For this weeks Show Us Your California contest by @thesocalhive I headed up into the San Gabriel mountains for a fun hike to...

South Fork Falls!

A couple of weeks ago I woke up to see it was a nice overcast day. Which was a nice change from the hot sunny summer days we'd been experiencing. So I figured I'd take advantage of it and get out for a fun day hike not too far from my house. I'm lucky to live pretty close to Lytle creek and the drive to the trailhead for the South fork is less than a half hour drive. The downside of this trailhead is that it can often get packed with people recreating along the creek as well as hiking the short hike to the highly popular Bonita falls. But on this day it was actually fairly quiet with only a few cars at the trailhead and my plan was to hike further up the canyon beyond Bonita where not very many people go. I parked, crossed the main creek on the bridge, and followed the maze of trails along the creek before heading up the wash bed of the South Fork. There are a bunch of use trails in the wash bed leading up to Bonita Falls, but once passed that the trails disappear. As does most of the graffiti and trash that unfortunately plagues the area. As I was navigating the wash bed above Bonita I started seeing fresh bighorn sheep scat so I was keeping my eyes open hoping for a sighting. And before long I was rewarded with a sighting of a majestic bighorn perched high up on the cliffy canyon walls! They can be incredibly hard to spot even when they're there so I really felt lucky. Just beyond that I got to the side canyon that houses South Fork falls. I crossed the creek and started making my way up into the side canyon. From there I was able to get some more views of the bighorn before making my way further up canyon. I headed up passed a small mine prospect and up into where the canyon narrows. Once into the narrow part of the canyon it was much more overgrown including lots of poison oak which I did my best to avoid touching. The last part of the canyon before the falls is a bit treacherous and you have to climb up on boulders and downed logs, but I got up without any issues and arrived at the waterfall! The waterfall is actually the lowest in a set of 3 falls with the top one being the biggest and most impressive. And I had planned to visit all 3. There was a rope tied up to climb the lower 3/4 of the way around the first falls and I made it up that fairly easily, but the last section, maybe 10 feet or so, did not have a rope and despite trying quite a few times, and despite being able to climb it in the past, it proved to be a bit too difficult for me and so I had to give up and just be satisfied with the lower falls. So I climbed back down to the base of the falls and picked a spot to sit and hangout for awhile. As I sat by the falls watching the dragonflies and butterflies flying around I decided to attempt to take a swim in the pool at the base of the falls. But once I was in about waist deep I realized it was way too cold and so I wimped out on going all the way in. But even just going that far was quite refreshing. After that I sat at the pool with my feet in the water and I pulled out a book I was reading and just sat there for awhile soaking my feet and reading a few chapters of the book. Sitting there reading, right next to the falls, with my feet in the water, was super relaxing and just felt like such a complete escape from normal life. After a couple of hours I decided it was time to go and so I left the falls and made my way back down the canyon. As I headed back by the mine prospect I decided to climb up on the hillside and check it out. I've checked it out in the past and so I already knew the mine was only about 20 feet deep but it was still cool to go in again. And looking at the rocks it was obvious to me that they contained quite a bit of minerals like iron and copper, but I guess it wasn't enough to make it worth a full scale mining operation. Getting back to the main canyon I looked for the bighorn again, but unfortunately he had moved on and I was unable to spot him. I made my way back down the wash bed passed Bonita falls and eventually back to the trailhead wrapping up a really fun day of hiking in the eastern San Gabriel mountains.

Lytle creek from the bridge crossing

Blackberries along the creek

Starting up the South fork

Passing by Bonita falls

Spotting the bighorn sheep
(sorry I couldn't get better pictures of it, if you zoom in you can see it)

The creek in the South Fork

Looking up the side canyon

Passing the mine prospect

Poison Oak

Bay nuts

Elderberries

Arriving at the waterfall

Climbing up above the falls

The section I couldn't climb passed
(it's more difficult than it looks)

Back at the base of the falls

Heading back down canyon

Inside the mine prospect

Mineralized rocks at the prospect

Copper minerals

Back at the South Fork creek

Looking up the South Fork

Heading back down the wash bed

Passing back by Bonita falls

Back at Lytle creek

And so until next time...

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into

My California!!

all photos by @derekrichardson

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[//]:# (!worldmappin 34.22987 lat -117.50866 long South Fork Falls d3scr)
World Mappin