Vivian Creek Trail to San Gorgonio

This is a trip report for a hike to San Gorgonio Mountains via the Vivian Creek trail along with some interesting observations and events. The trailhead is reached by passing through Forest Falls and parking in the parking lot at the end of the paved road. There are plenty of signs to indicate trailhead parking. Follow a dirt road about ¼ mile and another sign indicates the trailhead or at least the direction. At this point, cross the boulder strewn wash to the other side of the canyon. A sign directly across is the start of the trail.

Our hiking group this morning had 5 people. Three of us have been hiking for over a year and we are very familiar with each other and our habits. Two of my hiking buddies also brought friends with them. I was a bit nervous as to the condition and abilities of the guests as this was not an easy trail. One of the friends T for now was a finish carpenter that also was a mountain biker and looked fit, descent hiking shoes and prepared. The other friend D had ok shoes and properly outfitted as well. I did however notice a small tear on the rear shoe of D. I casually mentioned this and he indicated that it was nothing. We clad ourselves in our warm cloths. D had a straw hat, nylon under shirt, cotton tee shirt with a heavy flannel shirt on the outside. T had two nylon shirts and a acrylic looking outer sweatshirt with zipper.

We started up the first part of Vivian Creek and for those that don’t know the trail, it is nearly straight up for just less than a mile. The trail switchbacks on the side of a steep canyon and seems to go on forever. The persistent is rewarded with a nice meadow, small stream ( seasonal ) and a flat walk past the first campground, very pretty, quiet and peaceful. The next section was a more or less flat trail that followed the stream. Like the previous section, this section offered a very nice setting below a canopy of trees. Our spirits where high. We were talking and joking knowing that more difficult parts of the trail lay ahead of us. We passed halfway camp ( not really half way ) and started up a more exposed set of switchbacks that overlooked a canyon filled with green shrubs and some nice views.

In the next section of the trail, our party walked through a narrow section that had thorny bushes on each site. Attention was required to pass this section without too many scrapes on my bare legs as I was wearing only shorts. A moderate descent let to a flatter section of the trail that leads around a ridge to high camp. During this section however, the small tear on D’s shoe became larger at first and eventually ripped to the point that the sole was flapping around. Not a good thing at this point. He pulled to the side for some emergency repairs. After a brief discussion, I found that nobody had any duct tape. ( more on the necessity of duct tape later ) I usually carry a 6-8’ piece of rope for certain emergencies like this. Too my shock, the rope was not in my bag. The next best thing I thought of was to use the drawstring of my warm up pants to bind the boot. After a few minutes of binding, re-arranging shoelaces we where back on the trail.

I followed D to make sure the repairs where holding. They seemed to be working. One of my friends and I started to worry a bit as a trail like this would easily eat up a pair of boots like this. We continued to watch and worry a bit more about D and his boots. He was eating a lot and seemed to be laboring a bit. This section of the trail is rocky, moderately steep and exposed more than the previous sections. After a tune up of the boots to tighten the bindings, our group made it too the high camp area. There was a nice waterfall just as we entered the flat area. There were only a few patches of snow up to this point. Nothing to worry about and took less than one or two steps to cross. We stopped for a bit to refuel and water. I noticed that the wild flowers where just coming into bloom at this altitude. The trail runs in this area runs through the north side of the meadow and was covered by the stream in several areas. There are two strips of bright pink tape placed on trees that indicate the general path. I followed the stream bed as I had good waterproof boots. This seemed most like the trail anyway. The other hikers in the group navigated around the mushy parts, the wet parts and the like. I was worried about D as any water in the exposed boot would mean a very hard rest of the trip. He seemed to get through dry. I took another look at the boots and noticed that the other boot was starting to rip where the upper part attached to the lower part. It was just about to separate I think. After another emergency repair using pieced of string, parts of an extra long lace, that boot was also usable…. Barely.

And now for a brief note about duct tape. From this point on to the end of the trip, we started to ask fellow hikers if they had any duct tape we could borrow to use for boot repair. About 1 out of 4 hikers had good tape of some sort. All of the hikers that had duct tape had wrapped the tape around their hiking poles near the handle. What a great idea. We could immediately tell from this point on who the experienced hikers where just by looking for the tape wrapped around the poles. We had two hikers contribute to the repairs. D’s boots looked like a football players with their shoes taped for a game. Needless to say, I will always bring duct tape with me from now on and wrap it around my pole so I look like a seasoned hiker.

This section of Vivian Creek is a flat meadow area with lush vegetation. A spring at the top of the valley is the source. You can see the stream gushing from the side of the slope near where the trail starts up. We started the climb out of the valley following a long section of switchbacks. D at this point was laboring more and more and my buddies where concerned that he would not make it. He kept on plodding up this steep section of trail and finally reached the top. This stopping place about 10K feed high is my favorite place on the whole trail. It has a spectacular view towards Palm Springs and San Jacinto. There is a larger flat spot with several rocks to sit on. D asked where the summit was and after seeing the remaining distance decided to stop here. This was a very wise decision as the rest of the trail is steadily harder because of the elevation gain. There was only patchy snow that was easily crossed on this section.

George stayed with D and T, myself and Jim headed up to the summit. We crossed several patches of snow about 100 ft wide. There was a good boot path through that also helped mark the trail. A nice steady pace and a good use of poles was all that was needed to cross the snow patches. We did see two sets of hikers with ice axes attached to their packs. We finally made it to the top. We did however have a gut check about 30 minutes from the top as the altitude was starting to take its toll. It took 2 hours from where we left D and George to get to the summit. More than I had initially thought and a bit harder. The three of us were spent and wanted to get down as soon as possible.

Our descent was as fast as our feet and gravity would allow. We stopped briefly for water and food and more importantly to remove the small, seemingly endless pebbles from our boots. I did not see much on the way down as I was too busy concentrating on the trail and not falling. The trail did however seem much longer on the way down as it always does. This trail was well marked except for the two place noted. I would like to see the trail teams trim some of the plants back a bit. It took about 3 and ½ hours from the top to the car. We found George and D waiting for us at the car. They reached the car about an hour before we did. There were no complaints as they were enjoying the cold beers that we always pack for the end of the trip. We joked about the boots and reminded ourselves to always be prepared.

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Vivian Creek Trail to San Gorgonio