along the way. Encountered three people with dogs not on leashes. I'm not shy in telling them that the dogs need to be on leashes. I wish I had the authority to issue citations. Met a gentleman who had looked up this hike on my website that morning. Ended hike at 1:15. The final count was 179 hikers. Thank you to Erick and Amy of Vulcan for manning the sign-in table, and thank you to the van drivers.
View Nick and Jyoti's Slide Show
Read Debbie Kolodji's Blog
Read Kathleen Wilson's Blog
Hike report: Fish Canyon Falls - 07-07-07 Hike Description
I had a lot of my plate for the weekend, so I decided to do just do a quickie hike on Saturday morning. I had heard that Vulcan Materials was offering another Saturday of free shuttle through the quarry to the start of the trail. (I did not have a chance to post the announcement on my website because I was having problems with my Internet service provider.). A primary reason for going was to see how much water was left resulting from the record-low rainfall this year.
7:05 a.m. - Signed in and jumped in the van that just returned from taking the first group to the trailhead. Two others climbed in after me.
7:07 - Took note that it was 7:07 07-07-07. How cool is that?!
7:10 - Started the hike. Within a couple minutes I decided to try out my new camera by photographing some .
California Milkweed (Round-hooded Milkweed) (Asclepias californica). In spite of stopping along the way to take pictures, I remained well ahead of the couple who was behind me. The weather was pleasant with a little overcast and the steep canyon wall blocking the early morning sun.
7:54 - Took a side trip to look at Darlin' Donna Falls. I was pleasantly surprised that it still was flowing quite nicely. Took a pic.
7:59 - Crossed the main creek. Hmmm, no water. It was completely dry. In a few more minutes I stopped and talked with Kurt and Elsa, who were coming down. They reported that the falls were dry. After a nice conversation, I continued the few more minutes to the falls.
8:22 - Arrived at the falls. It was dry! I had expected to at least see a trickle of moisture wetting the rock face and dribbling into a shallow pool. But there was none. Just two months earlier the falls were flowing quite well. I had never seen it dry.
Chatted with Lin and Gala. He took my picture. They left and I stood in the dry pool and snapped some more pics. Dick and Rolland arrived. Enjoyed swapping hiking stories.
9:07 - Left falls, tagging along with Dick and Rolland. We stopped to view Darlin' Donna. More hikers were heading to the waterless falls. Sun was out now and getting warm.
Nearing the site of Old Cheezer Mine, we met Bob Muns, amateur botanist and author of a number of plant guides. I first met Mr. Muns on May 20, 2006 on the same trail.
10:45 - End hike. Took pic of my new friends Rolland and Dick. Waited a few minutes for the van. Others joined us. Back at the sign-in table I visited with Erick from Vulcan and I counted about 55 hikers who had signed-in up to that point. Even without water in the falls it was very pleasant outing.
Hike report: Fish Canyon Falls - May 5, 2007 Hike Description
Now a third annual event for me, I took advantage of Vulcan Materials' free shuttle through the quarry to the start of the trail. I knew that of their four weeks offering the event, this was the only day that would be feasible for me. My wife had to use the car for taking our daughters to their early morning events, so I did not get to the Vulcan parking lot until after 11:30. I signed in and jumped into the van with two other hikers, Richard and Patrick.
11:43 - Started the hike. Ended up hiking with Richard and Patrick the whole way to the falls. Patrick does a lot of hiking in the San Gabriels so we enjoyed swapping stories. The weather was a little cool and breezy, but pleasant. There were not many blooming flowers this year, probably because of the scant rainfall. We passed dozens of hikers who were coming back. At the creek crossing was a newly installed wooden footbridge. I suspect it was put in for the Duarte Wilderness Days two weeks earlier. Richard hiked it that day and said that there was a bunch of kids panning for gold in the creek.
12:35 - Arrived at the falls. Not as spectacular as last year, but still quite impressive. A few people there. People coming and going. I looked around the falls. Richard snapped a picture of me and graciously emailed it to me. Richard and Patrick left. I ate some lunch.
1:40 - Left falls. Few more people coming up—passed them between the falls and the creek. Made a short side trip to check out Darlin' Donna Falls. Two young gals were hanging out by the "spiral staircase." I encountered no one else for the rest of the walk back. I sauntered along and enjoyed the solitude and soaked in the beauty of this special place.
2:43 - Back to the bridge at the beginning of the trail. A van was waiting for me. Back at the Vulcan office I signed out. Amy added up the official count for the day—163 hikers. Thanks again to Jason Talley and all his team for providing this much-appreciated service to the public.
