High Creek Camp via Vivian Creek Trail
5.3 mi
Distance
2 hrs 18 min
Time
terrain
3,188 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult one way trail to High Creek Camp in San Gorgonio Wilderness.
This trail goes by Vivian Creek Trailhead and Halfway Camp.
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
Solo hiked Fri 08/25/2023 – Momyer Creek TH-Vivian Creek Tr-SG Mtn-Big Draw/Jepson Pks- Little Dobbs/Dobbs Pks-SB Pk Tr-Falls Creek Tr-Momyer Creek Tr. Bugs and bats in the dark on Vivian to make an interesting start. Nice to see High Creek Falls still roaring this late in summer with nice cold water upstream. Gusty on the ridge line but not bad on the summits with very nice weather/views. Spectacular views of Big Bear Lake, Dry Lake, San Jacinto Peak, Yucaipa Ridge and Lake Perris from Jepson and Little Dobbs were just a mentionable few. Going down the Falls Creek Trail was quite an adventure with a few jungle/oasis zones. The 3 lush green oasis areas were like being on a Hawaiian hike with many plant types, flowing strongly with cold water to filter while the White-Buck Thorn/Manzanita jungle zones were easily traversed but make it a “long pants only” trail. As others have said, there are several new blow downs across most of the trails, along with several new washout areas. They were all easy to deal, just requiring a little more care and effort to traverse (like being in the wilderness in general). Crossed Mill Creek easily on the Vivian start but it was not so easy to cross at the Momyer finish. Didn’t see anyone all day on any of the 4 trails I used. Now is a great time to hike these trails with lower fire danger, better weather and still-viable water sources. Trail crews have done a great job this year clearing blow downs and bush trimming but it’s definitely a game of “catch up” after an extraordinary winter and now Hilary. Logged 25.8 miles/6872 vertical ft. with Gaia ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hiked 12/15/22 - Vivian gives you a solid cardio workout for the first mile with the snow stepping it up a bit. No tracks on trail after halfway camp but I was able to pick up the trail to high camp with very little GPS help. 8-10 inch post holing on the slope traverses with the snow firm but soft enough to cake my spikes so I switched to snow shoes for the last 1/2 mile up and then the first 3-1/2 miles down. Snow turning to slush in the afternoon on the last 1/2 mile down. Weather was nice with little wind and clear skies for most of the day before the clouds descended. Logged 12.2 miles/3262 feet.
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Public Tracks
High creek
Hiked with James Fitts. Was his first snow hike in a couple years. I took a slow pace for him but he did very well.
