I think both should still have a good amount of water now given the rains this year. On a drought year I'd be a little more skeptical. These were both a good time!
It's a wild area! The cabin is pretty neat and the waterholes are great too. It looks like it got damaged at some point. I've stumbled upon some other spots people have set up like this. It's always wild to see what people wind up brining to these secluded spots.
Free and clear here! The Fire Station Trail is fun! Love that poison oak section. Last time, I picked up three water bottles from Pendry's West Hollywood boutique hotel! No seriously tho I love night hiking, this time of year tho I hear it if I'm too late coming back :-)
Nice, when I went I grabbed a bunch of trash like some jack in the box rappers, napkins, bottles... but there was more trash at the parking area near the Forest Service Station than I could fit in my bag. I also had to dodge that poison oak going down, but thankfully it wan't completely overgrown. It's that time of year.
@@nature_exploring BOOM! Come join the Takataka Club on Tuesday mornings! They do bigger Saturday cleanups too. You just might be the best we have in the San Gabriels in the canyon’s! Keep on trucking Carl Swindle!
@@ZacharyObama Neat, does the Takataka Club have a page? What time on Tuesdays? I usually have work to do. Saturdays are better, but this coming Saturday is my only free day in the area this week so I'll probably explore some canyon or something in the San Gabes.
Awesome, I don't have a pet, but this time of year we get them out on the trail and even in the city in parts of LA, so I wind up seeing them a bit. Ghost mantises look pretty wild compared to these guys.
That's a thought, I thought it was a mole because of the noise it made and it's size and color, but I didn't really get a good look at it's front half (enough to know it wasn't a gopher and it was too big to be a shrew)
What a scare with that mountain lion ! We saw one once on a trail years ago on an Ortega highway trail. That was unnerving! It stared at us for a moment and decided we were not prey and he went on his way . Too close for comfort!!!
They're intense to stumble upon. This was by far the closest experience I've had with one. I'm happy it was my last day on the trail for that trip. I'd feel a little funny camping out right after getting that close. Being late summer in Los Padres, I didn't even bring a tent - just slept in a light sleeping bag with a pad under the stars.
It was great! There were so many more I wasn't able to grab. For every one I snagged, there must have been at least 20 I saw but didn't catch. They're quick swimmers.
Nice! Yeah, it's very out of the ordinary (even if you know they're around). That area is wild! I've seen tracks out along bear creek but no cougar yet. I need to get back out that way again soon.
God job hunting theses ones down. There're definitely better mines in the eastern half and in the front range of the san gabriels, but it's still cool to find these little ones. Btw right at the parking area for limerock canyon are the ruins of a limekiln. It's in that fenced off area right next to the road. There's a big chimney built into the ground. I believe it's from the 1890s or so.
Nice, I think I might have seen it but I'm not sure. I'll definitely poke around a little more next time I'm out there. There are definitely some great mines out East. Pacoima canyon has some of the better ones I've seen in the Western Range, but it was neat checking out these. I'm sure there are more in Pacoima canyon that I haven't found yet, so I might try and poke around that area a little more in the future. That second one you found in Nehr Canyon was pretty awesome.
I've heard of the hope ranch volcano. I was actually there maybe a month or two ago. It was smoking quite a bit. I've heard it gets hot from the sulfide minerals oxidizing, which releases a lot of heat. I've never seen one at More Mesa. The vent I'm talking about is between Hendry's beach and More Mesa. It's pretty wild!
@@jfranklin9549 yeah it's a neat spot! the first time I went by it when it flared up a few years ago it was hard to breath when I got close, recently it's been more mild, but it was still smoking a bunch
Back in the late 60 and early 70's the pool was deep enough to swim in easily. My friends and I would skinny dip there often and camp out at the 2nd falls with the slide. Now it is usually just so overrun . The last time I made the hike there were easily 100 people and the litter and graffiti was so disappointing
I can imagine the Nature Center with all of the buildings and parking would be closed, but I've never seen signs preventing access at night via Altadena Crest or Pinecrest. I rarely go from the Nature Center Route.
@@nature_exploring On the Pinecrest Gate! Just good not to encourage people and also gives wildlife a chance to roam. I think they had an early morning closure the other day in the AM because mountain lions were seen near the waterfall per social media. I gotta hit it up next week to pickup more trash!
