My California - The Day Creek Project Part 4

derekrichardson (67)adminin SoCal Steemit • 8 months ago

For this weeks Show Us Your California contest by @socalsteemit I head up into the San Gabriel mountains once again for another trip to...

Day Creek!!

To see how this project has progressed be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!

So once again I decided to head back out to Day creek. And with all the trail work I'd done on my previous trips I felt it was in good enough condition to bring some friends along this time! So me, my buddy Ryan, my buddy Larry(@csusbgeochem1), and my cousin Tyler all loaded up in my truck and headed up the long and bumpy Cucamonga truck trail to the trailhead at the end of the road. From there we tossed on our backpacks and headed down the trail. I got to show off all my trail work and my friends were quite impressed at how much buckthorn I had chopped through. At one point we stopped and I did a little trail work to open up one small area of trail. But I did it quick and we continued on. I didn't want to waste too much time because I wanted to get to camp early enough to have time to hike up to the springs. So we hiked the rest of the trail and got to the camp area and setup our tents and then we headed over to the creek and filled up on water. After that Ryan, Larry, and I headed up the canyon, rock hopping up the main fork of the canyon to the springs where all the water that makes Day creek is gushing right out of the base of the huge cliffs leading up to Cucamonga peak. Water doesn't get any more fresh and pure than this water coming straight out of the rock. We explored around, checking out all the springs, and then just relaxed there for a bit sipping on the fresh spring water and just taking in the awesome scenery. Eventually it was time to head back to camp so we rock hopped back down the canyon and met back up with Tyler at camp. While I do really enjoy camping alone it was fun to have my friends there with me this time. We all made dinner and then just hung out by the campfire talking until it was late and then we all headed off into our tents for the night.

Views from the dirt road

Driving up the Cucamonga truck trail

Views from Buck Point

Starting down the trail

Getting camp setup

At the creek

Rock hopping up canyon to the springs

The main waterfall at the springs

Spring water squirting out of a crack in the cliff

Another waterfall just pouring water out from the cliff

Spring water pouring from the rock

Leaving the springs

Getting back to camp

City Lights

The next morning Larry woke up early and Ryan and I got up shortly after him. We made some breakfast and then got ready for a day hike up to the airplane wreckage that I had found on my last trip up here. Tyler was still asleep and we decided just to let him rest. So Ryan, Larry, and I headed out across the creek to where the old road picks up on the far side of the canyon. We walked out the road a short distance and then picked a spot to start our ascent. The hillside was really steep and it was covered with loose talus and scree. And there was lots of buckthorn patches so our goal was to try to find the route with the least amount of bushwhacking. It was a tough climb up, but we found what is likely the best route possible and avoided most of the buckthorn. Eventually we started seeing pieces of the wreckage and we got to the engine and tail that I had previously found. But from there we were able to see more pieces of wreckage up above us that I hadn't seen last time. So we climbed up even higher finding more and more pieces. It was really cool, but it was also quite tiring trudging up the steep and loose slope. And at a certain point, although there were still more pieces even higher, it came time for us to turn around and head back down. On the descent we had had a few challenges re-following our route and had to do a little more bushwhacking, but we figured it out and got on track and back down to the road and back across the creek to our camp where we re-met with Tyler. Then we finished packing up camp and headed back up the trail to the trailhead and then back down the truck trail and back home wrapping up another great trip!