When I was a little guy my dad used to take me fishing at Piru Creek. He used to tell me that it was possible to hike this creek from pyramid lake all the way to Lake Piru. I always knew someday I would take that journey, just didn't know it would be 25 years later before it actually happened. This hike meant a lot to me as it reminds me of some of the best times I've had in my life, fishing with my old man. This one was for you Dad.
Let me Start by saying this was my first overnight Backpacking trip and as you can see from the photo above I was clearly not aware that I should not be carrying 45 pounds of weight through this rugged and remote stretch of wilderness. Note to self: Leave the ice chest full of beer home next time you attempt this one Dummy. Also this took place about a year ago so forgive me if I have forgot some things, wish I would have made some notes back then. My beautiful wife dropped us off at the trailhead at Frenchman's Flat just under Lake pyramid sometime before 8am on Saturday morning and just under 22 (hard earned) miles later we were picked up by Tony's wife Veronica at Lake Piru. If you don't have a ride you can also do this by having a car parked at both ends. You must have an adventure pass to park at Frenchman's and Piru has daily overnight parking fees.
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| View from Frenchman's into the Canyon |
You start by following a well used trail for the first few miles, Sorry I did not have a GPS on this one so most of my mileage is based off my online research and map work I did prior to setting off. This trail leads into the canyon following along the creek. You will experience multiple creek crossings. Be prepared you will get wet on this trip don't even bother with hiking boots I used a great pair of water shoes made by Merell for forging creeks. There will at times be impenetrable walls of brush and slogging through the creek becomes the best option for those situations.
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| Tony M striking a Pose |
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| Tony B enjoying his last bit of real trail |
The fun really begins when the trail suddenly dies. From this point on it is a pick your own route. You will be bushwhacking, boulder Hopping and walking through the creek. Often times we would venture onto any animal use only trails that we could find. The hardest section is the first 5 miles, following the creek west until to you come across the confluence of piru and fish creek. These miles were tough and slow going however I found the best fishing to be deep in this remote section past where the day hikers are no longer willing to travel. I caught several fish on this trip, some were released and a few for dinner. I did feel guilty keeping any at all as Fish N Game no longer stocks this creek, so what's left is the Native population. We stopped at Fish Creek to refill water and have lunch. This was a nice open area that would have made a good camping spot for the night if we had more time. At this point the creek turns due south all the way to Lake Piru.
Our original goal was to set up camp at the mouth of the narrows which is somewhere between 9-10 miles in, that didn't happen though. By this time light was getting low so we decided to make camp. We came upon a great open flat area, which you don't get too many of on this watershed so we took advantage of it. Looking back now we were probably only a mile away from the narrows but armed with only a map and my first time navigating we decided we would take no chances. Tony M makes a mean trout dish it was delicious, coupled with my dehydrated dinner and a beer that was all I needed after this tough day. Shortly after dinner it was lights out.
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| Camp for the night |
I can honestly tell you the highlight of this adventure was reaching the narrows. Most beautiful slot canyon I've had the pleasure of visiting. This mile long gorge of huge boulders and steep canyon walls almost never reaches over 50 in width and mostly averaging 20-30 feet. There is at one point a natural overhead spring that spills into the creek, great spot to refill water. This is roughly the halfway point so as much as i wanted to just sit and admire it for hours this was not an option. But we did break out a victory beer and take some photos, and of course I did a little fishing. I can not stress again how amazing this spot was, pictures don't due it justice.
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| Me Having a shower in the spring |
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| Fishing in the Narrows |
Oh I almost forgot although we didn't see any bear, they are there and in full force. Scat everywhere and paws prints galore. We stumbled upon a cave at the narrows that looked like it had a nest made of brush. I'm glad the bear wasn't home when I stuck my head in.
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| Bear Cave |
After about another mile we were passing the confluence of Ruby Canyon, this particular weekend happened to be very hot so we did not do as much exploring as I would have liked. The trek was much harder than I had originally expected, up and down cliffs in and out of creeks and bulldozing bullet proof brush taller than me had definitely taken its toll on us for a bunch of rookies just starting out that trip would have been much better as a 2 night excursion.
we continued on with basically the same terrain as before but I found the second half to be much less brushy and the miles were coming much faster now. Before I knew it we were seeing Piru in the distance and making our last stop at the old abandoned blue point campground. The last part of the journey is by far the worst. 6 miles down a paved road to reach piru. Its hot and up and down and back and forth. Make sure your water is filled before tackling the pavement as it takes you far above and away from the creek. As the road switches back on itself I kept wondering does this pavement ever end. At one point many years ago the road was open but now its always locked. I have been back to that road since taking the trip and drove back too blue point camp but I had the company of A Forest service worker who had the gates keys. We were installing a new sign up Agua blanca Creek. This was a trip I will never forget as it brought back so many childhood memories with my Pops, my only regret is that he wasn't able to join us. But he did get to hear the story and see the pictures. Piru Creek is a truly wild and scenic remote experience that is not traveled by many folks. Hard to find words to describe it, but it left a lasting impression that I will never forget and for that reason I knew I had to make it my first blog post. Special Thanks to Tony Marchese and Tony Branam for coming along and to David Stillman who's writing's inspired me to get off my ass and get it done.
