Fishermans Camp

[Hikin_Jim]

I headed over to Fishermans Camp in the Santa Ana Mountains yesterday. Not much in the way of water, but lots of nice wildflowers. Here's my write up if anyone's interested: Fishermans Camp.

This was kind of a big deal since this was my first hike since I sprained my knee in February. It felt pretty good although I'll be taking it easy for a while yet.

The most interesting flower I saw was this peony, which is fairly rare:



But there were also cool things (albeit a bit more common) like paintbrush:


As well as flowers I couldn't identify:


The red monkey flowers were something I hadn't really seen before.


I'm used to orange only:


More unidentified:




Joyce seemed to enjoy the outing:




She can be a goofball, but I sure like hiking with her:


We also worked in a visit to Nomad Ventures in Temecula, a fun treat. Nomad Ventures is one of the few true gear shops left in Southern California. It's really nice stuff, stuff for serious hikers who want a step up from the "mass market" gear of REI. And there's a member off this forum who works there, which is really why we went, the gear shop just being the icing on the cake. Be sure you look up the address for Nomad Ventures before you go. There's no sign out front (and they stay in business how?), so you just have to look for outdoor gear in the windows. It's worth finding though.


HJ

[Ellen]

Howdy HJ

NICE!!! Also glad that Sally was working at Nomad when you visited

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Hikin_Jim]

It was fun to drop in, and it's a really nice shop besides.

HJ

[Hikin_Jim]

A couple more photos.

Wilderness boundary and miss extrovert:


If only I could put time in a bottle.


And how do you spell "motivation?" Promise 'em ice cream of course.


If I don't have to carry her, then she gets ice cream.

HJ

[Andy]

Hi Jim,
glad you had a good outing with your daughter and found some great flowers to shoot. I did an overnight trip about 9 miles down San Mateo canyon this past Christmas and was surprised by the large pools of water still further down canyon. That's a great remote hike that I highly recommend to anyone looking for anyone not intimidated by Mountain Lion tracks

Thanks again for the report and hope your knee is 100% soon.

[Hikin_Jim]

Hi, Andy,

That lower stretch of San Mateo Creek is on my "to do" list for next winter. We need to get some rain (and therefore water) before I'm going to want to do it.

Did you see the map I created? The spot I've labeled at "4th Junction" is pretty remote assuming there's no public access from the Cold Spring Area. I don't really know if Cold Spring is off limits, but even if it is accessible to the public, I doubt it's used much.

Exploring down stream off trail would be really interesting too, although you can't go far because you'll be on the Marine base before you know it.

HJ

[Andy]

Jim,

I camped at the junction of East Clark Canyon. My original plan was to head up to Cold Springs but the I ran out of time and only went about a mile up that spur, which was surprisingly very well maintained. As for access from the Cold Spring area, my research points to no. The area is behind private property and I saw quite a few references to "sketchy", "The hills have eyes" type references. In other words, I'd leave it as a last resort and even then, I'd keep a low profile from the locals. I also went down stream about a half mile (walking with a hot cup of coffee ) so all I can say to that is that it is trail-less but definitely doable. If I were to do it again, I'd probably base-camp in the same area and add a third day for some more recon time.

Overall the trip was one of my recent favorites. I didn't see anyone after leaving the trailhead and saw little signs of recent visitors once a few miles downstream. As I'm sure you've read the trail is somewhat difficult to follow further down canyon, the most troublesome being the numerous stream crossings. Fortunately most of these are marked with either white survey posts or ducked fairly well. Only one time on my way back, did I miss a turn off and ended up having to trudge up canyon to the next trail access point. The availability of filterable water was actually quite abundant with large pools of water (tenajas) found every half mile or so along the canyon. I've always loved the classic Oak/Sycamore/granite canyons of the southwest and this has got to be one of the best and pristine I've ever seen. I didn't see any exciting wildlife per se but there were quite a few tracks of deer and big cats, one of which I surmised was a pursuit down the trail! After setting up camp I found what looked like Mt Lion scat about 20 Yards from my tent... Hey, at least it would make for an interesting epitaph right?

Here are some pics from my trip. Sorry for the lack of descriptions, but if you look through them in order it'll give you a pretty good idea of the route; pretty much an in/out from the Tenja Falls trailhead.

http://s1137.photobucket.com/user/AndyKrumm/library/San%20Mateo%20Canyon

[Hikin_Jim]

I camped at the junction of East Clark Canyon.

Awesome. That's about where I'd like to go. Good to know that there are campable spots there.

My original plan was to head up to Cold Springs but the I ran out of time and only went about a mile up that spur, which was surprisingly very well maintained.

Interesting. I doubt it's the broke FS that's doing it. Must be locals. Crying out for exploration.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably base-camp in the same area and add a third day for some more recon time.

That's the ticket. One day to hike in, one day to hike out, one day to explore. For me, since I live on the west side, I'd like to hike in from Ortega via (possibly) the Lucas Canyon and Clark Trails or alternatively the Bear and Bluewater Trails. Water is the big question mark. Don't think I'd go now, although I bet you could find something in the tenajas.

Here are some pics from my trip. Sorry for the lack of descriptions, but if you look through them in order it'll give you a pretty good idea of the route; pretty much an in/out from the Tenja Falls trailhead. http://s1137.photobucket.com/user/AndyKrumm/library/San%20Mateo%20Canyon

Haven't had a chance to check them out yet -- but I will.

HJ