u/Frequent-Carry734

Recently I randomly fell down a rabbit hole researching Fish Canyon Falls in Azusa and honestly became super intrigued by the history behind the place. The more I read about it, the weirder and more fascinating it got — the abandoned access, quarry operations, old canyon infrastructure, fire damage, limited entry history, etc. It almost feels like one of those “lost” SoCal locations now.

I started looking into alternate historical routes people may have used to reach the falls besides the main quarry entrance. I’ve heard Van Tassel Ridge mentioned a few times as a possible option, but info online seems pretty scattered and vague.

During all this, I came across a 2025 YouTube video showing 2 friends apparently making it to the falls through an alternate route, which made me even more curious about how people have still been accessing the canyon over the years despite the closure. I also found photos from a gentleman on AllTrails who reportedly reached the falls in 2023 as well — credit to him for the photos/info that helped me while researching this.

While exploring the canyon on Google Earth, I found this strange structure hidden deep behind/near the falls itself. It definitely looks manmade — almost like some kind of old concrete foundation, water diversion system, mining/prospect structure, or debris control installation. The giant vertical pillars are what really caught my attention.

Does anybody know what this structure actually is or what it may have been used for? Curious if any longtime SGV hikers, explorers, or local history people know more about Fish Canyon lore/history.

I really do hope they will reopen this trail one day i would totally volunteer for any restoration efforts!

(Attached screenshots)

edit: turns out last 3 images are just google earth glitches, however this begs the question on what still lies beyond this waterfall.

i’m a bit tripped on what to classify as a bond or not? on Carbon 2 there is no bond? I understand the concept (sort of) of the equation 4-# of bonds to find the number of hydrogens but it was much easier when there where single bonds involved. probably super simple my brain hasn’t wrapped around this yet. but in general any advice or resources help with examples like this.

Thought this was a milk snake at first but now I’m thinking it might be a kingsnake? (SoCal) Also how elusive or rare is this find?

Hey everyone, I’m pretty new to getting into and observing native snakes as a hobby, so I wanted to get some opinions.

A buddy of mine posted this on Instagram and said he thought it was a milk snake, but that didn’t seem right to me. From what I’ve been learning, I was actually kind of shocked because it looks more like a kingsnake, which I didn’t expect to see.

I’m still learning, so I could be completely off—that’s why I wanted to ask here and get some confirmation. Sorry in advance for the bad quality pics, they’re just screenshots from his video.

Appreciate any help 🙏