JPL HIKING CLUB
/hiking/hiking.html
MIDDLE ARROYO SECO DAY HIKE
Saturday, April 26, 1997
LEADER: Jim Carter, 818-393-7890 (work)
818-248-6551 (home)
CLASSIFICATION: (Easy + Difficult) = moderate,
6.5 miles, 1000 ft. gain.
DESCRIPTION: So you think the lower San Gabriels
are nothing but steep hot brushy mountainsides
and poison oak? Look a little closer.
Just as Homo sapiens suddenly grew out of the demise
of our long-lived predecessors, Homo erectus, the
middle Arroyo Seco gorge has recently (geologically
speaking) cut a gorge, complete with hanging valleys,
into the old gentle pre-Pleistocene landscape. Now you
find not only the usual dry, brushy mountainsides
sloping to narrow, brush-choked canyon bottoms, but also
a deep, dark, green refuge housing a major watercourse
of the central San Gabriels. On this hike we'll see both
extremes: the brushy mountainsides as we leave Switzer's,
and the hidden inner gorge which shelters the true
primordial green. Walking along under this shelter is
the real reason for this hike. Paralleling the perennial
creek for a mile, the trail leads to the site of Oakwilde
Resort, now a campground and a good place to sit for a
while. There is a new unmaintained trail that scrambles
up the inevitable dry, brushy mountainside to our cars.
ITINERARY: We'll meet on Angeles Crest Highway about a
block above the I-210 underpass at 9:00 AM. We then car
pool to Milepost 28.86, the end of our hike, where we
leave half of our cars. In the other half of our cars
we drive to Switzer's Day Use Area and park. Next we
walk down the gated road to the day use area, rock-hop
across the creek 6 times to Switzer's Campground, up the
brushy mountainside past Switzer's Falls, and down to the
mouth of Long Canyon. When we cross the top of a waterfall,
we know we're finally in the Arroyo Seco inner gorge. It's
only another gentle mile to Oakwilde, but we won't be in a
hurry because of the greenery and good swimming. Oakwilde
would be a good place for lunch. Afterwards we climb 800 ft.
up the narrow, steep trail 0.8 mile to our cars at MP 28.86.
The only poison oak I've seen here is along this short trail,
so don't stray away from it.
MEETING TIME AND PLACE: 9:00 AM 4/26/97, on the Angeles Crest
Highway (State Highway 2) in La Canada about a block above
the I-210 underpass. We carpool from there. We'll need at
least two cars so we can leave one at each end of the hike.
CONTACT: Please call the leader by Thursday, 4/24/97, so we
know how many to expect.
BRING: Water (Arroyo Seco Creek is neither seco nor
chlorinated), rain gear, sturdy hiking shoes which are OK
to get wet, lunch, snacks, and the ability to recognize poison
oak.