Hike reports: Fish Canyon Falls - May 2006 Hike Description
Once again Vulcan offered free shuttle service through the quarry on four Saturdays in April and May this year. This was a great service to the public with more than 1,000 happy hikers strolling to the showy waterfall. I took advantage of the access on Saturdays May 13 and 20 and was delighted to see so many people enjoying this great resource. Special thanks to Jansen Talley, Plant Supervisor, and Atisthan Roach, Community Outreach Manager.
5-13-06 - Started the hike about 9:00 after being dropped off by the shuttle at the bridge. Pleasant weather. When I got to the location of Darlin' Donna Falls, I noticed the sign was gone. Wonder where it went. Met a couple, Paul and Susan, with whom I enjoyed good conversation. Paul also had some knowledge about plants and so we enjoyed identifying flora together. He was gracious enough to send me some plant photos from the hike. See morning glory. I reached Fish Canyon Falls at 9:53. Left the falls at 10:45 and arrived back at the bridge at 11:46.
5-20-06 - I had such an enjoyable time the last week, I decided to hike to the falls a second week in a row. Somehow I forgot my watch, so I felt kind of handicapped in not being able to keep an accurate hike log. Started the hike about 7:30 and reached the falls at 8:05 according to the watch of another hiker. Had a nice conversation with a Dan and Dave. Left the falls at 9:30.
On the way back I was doing some plant study to refresh my mind as to the names of various plants. As I was examining a shrub, an older gentleman walking up the trial asked what I was looking at. I told him I wasn't sure if it was lemonade berry or sugar bush. He said sugar bush and begin to go into detailed explanation. I quickly knew that he had some real expertise and so I asked him who he was. He said his name is Bob Muns. I responded, "Oh, I know who you are!" I own a couple of his little plant guides that I had brought from the Eaton Canyon Nature Center a couple years earlier. So I spent some time with Mr. Muns and gleaned as much as I could from him. He was most generous in sharing his knowledge with me. Some of the plants he pointed out were foothill ash (looks like elderberry), honey suckle, yellow star lily, blue dicks, mountain mahogany, California everlasting (nice fragrance), felt leaf everlasting (whitish leafs similar to white sage), sugar bush, and lance leaf dudlia.
What was interesting to me was that last year, April 23, 2005, I met Cliff and Gabi McLean on the trail. They are both well known in the community for their efforts in being docents and disseminators of knowledge about nature (see their website, NatureAtHand.com). I spent some time with them on the trail and they were very gracious in sharing their knowledge with me. And the very next week I ran into my friend Bill Hogshead (we both volunteer with the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders). Bill is quite knowledgeable about plants and so I was able to glean from him. So Fish Canyon has become quite valuable to me for serendipitous nature lessons.
Hike reports: Fish Canyon Falls - April/May 2005 Hike Description
4-23-05 - Three cheers for Jasen Talley, Azusa Rock General Foreman for Vulcan Materials! After years of limit access to the trail, Jasen took the initiative to provide shuttle service through the quarry for four Saturdays (April 23 and 30, May 7 and 14, 2005). I had not heard about it until I showed up at the trailhead about 7:00 on Saturday morning (4/23) hoping to find a way through the quarry. And to my delight, there was Jasen and a big white van. I climbed into the van with about six other hikers and Jasen chauffeured us through the quarry to the beginning of the trail. We were the second group.
7:10 a.m. - Begin hike at the bridge. The trail was in excellent condition, having been freshly worked for the Duarte Wilderness Days the previous weekend. Along the way were three wooden signs, "Cabin Flats," "Old Cheezer Mine," and "Darlin' Donna Falls." About half way up the trail I passed a father and his son.
7:56 - Arrived at the falls, which were quite showy as a result of the heavy rain we had been having. When I arrived at the falls there were four others there. In the hour and 45 minutes I spent at the falls, there was as constant flow of happy hikers arriving. I enjoyed visiting with various ones. I met Joe and Linda from Hungry. He had a GPS - the coordinates near the base of the falls read N 34.18108° and W 117.92519°, elev. 1326'.
While at the falls I did some exploring up the east ravine. Took a pic looking back at the falls through the trees. Went as far as I could safely. Would be fun to come back again with some equipment and partners to explore further.
9:45 - Left falls. As I hiked back, hikers kept coming up the trail. What a pleasure to see so many people getting to experience this delightful canyon! Met Cliff and Gabi McLain, naturalists who were most gracious in answering my questions about plants.
11:17 - Reached the junction where the trial heads up to Van Tassel ridge. I decided to take that route, having not done that section before. Somewhat steep and overgrown. Lush and green. I came to a place where poison oak had completely blocked the trail, and there was no way around it. Thankfully I had my trusty clippers and work gloves with me ... oops, I must have left my gloves near the falls after I had explored the ravine! Drat! Well, I was already a good way up the mountain so wasn't about to turn back. So without my gloves, I carefully clipped a tunnel through the poison oak and continued along. The trail achieves several spots along the ascending ridge which yielded great views down into the quarry. Very jungle-like surroundings. Saw a rattlesnake sunning himself on some branches.
