Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Sometimes it's nice to be able to find hikes that are suitable for families with small children. This past weekend, my family and I went and did the lower Fish Creek Loop which is just outside the SGW.

There's still some fall color out.


And there's lots of fun things to do for the little hikers in your crew.


If you're interested, I've put together one of my trip report/trail guides: Lower Fish Creek Loop – Family Hike.

I've also included some notes for how to take a nice two or three day backpacking trip from the same trail head (Lost Creek Trail).

HJ

Hikin_Jim wrote:This past weekend, my family and I went and did the lower Fish Creek Loop which is just outside the SGW.

On the far side of this crossing, you'll soon enter an interesting area full of equisetum ("horse tail" reed).



We always refer to this as "dinosaur grass" because the weird joints remind us of something pre-floral

It is pretty primitive stuff according to what I've read. Don't know why it grows there, but I haven't seen a lot of it elsewhere in the SGW area.

HJ

nice write up jim. always wondered about this area while driving up to b. bear.

It's a neat area, often overlooked except when the fall colors show.

HJ

Hello Jim,

Sounds like another good day with the whole HJ crew; thanks for the writeup.

That is a good family hiking area for both ends of the age spectrum. The trails are friendly for young and old, with forest features to keep most folks interested; the few times we've visited we had the area virtually to ourselves. Too soon we'll all be old and creaky.

(Oh yeah, don't forget to highlight for everyone that there is LOTS of stinkweed and year-round biting insects....move along.... ;)

BTW there are eleventy zillion factoids about horsetail reeds/ ethnobotany, evolution, etc, which were much harder to read up on pre-internet. (e.g. cooking pot scouring, courtesy of the silicates contents, stove-Sensei!) We've had them as natives in the backyard since we moved in almost 20 years ago. (cyclical fluorishing with higher precip years). I'm always delighted to see them anywhere in the wild, a primitive genus which has avoided extinction.

kind regards,
arocknoid

arocknoid wrote:Sounds like another good day with the whole HJ crew; thanks for the writeup.

Lotsa fun.

don't forget to highlight for everyone that there is LOTS of stinkweed and year-round biting insects.

Hmm. Interesting. I haven't encountered either here. The worst insects I've encountered are over on the Momyer and Vivian Creek Trails -- lots of annoying gnats.

There are eleventy zillion factoids about horsetail reeds (e.g. cooking pot scouring, courtesy of the silicates contents, stove-Sensei!) I'm always delighted to see them anywhere in the wild, a primitive genus which has avoided extinction.

They really are a good scouring tool. You can scrub a dark, dull penny with one, and it will come out shiny new (albeit pretty scratched up). They are a really cool plant. It's neat to see "fields" of them over in Fish Creek.

HJ

"Surely (I) must be jesting!"

sorry, Jim, I thought the winkiecon made it clear re: bugs. And, yikes, did I really say is? My grammar are bad!

kind regards,
da noid

Sometimes, alas, I miss the subtle.

HJ

arocknoid wrote:stove-Sensei!

I thought it was map-sama