Trip report Fri. 3/18

I was able to visit DCHS on Friday afternoon before the rain started. Originally I planned on trying the Bradford Ridge Trail to access the springs but I was worried that 173 might have issues with the pending rain storm that was due to hit. This trip I exited highway 15 at hwy. 138 and used the Summit Valley Road cutoff to get to Hesperia. This seemed like a pretty good route but there was a very long section of Summit Valley Road that had what appeared to be newly posted 30 mile per hour speed limit signs. I am not sure if these are permanent signs or if they were put in place since the big rain storms. Quite a bit of the shoulder along Summit Valley Road has washed out and there were numerous traffic cones set up along some of the most serious areas. Does anyone know if this road has always had a 30 mph speed limit or is it only temporary? I thought this road was a good alternative to get to Hesperia from Long Beach, it will be even better when they reopen Rock Springs Road across the river.

Bowen Ranch Road was in pretty good shape, there were two or three places were water was running across the road and you had to navigate slowly through the ruts created by the water. I parked in the Bowen Ranch parking lot where there were 2 other cars already parked. It was overcast and very cold and windy. While heading down the trail to the springs I met two oriental gentlemen on their way back out. I continued on and met a young couple who was also hiking back to the parking lot; they were looking for one of there dogs who had wandered away. I told them I would keep my eye out for their dog on my way to the springs.

The cold wind finally quit blowing when I got down inbetween the hills. There was no one else at the springs when I arrived. I got out of my sweats and stashed my gear in the rocks next to Little Beach. The yellow rope was still attached to both sides of the creek but there were some rather large logs either tied or tangled at the center of the rope. I got into the water and pulled myself across using the rope. The water was up to my chest at the deepest part. I tried to untangle some of the logs but after a few minutes the cold water was too much to bear so I continued on over to the springs. The rope appears to have broken a few times and people have knotted it back together. If we are going to keep a rope there we should probably replace it with something a little stronger. If someone is not a good swimmer and the rope happens to break while they are crossing things could get ugly. I know that this whole rope thing is only temporary until the creek goes down. Next time up I will try to bring some 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick truckers rope to string across the creek.

The creek was still flowing at a pretty fast rate, the rope was definately a help but it was still possible to swim across. The upper pools were crystal clear and had very little black sediment in them. Someone had left a 2" clear vinyl hose on the edge of one of the pools. I guess that is the hose used to siphon out the gunk that collects at the bottom of the pools. I felt guilty enjoying the pools all to myself. I stayed around and soaked for about an hour, it was too cold to be out of the water for very long. I went up to the Anniversary pool and noticed two water bottles sitting on the edge. I figured someone had left them there so I emptied them out and was going to haul them out with some other trash I had picked up. A few minutes later a pretty scrungie looking character dressed in some rather tattered clothes shows up and asked where the water bottles were? I apologized and told him I thought they were trash. He said no problem there was plenty of water around and he proceeded to refill the bottles from the waterfall filling the anniversary pool. I told him that the water should be purified before drinking and he said no, it was okay. I tried to convince him it probably was not but he kept saying it was spring water, it was okay to drink. He did not seem like he was playing with a full deck at the time so I let him go on his way. He walked away and then proceeded to start dragging some logs upstream.

The clouds started to look threatening so I decided to head back across the creek. Another nice freezing dip but without the benefit of a warm spring to welcome me. I dried the best I could and put my sweat shirt on and decided to carry my pants until I completely dried off, which I figured would not take to long with my trip up MoFo hill. Halfway up the hill I ran into the couple who had been looking for their dog. Apparently the dog had found it's way back to their car. They were going back down to the springs, they had a lantern with them so it appeared that they were going to stay till dark. We talked a little bit and then I hiked the rest of the way to the parking lot without seeing anyone else.

After crossing the Mojave River on Bear Valley Road traffic started backing up so I worked my way back over to Summit Valley Road and took it home. It started to rain before I made it to the hwy. 138. It then rained all the way back to Long Beach. I am really looking forward to a nice warm sunny trip to the springs in the near future.