12:50 - Finally reached Van Tassel Ridge at the forest boundary. Spent 20 minutes eating and resting. The route down the ridge had been freshly cut with a bulldozer and was quite steep with perilously loose footing. Previously when I had hiked up to that from the south, the fire break had several years of wear and growth, making it safe to hike up. But the fresh grading not only horribly scared the mountain, it was unsafe to walk on. Obviously Vulcan had no regard for hikers who use that route. As I headed down I met a young man who was coming up. He was quite sweaty, red-faced, and panting from the steep climb and the hot sun. He had started from the trailhead and was hiking to Fish Canyon Falls via the absurd route up the ridge—he didn't know about the van shuttle that day! Poor guy! I continued down. I found that the old trail that skirted the firebreak was pretty badly deteriorated and that the berms caused from the fresh road grating obliterated the access to the trail. When I reached the junction to the haul road down into quarry, I decided to head down that route rather down the trail. The "No Trespassing" sign had been bulldozed over and was face down, so technically there was nothing telling me I couldn't use that route. At 1:55 I started down the haul road and reached the canyon bottom at 2:21. I hitched a ride with a passing van back to the parking lot. Had a good conversion with Jasen Tally and James from Vulcan.
2:43 - Left for home. What a full and adventurous day.
5-14-05 - I again took advantage of the access on Saturday, May 14, along with my friend, Drew. When we arrived at the trailhead parking lot at about 7:30, I was amazed to see it packed full of cars. In talking with Dennis, a Vulcan employee, he said the numbers had been growing weekly. While at the falls, at one point, I counted 40 people, and we passed many coming and going. As I chatted with various ones, I found that many of them had already hiked to Fish Canyon these four weeks and were doing it again, just as I was. Pic of hikers waiting for shuttle at the end of the hike. At the end of the day, the official count was more than 300! Again, I was pleased to see so many enjoying this natural resource.
One amazing thing is worth noting. When we arrive at the lookout spot above the falls, there were my work gloves sitting right there in plane view on the rock just where I left them two weeks earlier! Hundreds of people walked right by them, and no one took them. Absolutely amazing.
Hike report: Fish Canyon Falls - June 22, 2004 Fish Canyon Hike Description
Hike Log
Fish Canyon Trail
6-22-04
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5:56
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B: Creek / Bridge
Beginning of trail
Sign: Fish Canyon Falls - 2
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6:06
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C: Cabin Foundation / Sign
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6:16
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D: First Switchback
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6:30
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E: Creek Crossing
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6:40/7:13
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F: Fish Canyon Falls
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7:23
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E: Creek Crossing
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7:36
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D: First Switchback
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6:06
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C: Cabin Foundation / Sign
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7:52
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B: Creek / Bridge
Beginning of trail
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The day after summer solstice is a great time for an after-work hike. And with the June gloom hazing up the visibility, a canyon hike to a falls is ideal. So me, Drew, Andrew, Ryan, and Steve headed up to the Fish Canyon trailhead.
Once on the trail, I was pleasantly surprised. It's been seven years since I hiked it, and one of my dominant recollections were large amounts of poison oak encroaching upon the trail. Many places we had to tiptoe through, making the hike tedious. But today the trail is in excellent condition and the poison oak is cut back to a safe distance, although you'll still need to be on your guard for the obnoxious plant.
This hike enjoys some mild roller coaster action as it generally climbs north up canyon. The trail tread is in good condition and well traveled. Spruce, alder, oak, and sycamore provide a delightful canopy in many places. Wild flowers are still in bloom. Poison oak, even this early in the season, provides a splash of rich red, orange, and yellow colors. The stream is never too far below, often graced with quite pools. The rugged canyon walls rise steeply.
Andrew, Drew, Dan, Ryan in the back, and Steve behind the camera, stopping to read an interpretive sign.
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I would have enjoyed going a little slower and just soaking in the rustic beauty of this canyon, but our pace was quick since we wanted to complete the hike before darkness set in.
As we approached the bend before the falls, the quietness was a little disconcerting. As we rounded the bend, a waterless falls stood before us. Only a trickle of moister wetted the massive rock face of the normally showy water falls. Photo
 An Asian couple sitting adjacent to the falls was startled when we arrived. They were the only others we saw the whole trip on this Tuesday evening.
Andrew was lured into jumping off a rock 20 feet into a large green pool. He climbed back up the rocks and jumped again. Drew joined him. The delightful setting around the falls tempted us to linger, but good sense promoted us to leave with enough time on the clock to make it safely back before dark.
What a nice hike! Photo
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