4/29/21 Another trip down San Mateo Canyon, this time starting from the Fisherman's Camp trailhead and making it almost to the Indian Potrero trail. Over 13 miles and 2,000' of gain on a hot but beautiful day.
1 Getting ready to start out from the Fisherman's Camp trailhead. It was a much warmer day than I was anticipating.
2 Heading down San Mateo Canyon almost to Bluewater. It's green, grassy, and getting overgrown in places.
3 Made it to the creek crossing with almost as much water as last time we were here.
4 I love the green canopy above the creek winding down the bottom of the canyon.
5 Lush, green, and overgrown. This is Southern CA?
6 Dad decides to take the easy way by wading across this creek. I on the other hand decided to go for a little swim. The light brown stuff on the rocks is some sort of moss and it's slick as ice. I wiped out, plunged into the water, and then wiped out a couple more times trying to get up. I was drenched, but fortunately it was a warm day.
7 After getting dunked, I check out the map to try to figure out what creek we just crossed.
8 The trail gets a little narrow and dicey here. Perfect.
9 It seemed like we must be getting really close to the Indian Potrero trail, but we were getting short on time and still hadn't made it. So, we decided to stop here.
10 I continued on for a little ways trying to find Portero. The trail got really narrow along the bank of the creek. Either I lost the trail, or it was getting near impossible to follow, so I headed back to Dad.
11 Heading back now through the narrow section.
12 A creek crossing on the way back.
13 One of the many nice foliage tunnels along the way.
14 Dad heading up one of the many rolling uphills on the way back, with the creek and green canopy below.
15 Heading back through the lush green meadows.
16 The trail gets a little hard to follow in places, which makes this area of oak and meadow all the better.
17 Dad takes a little break at Fisherman's Camp before heading up the switchbacks on this very warm day.
18 I relax for a while as well. Soon we would be back at the car in time to head into Murrieta for some Salmon pizza. We hadn't seen another human all day. End to another great day in the Santa Anas!
