2012 - Whitewater Canyon Ridge Loop

The ridge loop hike was one of the hikes that we attempted last November and we missed the trail head so armed with new information we started out with 12 people and 3 dogs in our group.  My dog Chip was leading and he got us lost right away as we headed up an old burnt out trail. (have to blame it on someone)

Once we arrived at the top of the first ridge we ran out of trail but the new trail was easily found and we were off up to the top.  The trail was just over 3.5 miles long and the elevation gain was over 600 ft.  All the references say that it is an easy trail but most in our group were thinking that it was more effort than easy.

The views from the top of the ridge gave us a good appreciation for the force of water on the rock and vegetation down in the canyon.

View south toward Palm Springs

The Ranger Station is nestled in the greenery at the far side of the canyon.

I am not sure when this small fire happened but there was some evidence of plants coming back.

This zoomed-in view of San Jacinto mountains also shows part of the huge wind farm that overwhelms the pass coming into Palm Springs.

At the top of the ridge there is a fence to keep people to the left of the ridge.  The drop to the right is very sudden and is just out of view.

There were hundreds of Brittle Bush in the area but this one was the only one in bloom.

Ridge trail view looking north up the canyon.  There are three canyons and creeks that feed into the main canyon that makes up the Whitewater river.

This small evergreen is part of the coastal forest and ends on this side of the canyon.  The other side of the canyon totally different vegetation.

View of the pond at the ranger station.  This was the site of an old fish farm and there are still trout in the ponds.

My faithful dog Chip returning after checking out the small evergreens.

The zig-zag route down off the ridge was certainly steeper than the route up.

The route down was shaded enough so these ferns and grasses could survive.

Chip is leading the way down into the canyon.

Fording the river is made easy with these bridges.

 

This is one of the fish that gets to swim around in the ponds.  The only fishing allowed is when they run a special program for children.  This fish was at least 16 - 18 inches long.