Snow Creek Cab Ride

Wow, Snow Creek, the biggest vertical gain in Southern California. We had planned on doing Snow Creek the weekend before this one. My partner came up a bit lame with an injury and I left that prior Saturday morning, packed and ready to go. It had rained a lot the day before but the forecast called for clearing and warm weather. When I arrived at Snow Creek, the whole north side of San Jacinto was covered in fresh snow. Not wanting to deal with deep new powder and possible avalanche, I put the climb off till the following weekend.

A schedule conflict got into my partner's way this weekend, so again I was going to do it solo. I wanted to go very light and got down to minimal. It would be my summer bag, a North Face pack with extended skirt and integral foam pad, and one of those MSR Pocket Rocket stoves. The heaviest item was the one-gallon of water I carried at the start.

I left Saturday morning, drove to the Palms Springs Tram parking lot, and then committed a horrible crime- the cab ride crime. After a $29 dollar fare, I was dispensed a half-mile down Snow Creek Road. I'd been told the scare stories about the Snow Creek Water District grounds keeper, his rabid dog, and the private property owners in the hamlet of Snow Creek. Arrested for trespassing? They'll never take me alive.

Without being seen by a soul, I was out of the cab and off at 12:15 PM. Snow Canyon, the narrowing area at the base of the face, is a wide flat open alluvial fan. I made my way across the warm low desert canyon toward the western edge of a descending ridgeline. I stayed well away from the hamlet of Snow Creek and was alert for any security patrol on horseback. Hey, I have an ice axe for protection. It's Steven King's favorite murder weapon.

A silver pipeline can be seen running along the east side of the canyon at the bottom of a ridge. The pipeline rises about 30 ft. up and down the ridge at one spot. I headed for the pipe south of this rise and followed the pipe. Walking is a lot easier along it.

As I walked along I got to orient myself to the setting. Directly to the south is Plateau, the landmass that separates Snow Creek on the right from Falls Creek on the left. The top of Plateau extends from 2800 ft. to 4000 ft. A water tank near where the keeper lives can be seen at the bottom and right of Plateau. That's where the keeper's rabid dog might be lurking. Want to stay away from there. On the left of Plateau is the waterfall for Falls Creek. It's at about 2800 ft. and creates a beautiful scene.

There is an amazing amount of brush to walk through all the way along the approach until inside the narrow confines of Snow Creek above 5000 ft. This is not a dry sandy desert. This north side must be protected and receive enough rain to get a thick coat of low-lying greenery. I had to clean out my boot tops a couple of times along the way.

I encountered a paved road along the east edge of the canyon and then followed it into the southeast end of the canyon to the water district water collection structure. The road ends at this structure. I tried to hike directly up Falls Creek but it seemed to be choked with trees. I climbed up and to the left side of the buttress at the structure and got onto the top of this buttress, descended a short way on the other side of the buttress and then began climbing up whatever ramps I could see, moving southeast. I made it to where the slope slacked off at about 3200 ft. I was a long way from the waterfall and wanted to be a bit closer. Next time I'll try to walk through the trees along the creek and ascend closer to the waterfall, or contour more to the waterfall. After contouring around and up, I crossed Falls Creek and was onto Plateau.

This creek supplies drinking water but when I looked at the water it was a bit brown here. I still had water with me and decided to wait until higher up to drink from the creek. It would be closer to the snow source and hopefully better quality. I stayed on the left side of Plateau at its high point near Falls Creek where the walking is much easier. The hottest part of the climb was on Plateau that day. It was way hotter than the section 2000 ft. lower. No breeze was in sight. There is a great view of the East Fork of Snow Creek from the high point of Plateau. It seemed so far away and mystical, rising into the sky.

When Plateau ends at 4000 ft., Bushwhack Zone begins. It's really obvious when the transition from Plateau to Bushwhack happens. After walking a straight line on Plateau, it gets twisty right away with much higher vegetation. From this point another orientation is good to get. Off to the right and climbing up is the East Fork of Snow Creek. The slope in front of you is Bushwhack Zone. You will want to stay in Bushwhack and follow this south and then southwest. You can make out a small side canyon running down to the northwest. It merges with the East Fork of Snow Creek at 4400 ft. The small canyon is approached from the left. The ridge between this small canyon and the East Fork will be the last feature to be crossed.

Do not head towards the East Fork of Snow Creek and try climbing up it. It's close by, but it is not recommended. There are death falls below 5000 ft. Stay out of it until you are above the big falls and looking down at them. Head up on the highest part of the ridge and desperately try to find a trail. Bushwhack is a bear without a trail, but luckily a trail had been marked and recently trimmed. The trail is like a two by six ft. tunnel of thick vegetation at some points. I don't know how I would have gotten through it otherwise but I was saved and made my way quickly through the zone.

I headed south and then southwest. Then descended into the northwest descending side canyon with a stream at about 4700 ft. and followed it until it turns away from the East Fork of Snow Creek. Steeply ascend the ridge separating the stream from the East Fork, follow a bench above the East Fork a short way and drop into the East Fork of Snow Creek at about 5000 ft. I was high enough up the canyon that I avoided the very large waterfalls below me. I had finally arrived in Snow Creek. If this was the approach, I can't figure what the real climbing will be like. The canyon formed by the East Fork of Snow Creek is really amazing. It is tall and narrow but didn't seem to have any rock fall problems. I was in a whole new vegetation zone. There were berry like bushes and soft grasses and plants. It felt so cool and peaceful here.

I continued up the canyon and had to pass a few waterfalls by climbing high on the rocks on the right side. I took a very long 3rd class ramp up and had to do a very short easy 5th down climb back to the canyon floor. The canyon was getting interesting. No snow yet either. I had heard reports of snow at 5000 ft., and no waterfalls to climb up or around. Looks like this low snow year has made for a lot more scrambling.

Finally at 5700 ft., I had had enough for that day. It was just after 7 PM and I found a very small piece of debris-covered ground on a ledge. It cleaned off nicely and made a good bivy for the night. I fired up my new MSR Pocket Rocket and had soup and rice for dinner. The stove has a very amazingly short boil time and it didn't have the bulk of a liquid stove.

It was a warm windless night just a few feet away from the roaring creek. I was up in the dark and away by headlight at 5:15. The first patch of snow was just ahead and the temperature at snow level was a bit colder than just a few feet down canyon. Last night was a good choice to sleep below the snow level. The snow had hardened nicely overnight and it was easy to walk on top of it and use a set of footprints that had been left in the previous days. With ski poles in hand, this section went very quickly. I checked the snow slope early and got a reading of 34 deg. A little higher, it was 32 deg.