[jaylove]

Hello,

Me and a friend of mine are thinking of doing the longer west fork hike, from FR 231 to 89A, I have heard that it is 13 to 14 miles. We are fairly new hikers, not in perfect shape, but athletic, and fairly confident in our abilities. We have not done a hike that long berfore, but we did about a 6 to 7 mile round trip at the pumphouse wash last weekend and it was all boulders and scrambling. We enjoyed it, I don't think it was a beginner's hike, but we handled it well, and we could have hiked for several more hours. We hiked for about 5 and 1/2 to 6 hours. That being sad, I am wondering if anyone could tell me anything about the West Fork hike, any advice? How difficult is the entire hike? What time do we need to start? How much water is necessary to bring? Or any other details that would be helpful, type of shoes, poison ivy, amount of swimming and wading, things to bring, etc. .....things like that? I heard there was a shuttle that will take you to FR 231 after you park. We met a couple at the Pumphouse that told us there was a shuttle, and they said it took them 10 hours to hike, with sufficient breaks. Any other good hikes that anyone could recommend, anything in cooler weather? Anything you could tell me would be very helpful.

Thanks, God bless,

Jay

[matt gilbert]

If you guys want to do it in two (or more) days, over the next holiday weekend , I'll go with you. That notwithstanding. West fork has water present the entire way through (from what I understand, I have not been there) You can either get a filter, purifier, or chemical treatment for the creek water then you don't have to carry hardly any water. If I were you I would definately try to do this in two days rather than one. One day is possible but you would have to start very early and probably wouldn't finish until very late. There are some mandatory swims so make sure your valuables are watersafe (food, camera, etc...) and there will be a lot of wading, so wear shoes that are comfortable when they are wet, (avoid at all costs, cotton socks, they are the worst when thet get wet, wool or polypro are the ways to go). Poison ivy/oak most likely will not represent a problem but it never hurts to have some calamine lotion available. Unfortunately thats really all I can say having never been there myself.

[sherileeaz]

I was just there Saturday the 21st. I hiked from the Call of the Canyon to the point that it is mandatory to swim which is 3.4 miles. There is plenty of water. Someone said up to the chest deep. I didn't see this, but it did look deep enough. Take a look at the last set of pictures I posted, this is the point you have to swim to continue the rest of the way (if you are going from the Call of the Canyon) if not, obviously it's the opposite (end of your trek) to Call of the Canyon. The 3.4 miles is easy enough. We left the Call at 10:30 am and it was shaded and easy to follow. Got a bit crowded around 1 pm on the return. I'm very curious in knowing what is around the canyon walls, but wasn't curious enough to swim out there! One day maybe. Enjoy! And bring back lots of pictures. BTW, I had on shorts, no poison ivy/oak on me. So I think it's safe thus far.

Sherileeaz

[CindyC]

I've done West Fork all the way through twice. Once in a day and once in two. I recommemd two. West Fork is far too pretty to hurry through. I haven't been there yet this year but I have never encountered pools so deep I had to swim. Water chest high, but I was able to carry my pack through. Maybe the snow has made it so this year. I agree with Matt. Forget carrying water and take a filter. Much eaiser. Saw my first bear there. I love that place. Now if we could just get rid of the crowds! Have a good time.

[aerotd]

Hey, we would love to go along on a two day trip also. We were trying to plan this about a month ago but our buddies fell thru and we didn't want to go alone. We are pretty much available anytime except July 4 thru 7, weekends are best but we could probably do a friday or monday. I have a ton of info on this hike incuding a brand new topozone map of just this area. Hey Matt, maybe you could teach us how to read the map on this hike? As for the shuttle, it is not a "shuttle" provided at Call of the Canyon. Rather, you take two cars up and drop one at the Call end and then drive everybody around to the other end to start. The nwhen you et back somebody drives aroudn to get the other car. This isn't too bad cause it only looks like about 20 miles on my map. But, they are unpaved fire roads so it may be slow. Let me know if anybody wanst to put together a group hike here. It has to be soon because it is not safe during the monsoons.

Beth

[Daryl]

I'm interested in this one! I wouldn't worry too much about flash flooding in west fork. As long as you use your head when you find a place to sleep there's not much to worry about. It would take a whole lot of rain to make west fork a roaring rapid and even then the canyon is wide enough to easily get to higher ground.

[MaryPhyl]

A one day West Fork hike is doable but you should be starting very early in the morning--if you are taking a shuttle it will be too late in the day. There is no water for the first several miles. If you take a big drink just before you take off a quart should do you. You might also like a coffee filter as the water up high in the canyon can be real scummy and clog up your filter. Take a garbage bag to keep your things dry when swimming. The place that looks like it is a really long swim (quarter mile or so) has a steep bypass on your right as you go down. It can be hard to keep track of where you are on a map because of the twists and turns in the canyon. You do not want to get off into a side canyon so pay attention. I have seen the debris from flash floods in this canyon and it can be dramatic--check the weather before you go--you want it to be real hot because you will be wet all of the time and you want no chance of rain. This hike takes a lot of stamina--it is a really long day.

[cactuscat]

I'm very interested in doing this trip, depending on the timing.

[Daryl]

To clarify my comment on flash floods (thanks MaryPhyl):
Yes there can be a flash flood in West Fork and you should always check the weather reports upstream of the canyon you are going to be in before hiking. However, if it is just normal monsoon storms I wouldn't cancel a West Fork hike. If there is an unsusally large amount of rain upstream, then I'd cancel it. I heard the last flood in west fork, the one that left the brush you'll see piled up by the trees, happened in the early 90's.

[Leva]

Can anyone tell me if West Fork has any serious drop offs/vertical cliffs after the first big pool? I've been in that far.

I used to do a lot of backpacking & this was one of the hikes I wanted to do. I injured my back a few years ago, however, and I can't carry a backpack now without severe pain. I can hike all day with teeth gritted, I just can't carry a pack.

I use very large goats to carry my gear -- they can go places a pack horse would never manage and can jump about 4' straight up. (And they handle steep, slippery trails better than I do.) To put this in perspective, I took them into Fossil Springs as far as the big waterfall (which was dry due to drought) today, following the creek, for a day hike. Going out, I went straight up the canyon wall a couple hundred feet to the main road; the goats beat me to the top.

So -- any really sheer cliffs or water falls with no way around that need to be climbed?

Leva

[AK]

I WANNA GO! I WANNA GO!