East fork San Gabriel river overnite, Vincent Gap to East Fork trailhead

Stats:

14 miles one way, 3200 ft. elevation loss

Description:

We are meetingat the East fork trailhead at 8 am and proceeding with the shuttle from there.

The headwaters of the East Fork of the San Gabriel river start at Vincent Gulch. Going downstream, it is fed by tributaries such as Prarrie Fork, Fish Fork, Iron Fork, And Allison Gulch. Eventually it leads to the Narrows and the Bridge to Nowhere, and out to east fork trailhead.

Trail Description:

You willget your feet wet on this hike!

The trail from Vincent Gap down to the gulch is easy to follow. Once you get to Prarrie Fork though, the trail disappears in spots ant much of the route is cross country from there, however; it is nearly impossible to get lost, we just need to follow the river downstream. As we near Iron Fork, we will begin to pick up the trail again, and once we get to the stone house, we will be back on trail. (those of you who attended my first hike here with this group will remember the stone hut). From there, the trail threads through the narrows to the Bridge to Nowhere, then out on the bridge trail.

Campsites and side trips:

There are numerous places we can spend the night, such as Fish Fork, Iron Fork, And the narrows, but I would like to stay near Iron fork for a couple of reasons, #1 being that at that point we would be more than halfway through the hike, the bridge is only about 2 miles from Iron Fork, but also, if we have time and energy in the morning, we can either go up Iron Fork to explore or look for the Stanley-Miller mine, and still have enough time to pack up and have an easy hike out before dark.

Physical Requirements:

If you are doing some of the hikes with this group, more than likely, you meet the physical requirements, except for carrying a heavier pack.

Gear requirements:

Aside from the gear you should be normally carrying on a day hike, ie. 10 essentials, first aid kit, water filter, etc. there are other items that should be a no duh! but Im listing them anyways: Tent, ( sounds like a no brainer, but when I was a beginning backpacker I made the mistake of sleeping under the stars on the East Fork, got harrased by all kinds if creepy-crawlers but the worst were the centipedes ), sleeping bag, pad, stove, etc. + something to keep your food away from the critters.

I do have gear I can lend out to outfit 1 person on this trip if anybody is interested, it includes a pack, sleeping bag and mat, tent, and stove.

Transportation and logistics:

This is the one point where I need group input. Since this trip requires an across range shuttle, I would like to have some kind of discussion group with everyone who is going. If we need to, we could leave vehicles at either trailhead, but if possible, it would be best to leave our cars at the lower trailhead and get dropped off at the upper.

Ill discuss this more with everyone, aside from that fact, I would like to do this trip in mid October.