u/HikingWiththeHuskies

Saw these while hiking back to the car. Saw other human shoe prints, so maybe just a dog?

Spent a couple days in our local mountains hiking and camping then finishing it off with a restful camp at a dispersed car camping site. Trails were the South Fork Trail in the San Gorgonio Wilderness and Fish Creek Trail road 1N05 which has been closed for years, to vehicles, due to storm damage. While I would never take her on anything dangerous, Mika handled these challenging spots like a champ.

Wanted to take advantage of the long weekend and spend a couple days hiking so I planned two small hikes and, turns out, some car camping.

TL;DR

1N02 still closed… They could fix the beginning easily enough.  The rest is fine until 1N05

1N05 is a mess at the beginning.  Would not be surprised if it did not open again to vehicles.

Trail to Aspen Grove Trailhead easily passable after a few large washouts at the beginning

South Fork Trail in great shape (I only went to Poopout Hill).

Took the spur trail down to the fire road and walked back to the junction and back to the trailhead.

Car camped at East Flats.  Neat place.  

Details for those interested:

Day 1- Packed up Mika and headed up to Heart Bar Campground… or at least the parking area just off the 38.  The gate for 1N02 is still closed.  Not sure why they haven’t opened it.  There is a questionable spot at the beginning, but that seems like it could be fixed relatively easily.  The rest of the way is fine, at least until 1N05. Would save the 1.2 mile hike to 1N05 (or the Coon Creek Yellow Post camps).

Got a late start and started hiking in around 3:30pm.  At the junction, we turned right and started hiking up 1N05, with plans to spend the night somewhere along the road.  I was here almost a year ago so I had an idea what to expect.  The few large washouts at the beginning are intimidating but relatively easy to get through.  Got about 4 miles in and, after not coming to any spots that looked more appealing than the parking area at the Aspen Grove Trailhead, I decided to hike back and camp there.  Was COLD… thermometer said 29f degrees in the morning.  Forecast didn’t mention it being that cold.  

Day 2- Hiked back to the car and drove to South Fork Trailhead.  I pulled a Dry Lake permit but after a sleepless night and being tired from the hike the day before, I knew as soon as we started the South Fork Trail, it was going to be slow going.  Wasn’t really feeling the hike so I decided to call it at Poopout Hill.  I had heard of people taking the fire road from Poopout back to the trail junction but had never tried it.  Found the spur trail that leads to the road and took that back to the junction with South Fork.  Don’t think I recommend taking the fire road.  It’s an easy walk, but twice as long.

Had to decide what to do but didn’t really want to drive home.  One of my last trips in the area, I checked out East Flats dispersed camping area for a future car camping trip.  Figured today would be the day.  A short 1.5 miles or so drive from South Fork and we arrived at East Flats.  

It’s a dispersed camping area.  No reservations, no permits required.  First come, first served.  Depending on your expectations, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. Bumpy, dirt road. Any car can make it back there, assuming that a storm hadn't just gone through.

I found a spot away (enough) from other people and parked.  The spot across from me was much better but it was taken.  I made a mental note to grab that one in the future.  For now, I set up the tent and took a short nap.

As luck would have it, when I got up, the guy in that spot had left.  I quickly took Mika over and tied her to a stump.  Then came back and drove over, then came back and picked up the tent and walked it over.   Must have looked funny with me running back and forth. This was a large area that would easily fit 5 or 6 trucks/ cars.  Luckily no one else came up there.

Pulled out the camp chair, watched a movie, ate some food and, mostly, just decompressed. One group was a little bit too loud, too late (up until 12:30am) but overall it was a good area to camp.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.