Conditions:Bighorn Canyon (Panamint Range West)-20260114161548

Latest:	10 Jan 2026 (1 month ago)

Reported by:	Gavin Healy (1 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	11 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: What an awesome canyon, few if any of the original anchors remained in place most cairns were deeply buried in gravel. The camp spot listed on the tracks is not that accessible any more but it's a short hike from the main road turn off. Despite large elevation gain the approach was easy travel and beautiful views. We were surprised and excited to find flowing water from a spring on two of the rappels.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
1 Mar 2026	Good	Very Low	None	Normal	3 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Canyonslayer (9 reports)
Comment: Nice canyon. A few pools up to knee deep but can be avoided by stemming. Unavoidable waist deep pool encountered before the last drop.
1 Mar 2026	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	AdamOtter (80 reports)
Comment: Time represents camp to camp time. We slept near the mouth of the canyon the night before. It was a full moon both nights so we hiked in and out under moonlight which was such a vibe. While a lot of the canyon is nuisance rappels and bushwhacking, a few sections of this canyon are world class beauty. Gorgeous waterfalls with palm trees nearby and granite with giant quartz veins make this canyon a beautiful adventure. While we replaced some anchors we ghosted a lot of drops, future teams should be ready to build anchors. Unsure of the legality of bolts in this area, but bolts in a few places would make this canyon safer and better than what it currently is.
1 Mar 2026	Good	Very High	Thin wetsuit	Advanced	2 hours	2 people Advanced	Tmozza1 (4 reports)
Comment: 'Low' Flow conditions 0.41m on Buckland River Gauge although was raining on and off all day so may have been higher. Difficulties experienced in P1, unsure if previously was a better stance but standing at 1.7m tall I could barely touch the bottom (on tippy toes) on the other side of the pool where the anchors stood at least a meter taller than I could reach. This combined will the constant pull towards the next fall was a bit disconcerting. I think it is possible to straddle the lip of the next fall to gain height but felt very committing to do so even in Low flow. Took about 20 goes to jump up and clip the P2 anchors. Recommend a Panic Draw is similar if you are short. Ensure first person down P3 does not descend into the teacup and instead clips rope into P4 anchor.
1 Mar 2026	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people	Sstaverman (25 reports)
Comment: Under 7 hours car to car using the early exit up Big Kahuna Canyon and back to the trail. That early exit really helps the pay-to-play ratio on this one. Long hike in, decently long time in canyon, short hike out. Water was at moderate flow which made for a super fun day without any true challenges. Fun downclimbs and water features throughout. Very cold water - I started the day thinking I might have been alright in a shorty wet suit (I normally run warm), and by the end of the day I was very glad to have brought the full 4/3.
1 Mar 2026	Great	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	Ingalls (31 reports)
Comment: Fun run through great gusto. While the canyon isn't a tight squeezy slot, the beautiful views of the swell and epic rappels through both the bridge and back down into erie canyon make this well worth the day out. Webbing was in poor shape and was all replaced.
1 Mar 2026	Amazing	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	Mikeatran (92 reports),Canyoncowboy (39 reports)
Comment: Another excellent day in great falls of the Fox! Reservoir was full, making the majority of the exit a pleasant float/swim. All anchors were in order, DCR anchor was used for the big rappel. She’s pumping, now’s the time to run it! If you’ve got the skills ;) Mike: Poison oak present in parts of the canyon (mainly, the lull before the final rap as well as the approach right after the small creek on trail where there normally is huge overgrowth). Leading person during the trail section leading up to the bushwack ended up with MANY ticks (6+) on them so visually inspect every once in a while. Swim is right near the confluence portion of the exit hike post rappel, requiring full swimming up to the bank near josephine exit.
28 Feb 2026	Great	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Intermediate to Expert	Canyonslayer (9 reports)
Comment: Based on recent weather and seeing some pools in the upper part of the canyon, we decided to suit up at the joint intersection (mid point). Pools encountered were mostly thigh to waist deep. We used some prerigged chock stones on two of the down climbs before reaching rap 2. Rap 2 was rigged as dead man. We were stunned to find the webbing tied to a rock the size of a fist! There's not a lot of good building materials here, just lots of small rocks. The sand was wet here too so we used a sand trap to get down and we harvested a bigger rock from the R3 platform. R2 is now rigged from the lower pothole and requires a low profile rappel as the anchor rock is just slung into the pothole. The pool below R2 was a swimmer. The anchor at R3 was a little beat up so we re-rigged it using a dead man. R3 is probably one of the best drops in the region. Very clean, easy pull on the fiddle.
28 Feb 2026	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	7 people	Eljefe62 (67 reports),Mikeatran (92 reports),Canyoncowboy (39 reports)
Comment: Hot day paired with nice cold water. Snow present at gully approach with some postholing, as well as at bottom of last rappel (forming a nice carved snow channel to walk through on the exit). rooster tail was pretty decent but nothing on the approach or descent requiring microspikes or any different gear from the norm. Note that the road/trail is closed after the switchback at the waterfall reveal per USFS.
28 Feb 2026	Great	Very Low	None	Special challenges	4 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	BryceM777 (28 reports),BambooBrain (1 reports)
