Conditions:Cougar Canyon (Anza Borrego Desert)-20170424090633
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...additional reports
Latest: |
22 Apr 2017 (8 yrs, 2 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | Farnstrom (4 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | Moderate Low |
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| Wetsuit: | None |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Normal |
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| Time: |  13 hours
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Team: 4 people with experience level Beginner to Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: Like some previous reports, it took us much longer than anticipated to do this canyon, even though we didn't have any particular problem. We started shortly after 7am and were back at the cars after 8pm. Conditions were great, it was a hot day, but a good flow of water kept us cool. There were a few places where we had to swim. We found most anchors to be in usable shape, but we replaced a couple, and for a couple of short drops we didn't find an anchor, and used retrievable webbing on trees. It is also worth mentioning for access that while Boulder Alley wasn't much of a problem for our 4x4 vehicles, it seems to have degraded a fair amount since it was bulldozed, with recent rains, etc.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great | Very Low 
| None
| Normal | 13 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Advanced | REMs11 (1 reports) | |
Comment: My team has been running this Canyon the past 4 years and uses it as a season opener to dust the cob webs off and get everyone in the rescue mindset. 3 years ago state parks closed the gate on the drive-in causing a 5 mile hike from the gate to the Sheep Canyon campsite, additionally since the road isn't being used it is extremely soft and sandy. With the additional hike My team decided to launch from the gate at 1 am and made it to the summit next to the rock out cropping just before the start of sunrise. We each packed 2L of water and all were out of water just upon reaching the summit. From there we enjoyed the beautiful sunrise and ate some food before dropping in for the first Rap. Water level was low in the canyon but that was expected with the time of year we went, still plenty of water to get wet and filter water. overgrowth and debris in the canyon were normal. Team was able to ghost everything except for one rappel where we used the tandem pitons left behind. Logged 18 Rappels with a handful of down climbs. Once we got the EYE the hike back to the trail head was easy but the trail out is mostly gone with the lack of people visiting the area. Once we got back to sheep Canyon campground We changed into new boots and clothes and started the 5mile hike out to the truck. We ended the day just before 2pm. We had no issue running the canyon with 2 8mm 75' ropes, with a 150' stored in a pack for emergency.
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| Great | High 
| Thin wetsuit
| Advanced | 12 hours
| 10 people Beginner to Expert | Cesar (21 reports) | |
Comment: Unusually high flow requiring alternate anchor positions and we had an overly large group. Some members in the group were very cold due to water penetrating their wet suits in the water falls. Air temps were in the low 80s, this made other members in the team hot in the wetsuits. Start the approach early as the hike is exposed and steep. Some of the natural anchors found but not used may have to be rebuilt. We also recommend changing this canyon to 3BIV.
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| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 24 hours
| 7 people Brand new to Intermediate | Liu li (2 reports) | |
Comment: Water is low (this is before the march 2023 rainfalls), and weather is nice. All webbing is in good condition. Compare to Eaton, it is a better looking canyon.
We have too many people in the team, and many beginners, so we progress very slowly. Did not make it out the canyon within the day, have to find a shelter cave in wet cloth, and survive the cold night. Recommend to have less people and start out very early in the morning to come back in the same day. Also, I would recommend to change this canyon to 3BIV, instead of 3BIII. It may help other beginner to plan their trip in a safe manner. Canyon is amazing, and hope to go back to it sometime soon. | |||||||
| Great | Low
| Rain jacket
| Normal |  6 hours
| 3 people | Fchien (5 reports),Jcsjcs (121 reports) | |
Comment: 2.5 hour approach with fun scrambling. We stayed a little high and to the right going up the Valley of a Thousand Springs; probably should have been down in the drainage but we were able to avoid getting cliffed out.
Cougar Canyon is a hidden gem with a playful descent including numerous downclimbing opportunities and rappels through beautifully sculpted granite with a good number of awkward starts. The day was cooler and rainy and we probably would have been more comfortable in wetsuits. Descent portion took 3:50 and we got back to the car shortly before sunset. Overall this was a great canyoneering experience.
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| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| | 7 hours
| 4 people Advanced to Expert | Estunum (34 reports) | |
Comment: Approach was the usual, you’re on a trail a good way then you just pick the path of least resistance. 2.5hrs to reach the saddle from the TH. Canyon was another 4.5hrs to the cars. Anchors were ok, but made a couple new ones as webbing as bad or missing. Did no more rappels after the psychedelic eye.
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Rain jacket
| Normal | 8 hours
| 4 people Advanced | Farnstrom (4 reports) | |
Comment: Started before 7am to avoid most of the heat, but was already pretty hot around 8am hiking up to the ridge. Nice flow, about the same as previous years when we did it in April, enough to get us soaking wet on some of the rappels. We decided to not take full wetsuits and did not regret it, temperature was about right in the canyon, with some of us wearing rain jackets or partial neoprene. No problem with the anchors, a couple of them could use webbing replacement before too long. Biggest difference compared to previous years was that there were no swimmers or even anything above knee deep, seems to have filled in a lot as previously noted, but with some quicksand-like spots. Road in good condition. Great fun!
