TONGVA PEAK & MT THOM

 I wanted to re-visit Tongva peak & Mt. Thom. It has been years since I did so. I invited Bill.

We began our hike on the Three Tees trail.  Then we hiked up a few steep firebreaks until we reached Mt. Thom. The photo-op rock is still there but with new graffiti on it. I have an old picture of one. Hopefully I can find it. 

Anyways, we continued on to Tongva peak. We had a break on the bench, and took the obligatory summit photos. Then Bill suggested to do a loop hike and descend the opposite way we ascended. It was nice. A longer way down, but scenic. The weather was good and we were the only ones on the trail until we got to the fork in the road where we met a few bikers. 

The clouds were amazing, and I found a few cool mushrooms and flowers

stats: 7 miles, ~2300 ft of gain 

FALL CREEK TRAIL

Fall creek trail was recently restored by Kristin and the Tujunga posse crew which included: Kristin, Sean, Lauren (RLC0 and a few others. 

Bill and I planned a carpool shuttle and hiked Fall Creek trail. We planned it on Tuesday, November 11th

We met at Hidden Springs campground. After a short drive, we started at the white gate. It was a late start, around 8:30 am but the weather was good. It was overcast with some cool cloud formations above us. It turned out to be a nice day. 
 
In my opinion, this is the best way to hike this long 5 mile trail. I've only hiked a portion of this trail, (this was last year when it was first being worked on,), so it was nice to do the entire trek.. The route, has its ups and downs but the scenery is gorgeous. I loved the views. We found a waterfall with a small trickle of water. Most of the trail was well maintained. 
 
As we got closer to the creek the trail gets a little tricky but we found some faded pink ribbons. After we pushed through and bush-wacked a bit, we discovered what looked like a private beach. A beautiful oasis with pools, cascades and huge colorful boulders. We took a break here and of course, I did some rock scrambling and soaked in the views of fall colors surrounding me. 
 
While I climbed the rocks, Bill was so kind to do some trimming. 
 
We then continued on road 3N27. From this point on the trail was nice again and the views really opened up to some more fall colors and amazing scenery. Once we reached the fork in the road we took a detour and Bill led me to the abandoned campground where we found a picnic table. 
This area really needs trimming but you can follow a use path. 
 
After re-tracing our steps we continued on the road. We had nice views of nearby San Gabes like Mt. Wilson, Strawberry, etc. 
For most of the day, we were the only hikers on the trail until we were approached by two others that started from the opposite end. After exiting the trail we walked a short distance back to Hidden Springs. 
 
Overall, the trail is in great shape. Very secluded and beautiful. There are now signs for the Fall Creek Trail that were not there last time I hiked this trail which was really nice to see. 

                               Looking across the canyon 

                                    Bill on the trial

                                Lots of colorful rocks

                                        Cool Fall Colors 

                                Huge colorful boulders to climb
                    

                                                        pathway to a secluded old campground

ALDER CREEK

Another new trail restored by the Tujunga Poss Crew. I could not wait to hike this one. It was Spectacular. And the trail work so articulate!

 On October 15th 2025, Bill, Guy and myself checked hiked the newly Alder Creek trail as an out n back. We checked it out after the rains. I knew it was going to be a spectacular day as the clouds were putting on a show all along the ACF. The weather was perfect! We all really enjoyed this trail. It was so beautiful. The yuccas were nicely trimmed. Rocks were used to guide hikers along the path and the trail itself was so smooth. Overall, the crew did an exceptional job on this trail. To add, the views all around were gorgeous. We discovered some interesting things while exploring further. 

STATS: 10 miles