@@ZacharyObama I heard around the mountain lions after I went. It's crazy that that was a couple of days ago, but it's hard to stay on top of everything. I didn't see that it was closed on pinecrest but there was a sign about the gate locking, which I've never seen even at odd hours. I definitely don't want to encourage people to go there at night and trash the place or anything. My hope is that this channel will attract more conservationist-types of people and less vandals who trash and destroy these areas. I may take this one down in the future if it looks like it's getting a lot of views. I've done it before for certain videos in the past. Also, it's really awesome to see you taking the trash bag to clean up a lot of these spots. I recently saw a bunch of trash at the route to the Vogel Canyon Waterfall near Tujunga and there was some trash people left near the waterfall here. I think I'm going to start driving around with a trash bag or bringing one with me too! While many of the areas I go are relatively untouched, some certainly have more litter. I've seen other people like lopezexplora and hikebytes doing that too!
@@nature_exploring BOOM! No worries. But def a concern since Eaton is so close! I think it’s an area closure sign but will grab a pic next time I’m there. Started doing the trash thing awhile back. It gets tiring but better feel leaving the place clean if you can. Ran into one other person cleaning up Eaton last time. Just pack a bag and grab on the way out! Some places have more than others of course! And I love the sunset/nighttime descent from Henninger!
@@hikebytes It's a nice spot to visit at night due to the heat these days. The story was pretty wild (I got back at like 4am or something and I was super sleepy - they wanted to keep me around for a little just to give some people my account of the event). I still need to look for the link to the news article, but Im happy I was able to find the RU-vid video. FYI, the Nature Center route might be closed at night, but I've gone through Altadena Crest and Pinecrest.
@@hikebytes I go out at night less these days. I used to go out a night bunch around the pandemic, when I sort of inverted my work schedule, but I had a bunch of Zoom meetings I needed to wake up for. It was a funny time, but at least I was there when someone needed me. Sometimes I'll start a day trip very early in the morning, but that's about it these days. I figure I might do one short night trip maybe once a week or every two weeks (nothing that will ruin my sleep schedule). It was nice to get out and you do get a very different perspective.
Love the spot!!! There's one upstream too a little ways I saw flowing a while back after the rains from Gabrielino. I'm not sure if that one's also Long Canyon Falls
This is a waterfall you get close to if you take Gabrielino further down to Arroyo Seco. Upper Switzer Falls is nice with a lot of flow now. I wanted to climb up to the upper falls, but when I arrived that day at the lower falls, there were two people on the rope, one climbing while the other person was waiting in the middle. It was 7:30 AM but already crowded there. The upper falls are nice and definitely worth checking out, but I felt like doing something a little different and I didn't want to wait around for them to finish climbing.
@@nicoleandjoshbaldwin4228 Bear Canyon is great too. I love the river on the way up to the campsite and past it to that old cabin structure and even up to the Tom Sloane Saddle. If you haven't been, Idlehour camp is really nice too, and the trail is pretty quiet. There might be a lot of poison oak out there now though.
@@nicoleandjoshbaldwin4228 Oakwilde is nice too. I've taken Dark Canyon from CCC ridge and found all sorts of cabin ruins on the way. It's a neat trail.
Dang, I should have gotten them for you. I think I saw you post that on istagram, but it slipped my mind when I was there. They're in the jumping pool right (I think I call it the fourth pool in the video)?
@@nature_exploring Correct! It’s a solid 10 foot dive down there! Now I’m going to have to search Royal Gorge for part of a waterproof cellphone case :) That slide is definitely more than I can handle. Still free shades lol!😂
@@ZacharyObama The slide is fun, I'm bummed out that I dropped half of the case somewhere. It's passed royal pool down the gorge. I think I know roughly where it is but I couldn't find it. There was another pools I soaked in (not in the video) and I think I dropped it after that and before the snake I filmed (I left the zipper open on the case that was holding it by mistake).
Awesome, I'll try to see if I can find some better mines here too in the future. Forgotten mining history (the RU-vid channel) found a really neat one in Nehr canyon, but I need to spend a little more time there to locate it (this was pretty quick). If you haven't been to the dutch louie tunnel in Pacoima Canyon, that one is pretty nice, and goes back further than these.
