Spring and the River’s Flowing

Rising temperatures are luring spring crowds into the San Gabriel Mountains. And there, in the Angeles National Forest, they find abundant, swift and sometimes rising waters in the San Gabriel River and its tributaries.

At different spots not far from Highway 39 north of Azusa, and in spite of the fast, cold mountain current fed by rain and snow runoff, people wade in the river, fish in it and even swim in it.

Fly fisherman Bryan Stone of Covina displays two trout he caught in the river. A family of waders ventures into the water near the East Fork ranger station. But the river can be perilous, and there are posted warnings.

Last Saturday, a week after she was swept four miles downstream, 18-year-old Gail Ortega, a Fontana hiker, died, boosting the death total to two this year in rain-swollen waterways in the county. She slipped while crossing the stream and could not pull herself out of the powerful current.

County paramedic Jeff Langley jumps from helicopter, right, as part of exercise to train firefighters for river rescues.