START

The drop in was a relatively simple, although steep slope full of brush and pine trees. We arrived at the stream bed where a large pipe came out of the mountain to handle overflow. There was nothing coming out of the pipe when we were there. We geared up and started down the trail.

CANYON HIKE

We ended up walking quite a distance over bedrock, small boulders, and canyon bottom flora. We kept expecting a rappel, but more and more easy canyon bottom came along. We came to an 8 foot downclimb, and then finally to a chute that might have been the first rappel.

80 FOOT DOWNCLIMB?

We looked around and found no webbing at the top, and besides, the downclimb looked trival. It was a pretty gentle rock slope into a few shallow pools. Then we got to an edge that had an easy downclimb on the left using rock ledges and sturdy roots. When we arrived at the bottom, we looked back up into the chute only to realize this was the supposed 80 foot first rappel that we just downclimbed, oops.

ANCHORS

We came to several more shorter drops no more than 40 feet. We built two webbing anchors around trees, finally using that webbing and those rappel rings we've been carrying around forever. One of the drops we even backed up using the rope to a tree 20 feet back from the actual anchor. We came across an existing anchor where someone had tied a water knot by stuffing the ends *inside* the other. I'd never seen that before, and can't imagine why you'd do that much work for a simple knot.

HIKING

We then proceeded for what seemed to be an hour of canyon bottom hiking with interspersed short downclimbs and pools. We came to several narrow chutes about 2 feet wide that could technically have been rappelled, but were pretty simple downclimbs. We chose to downclimb them. We slid into a few pools that were neck deep full of clear and cold water. The hiking seemed to be endless though. Around every bend of the canyon we expected to arrive at a drop, but none came.

GROTTOS

Finally we came to a 15 foot tall drop into a little grotto. We built a webbing anchor and rappelled it only to discover a trail-like downclimb just to the left. Then a few minutes later, we came to the real grotto, a 40 foot drop into a gorgeous moss covered grotto. Definitely the best rappel in the canyon.

GHOST RAPPEL

After a few more downclimbs, and more hiking, we came to the final rappel that drops you into the Arroyo Seco. There was a large dead tree pinned above the lip, so we decided to try a ghost anchor. This anchor is one that you can pull the webbing down from the bottom and leave nothing behind. You tie a loop of webbing with a ring on one end and a carabineer on the other. Then to pull it down, you tie a knot in one end that passes through the biner and catches the ring which pulls away the whole system. I had never actually seen that work before, but it worked beautifully. We were very excited to see the anchor drop into the pool.

ESCAPE HIKE

We crossed the river and changed into some dryer clothing and shoes on the trail. We then packed up and headed for Oakwilde. We passed through Oakwilde and began the trek up Dark Canyon. We were already tired from the canyon, and Dark Canyon seemed endless and exhausting. It was just hot enough to make you sweat. After a very long time, we came the first turn around and headed up the canyon wall toward the CCC Ridge road. This part was hot and exposed, but shorter. It seemed to go on forever, but we finally arrived at the road. Then the nearly endless jaunt along the ridge. My two liter hydration pack ran out here, and I was thirsty for the rest of the hike. We both trudged finally onto the angeles crest highway for about a quarter mile to the car. We were both exhausted, a little heat sick, and thirsty.

CONCLUSION

Nifty little canyon for the adventure hiker. For the canyoneer who wants lots of interesting tricky rappels, look elsewhere. The exit hike doesn't justify the canyon, especially when it's hot.