Coldwater Canyon!!

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During my trip to Stockton Flats about a month ago I had hiked up a trail that was overlooking Coldwater canyon. I'd been up Coldwater with a couple buddies about a decade or more ago and I remembered it being a fun trip. So while I was on that trail overlooking it I decided that despite it being partially burned up from a wildfire I wanted to go back and check it out. So last week I got my backpack all packed up and ready for an overnight trip and headed out. I headed up the north fork of Lytle creek up passed the shooting range and onto the dirt road. The junction for Coldwater was kinda hard to find because the first part is hardly a road and you really just have to drive across the rocky wash bed and then find the road on the far side. The road was pretty rough but I was able to make it to the lower yellow post sites just before the creek crossing. I parked there because I knew after the crossing was where the road gets extremely rough. When I came here with my friends a decade ago they had a really nice decked out Jeep and we actually drove all the way up, but it was tough even for the Jeep so I knew my 2wd 4Runner wouldn't stand a chance.

I tossed on my pack, headed down across the creek, and then started the steep climb up the road. It wasn't a long hike, only about 2 miles or so, but it was very steep and rocky and had a lot of burned areas that didn't have much shade making it a hot sweaty hike. Slowly but surely I made my way up the road eventually arriving at the plateau where the upper campsites are. I set down my pack and walked around the area checking out all the options and ultimately decided to setup my camp at the main official yellow post site due to the nice metal fire ring, the perfectly distanced trees for hanging my hammock, and the nearby views looking out over the canyon and far out towards the Cajon Pass and the high desert.

Driving up the north fork

Looking up Coldwater canyon from where I parked

Crossing the creek

The road

Arriving at the plateau

The yellow post site

Views looking out towards the high desert

After camp was setup and my food was properly hung up in a tree, my next task was getting water. One thing I had misremembered from my previous trip up here was how far up above the main creek the camp was. And getting down there seemed quite treacherous if not totally impossible. But luckily just above the plateau there was a side canyon coming in and I could hear water flowing there. So I got my bucket and headed up the road into the side canyon and filled up some water and hauled it back to camp. Now that all the important tasks were done I decided to grab my gold pan and head back to the small creek and try a little prospecting. This little creek drains down from an area called Gold Ridge up by the Baldy Notch which was a site for lots of gold mining in the late 1800's which you can read all about in John W. Robinsons great book 'Mines of the San Gabriels'. So I figure there is some potential for finding gold there. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time and I only got to test a few pans, all of which did not produce any gold. But despite that I do still think there is some potential. Before heading back to camp I hiked a little further up the road, which I'm thinking was originally an old mining road, and from there I could see that the road climbed up high on the hillside on the far side of the canyon. So I figured the next day I'd hike up it and see what I could find, but with the last light quickly diminishing it was time for me to head back to camp, get the campfire going, and enjoy a nice peaceful night in the mountains.

Kicking back in my hammock

Camp

Prospecting

All the gold I found in my pan (none, lol)

Wildflowers by the creek

Looking up canyon towards Telegraph peak

Campfire

City lights views

In the morning I woke up just after sunrise. I made some breakfast and then headed out for a morning hike. I followed the road back up into the side canyon, passing the small creek and heading up the canyon a short distance. From there the road switchbacked a couple times up onto the southwestern side of the canyon and then cut steeply up and across the rocky slope. After about a mile or so the road came to an abrupt end. I stopped and sat down for a snack break enjoying the views. While I was sitting there I noticed several sheets of corrugated metal and some metal pipes scattered on the hillside below the road. Then I noticed that just before the end of the road there appeared to be the remnants of an old path switchbacking up above the road. There wasn't much left of it, and a few sections were pretty sketchy, but I was able to follow it up to what I believe was an old mining prospect. It's hard to tell for sure, but my guess was that they worked it a little, but then upon an assay abandoned it. But who knows it could've been worked more than I think. There could even potentially be an adit buried there. And I'm pretty sure the sheet metal I saw below, much of which was bent into a 'U' shape, was probably used for an ore chute to get the material from the mine down to the road. But who knows, I haven't been able to find any info about it online, so I could be completely wrong. Either way it made for a fun hike. After checking it all out I headed back down the road and back to camp. Before packing up camp I relaxed in my hammock for awhile just enjoying the cool breeze and then I headed back down the road. Which was much easier than going up it. And fairly quickly I got back to my truck wrapping up another awesome awesome trip in the San Gabriel mountains!!

Morning at camp