They're great! Royal pool was awesome! I went back to some of the videos you made a while back. I didn't realize it was 4.5 miles away but I guess the fact that it's along the creek in the shade makes it nice even with the wading, rock hopping, and bushwhacking.
I was just looking at one of Jesse St Louis's videos and he said it was about 4.5 miles. It didn't feel too bad because it was all along a creek and mostly in the shade, but it did require a bit of wading and bushwhacking at times.
It was amazing!!! It's definably worth it but a little more effort than some of the other pools in the area. Jesse St Louis made some great videos few years ago on this spot. Also, unless you want to do the full loop, I suggest bringing a rope. I kind of wish I had, but I still had a great time in the pool.
@@hikebytes It's a pretty long trail, it would neat to try and do the whole thing at once. I think Silver Moccasin is also like that but goes even further.
It's nice to get there early on the weekends. I have friends who go often, and I might try to join them for a full day sometime when it gets a little cooler.
We can't believe you went in the dark! That hill was so sketchy steep going down in the daylight! We were slipping and sliding! Great hot springs and such a nice pool to cool off in when it gets too hot!
Yeah, it was super steep, but manageable with my lights. The pools were amazing! I'm staying somewhere that's about 30 minutes closer to this trail this weekend, so it made sense to do it now to save about an hour of driving. That being said, it's summer so I didn't want to climb back up when it's too hot. I'll probably go back in the fall when it cools down and perhaps spend the good part of a day there. I'd love to explore more of the creek too.
I think it's about 2.6 miles from the route I took (Bradford Ridge Path), but it's very steep and slippery right before you reach the PCT (I still think it's worth it, but I would try to avoid hiking back in extreme heat). I think hiking in from Bowen Ranch is about 2 miles and is less slippery and steep, but may be more of a drive if you're coming from the LA area and isn't free (you have to pay for parking there). You could hike in from the PCT, but I heard that's little longer.
@@miss.behave Any time! Remember that the route I took has a very steep/slippery section. This section is not very long, but it's good to be prepared for in advance.
It's a great spot! I need to go more often. I have a few friends that go here frequently. I may join them in the future just to get out here more. The morning was great too!
The road was nice, but I went down Bradford Ridge Path, which is the steepest but shortest drive from where I'm at. I think most other people either came from Bowen Ranch, the PCT, or the other rout. It was really nice, even with how steep it was getting there and coming back!
Yeah, where I'm at this weekend the drive is a little shorter so I decided to go. It was amazing, but I'd like to go in November or December when it's cool and hopefully before the snow. I love the area!
I may have been around there at some point, but I haven't made a video about it. There are also some near one on Mendenhall Ridge that I might make a video os sometime. I need to go back to the western section more near Pacoima and Little Tujunga. I went a bunch the first ~2-3 years I lived in LA, but less so in the least ~3 years.
It's a great area! I was thinking about doing one accessing Pacoima Reservoir. There are more mines and ruins in this area I know of as well that could be neat to make videos of. I explored the area a lot before I started making videos consistently.
Thanks! This one's nice. I love the Surprise Mine and the the Las Flores mines in this area. There are certainly more out there that I need to look for.
Reminds me of the time me and my brother went backpacking into Cougar Canyon, near the Cogswell Reservoir. It was 2 day journey. Didn't see a single soul out there the entire time. We had to duck our way through miles of overgrown trail. Found the ruins of an old picnic area. So much bush-wacking and dense brush that when we made it out of the canyon and the trail was clear, my mind and body was still wincing at the shadows of leaves and branches coming towards me. It's like the brush got burned into my mind. I even had the visuals persist as I was driving out the forest on highway 2.
That sounds wild! I'm not sure which one cougar canyon is, but I've taken the trail shortcut saddle down to the west fork and bushwhacked out to Cogswell in late 2018 I think. I didn't see anyone for ~20 miles the whole day. When I got to the reservoir, it was completely empty but the canyon walls were pretty wild and I actually got to right behind the dam. This was before I was making videos and a little after I moved to the LA area. I still have some pictures of that day and I remember it well. I'm not sure if it's opened yet due to the bobcat fire, but I love that area. I'd say that the delta that leads to the reservoir is pretty similar to this area.