Comment: We were able to beat the heat in this canyon as SoCal had a Feb heat wave with a high of 90 today. This canyon, to our amazement, still had a low trickle and the water temp was warmer than what I would’ve expected. Glad we opted to not bring the wetsuit because we certainly didn’t need them on this day. With the low flow running, it also kept the smell and algae at a minimum which also added to the enjoyment factor. Overall, perfect time to run this canyon. Now, onto the canyon itself. Getting into this canyon proved to be the trickiest part. A short walk in the water course will lead you to a narrow flute and R1 proceeds immediately after. The flute can be downclimbed but for less confident group members, the flute can also be skipped by rappelling on the RDC side (most likely with a meat anchor). I meat anchored the entire group down R1 and with a decent sized boulder wedged in the middle of the flute section above, I downclimbed the flute and ghosted off the wedged boulder. Previous trip reports mentioned this boulder moved in the past. I tested this myself and it now appears very solidly fixed in place and after stomping and kicking the boulder, it did not move at all, which increased my confidence that this was a good anchor. R2 was immediately RDC from R1 off of a single nut. R2 and R3 can probably be combined but can make for a harder but not impossible rope retrieval and would require bringing a 200’ rope which we did not have so we decided to split these into 2 raps. R3 yields 2 options. Climb up onto a slick traverse RDC (care must be taken not to slip) and rap off 2 nuts and a chain RDC. Option 2 is the more obvious anchor LDC off of a rock pinch. To inspect the webbing care must be taken as the ledge leading up to the pinch was very exposed and a slip could be disastrous. Replacing this anchor would take a confident person comfortable with some exposed class 3/4 terrain. After this, there is another somewhat easy down climb of about 10 ft but could also require a meat anchor for less confident members. The final R4/downclimb is about 10 ft leading to a waist deep pool (don’t jump). I used a meat anchor to get 2 group members down and then opted to traverse out LDC onto somewhat slick rock. With good shoes, this is not a problem to climb out.
28 Feb 2026	Great	Moderate Low		Normal	4 hours	2 people	Sstaverman (25 reports)
Comment: 4 hours at a leisurely pace. 1.44' on the height gauge equated to low-moderate flow. Very relaxed and friendly for anyone familiar with flowing water in canyons. Beautiful canyon when flowing. Straightforward and easy exit.
28 Feb 2026	Amazing	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Advanced	9 hours	2 people Intermediate to Beginner	SBeast (1 reports)
Comment: Road: Overall, the road is in good shape, just watch for some dips. Approach: Standard until after the campsite. There were snow patches during the ascent (no spikes needed), but the last bit of the approach before descending into the canyon is almost clear of snow. Gear: Wore a 3mm wetsuit, neoprene socks, and a rain jacket. Even with snowmelt water, I stayed warm for someone who runs cold (temps were in the 80s). 1/4 mile walk: Covered in snow; river-walked most of it. R3: Took "Option 3" RDC off the tree (140ft). The landing is currently a few feet of snow instead of the rock pile; dry section was on the other side of a log. Note: About half of the snow on the mountain tops had melted by the time we left. I'm not sure how much longer these conditions will last. Amazing conditions and a great day out!
28 Feb 2026	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Blueshade (64 reports)
Comment: Water was significantly higher than what most people have apparently seen. Awesome conditions at the mushroom and an earlier flash flood had washed off some of the slippery scum. Still lots of garbage in canyon (pretty gross). Be prepared to downclimb, jump, or set your own rappels in some places. I was comfortable again in a 3/2. Time is casual pace with lots of photos again, and also walking the road back. We felt obligated to give something at the parking. Gave 300p, but 200p would probably be fine.
28 Feb 2026	Great	Very Low	Full wetsuit	Easy	5 hours	7 people Beginner to Expert	Coops (144 reports),Korey (87 reports),Ames (12 reports)
Comment: A nice relaxing day in Tessy - in February! The approach/canyon were entirely clear of snow. Flows were very low, but it was nice to be out in some water with good people, and the canyon is quite beautiful! We doubled up all of the anchors and replaced most quicklinks with ring hangers. We also replaced the previously smashed-up traverse line anchor. Abrasion mitigation is a requirement in many sections. The middle/lower sections of the canyon are ludicrously slippery currently. Important Note: Tesseract is a terrain trap, so if you are doing an early season run, you should be tracking avalanche conditions and snow levels. Today there was little/no snow above us, and canyon was clear of snow.
26 Feb 2026	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Blueshade (64 reports)
Comment: Nicer than expected. Water was up a bit after a recent rain. Upclimb was not too bad, if you've done that kind of thing. A thigh step would probably make it even easier. Do NOT suit up on the approach. You'll barely get wet. Upclimb past falls is grippy and short. We parked by some other cars a bit past the turnoff towards the river. 19.691368, -070.634521 Was hassled by no one and was not asked for payment. Although we did have an old guy approach us in a weird way upon return saying he was a guide (that doesn't go past the first falls). Potentially the one that followed the previous group. Rap length was again listed incorrectly. R1 is about 155' (on the safe side). Well over the listed 40m. 5hrs casual car to car with photos, some drone time, and dealing with the rope situation
25 Feb 2026	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Blueshade (64 reports)
Comment: 5.5hrs RT with a shuttle, casual pace and taking lots of pictures. Slower (less experienced creekers) or larger groups would likely take significantly longer than the originally posted 4.5hrs. Did not encounter major bushwhacking at the top of the exit after finding the trail about 1/4 of the way up. Creeking/bouldering section was longer than anticipated and WAS a bit annoying/tedious and, with the strenuous exit, made the otherwise nice day a bit less pleasant.

...additional reports

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