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| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 7 hours
| 3 people Advanced | Estunum (34 reports) | |
| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 9 hours
| 6 people Intermediate to Advanced | Nathan (7 reports) | |
Comment: 5th annual cougar canyon descent. Access road in extremely good condition; noticed a Subaru Forester at Sheep Camp so easily passable in any standard SUV. Water flow higher than in previous years due to recent rains, nothing crazy but certainly class C. Canyon obviously flashed in recent weeks/months as the water course was clogged with debris and had to uncover a few anchors. After the soul crushing approach, the descent was fairly straight-forward; rebuilt 2 or 3 anchors and removed a lot of old webbing, most others in decent condition. Previously deep pools have been mostly filled in with sediment.
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| Great | Deep pools
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 8 hours
| 2 people Intermediate | Tarannosaurus (26 reports) | |
Comment: Nice amount of water; wetsuits were necessary since it was impossible to avoid getting wet on several rappels and there were a number of waist/chest deep wades and a couple of short swims. All webbing and anchors looked solid; the previously reported excess webbing appears to have been cleaned up. This was our second time in this canyon and the conditions were similar, but our time was several hours faster. I believe our faster time was due largely to staying in the watercourse rather than avoiding it (as we did on our first trip); in general the watercourse provides the easier descent, both in terms of down climbs and providing a clearer path from downed branches and dense vegetation.
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| Great | Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 10 hours
| 3 people Brand new to Expert | Danielson (93 reports) | |
Comment: Weather conditions were very cold this weekend, and rain threatened the whole time. A 4/3 wetsuit with a shell would be comfortable for most. Coyote Canyon road conditions were good, but take Di Gorgio rd to get to the start of it. Do not trust Google. Water flow was excellent!! Borderline class C. There was enough flow a beginner could get freaked out. Absolutely no way to stay dry on rappels. Long cold swims in spots. Prior reports about how long this canyon takes... I'm a bit confused. It took our party just under 10 hours car to car. It is certainly a full day, but we had a first timer with us who was not fast on rappel. Additionally I had forgotten a harness and used a Swiss seat all day, and we started late and exited in the dark for 2 hours. Should not take more than 10 hours for a competent group with 2 working 150' rope teams.
Note - lots and lots of extra old webbing in here. If you have enough time and people to remove and carry it out please do. Thx
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| Good | Deep pools
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 8 hours
| 3 people Beginner to Intermediate | Nathan (7 reports) | |
Comment: Boulder alley reopened and in really smooth condition after regrading; passable with any standard SUV or high clearance vehicle . Team of 3, took approx. 8 hours car to car. Replaced 2 anchors; all others in good condition, should be good to go for the rest of the season. Wetsuit definitely required.
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| Unknown | | | | | DerekSch (8 reports) | ||
Comment: After a long wait for sheep season to end we headed up to Cougar canyon, We arrived at a locked gate just before boulder alley. The sign said the area was closed to all foot traffic, vehicle traffic, and horses as of 10/1/17. The rains over the summer caused major damage to boulder alley leaving ruts 5-6 feet deep and large boulders strewn all over making the road impassable. If the State parks decide to spend money to repair this I would be surprised but I'm hoping they do.. Since the sign said not too we obviously didn't hike up to check it out...
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| Great | Moderate Low
| None
| Normal | 13 hours
| 4 people Beginner to Advanced | Farnstrom (4 reports) | |
Comment: Like some previous reports, it took us much longer than anticipated to do this canyon, even though we didn't have any particular problem. We started shortly after 7am and were back at the cars after 8pm. Conditions were great, it was a hot day, but a good flow of water kept us cool. There were a few places where we had to swim. We found most anchors to be in usable shape, but we replaced a couple, and for a couple of short drops we didn't find an anchor, and used retrievable webbing on trees. It is also worth mentioning for access that while Boulder Alley wasn't much of a problem for our 4x4 vehicles, it seems to have degraded a fair amount since it was bulldozed, with recent rains, etc.
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| Great | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 13 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Expert | Tcamis01 (2 reports) | |
Comment: We started at 7 am and got back to the car at 8 pm. I don't think we could have gone much faster and had fun although we did get a little lost on the exit which cost some time. I'd budget at least 2 hours for the approach which is quite difficult in the desert heat. The canyon itself is pretty straightforward. All anchors were there and in pretty good shape except one that we replaced and one that was missing. The longest rap was less than 120 ft.
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| Good | Very Low
| Rain jacket
| Special challenges | 11 hours
| 3 people Intermediate | Tarannosaurus (26 reports) | |
Comment: We're not 100% sure why this took us so long. The approach took 2 hours and we're normally on the faster side of route estimates for technical sections. The recent rains means the water flow was pretty heavy; nearly all the raps had the potential to soak you and we were trying to stay dry for the first few, so that added some time. There is also a LOT of debris which made for awkward clothes ripping, face whipping, eye stabbing progress - this canyon could benefit from a heavy flash flood. We ended up doing the last three or four rappels in the dark. On the plus side, all the anchors were present and in good condition, and there are some really cool rappels, lovely waterfalls, and nice sculpted rock sections.
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