Conditions:Mud Springs (Direct)-20250529195348
Latest: |
25 May 2025 (1 month ago) |
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| Reported by: | Jhoffer (2 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Ok |
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| Waterflow: | Deep pools |
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| Wetsuit: | None |
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| Water temperature: | 60F deg C |
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| Difficulty: | Advanced |
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| Time: |  10 hours
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Team: 2 people with experience level Beginner
Trip report URL:
Comments: Conditions:
Temp: Very hot (95F) this time of year, luckilly high winds helped a lot once at the summit.
Water: No flowing water but many small pools and some deep pools during the bottom rappel sequence. These deep pools were deeper than shoulder height at parts and some were not visibly, easily bypassable. Water temp was very cold but hot+dry conditions make wet suites unnecessary.
This approach for Mud Spring Canyon was not a great experience. The approach up Epinephrine' climbers descent was very time consuming resulting in submitting the peak mid-afternoon i.e during max temp and sun exposure. Only after reaching the peak did we realize that we had to effectively down-climb >1000 vertical feet to reach the true rappel sequence. While we did find some rappels unique to this route (not part of the Mud Spring Canyon sequence) they were very difficult to find; it was faster to just downclimb. The steep but rock scattered slopes presents the risk stuck ropes as well.
The issue with this approach is that if ascending (approach) and downclimb take too long, then you have to do the final rappel sequence in the dark which makes navigating the cold, deep pools in the true rappel of more consequence and more difficult to bypass with only headlamps.
If there was a better beta for the top downclimb/"rappel" sequence, I could see this being a much better experience especially in cooler weather. But currently it's not a suitable no-shuttle replacement for the normal "Mud Springs Canyon" route. However, better sneak route already exists, a local climber/canyoneer said it's more preferred and common to climb up the "Mud Springs Canyon" descent itself; doing this cuts off the 1 non-bypassable rappel but can be done in ~2 hours & without a 2000' vertical approach.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ok | Deep pools
| None
| Advanced | 10 hours
| 2 people Beginner | Jhoffer (2 reports) | |
Comment: Conditions:
Temp: Very hot (95F) this time of year, luckilly high winds helped a lot once at the summit. Water: No flowing water but many small pools and some deep pools during the bottom rappel sequence. These deep pools were deeper than shoulder height at parts and some were not visibly, easily bypassable. Water temp was very cold but hot+dry conditions make wet suites unnecessary.
The issue with this approach is that if ascending (approach) and downclimb take too long, then you have to do the final rappel sequence in the dark which makes navigating the cold, deep pools in the true rappel of more consequence and more difficult to bypass with only headlamps. If there was a better beta for the top downclimb/"rappel" sequence, I could see this being a much better experience especially in cooler weather. But currently it's not a suitable no-shuttle replacement for the normal "Mud Springs Canyon" route. However, better sneak route already exists, a local climber/canyoneer said it's more preferred and common to climb up the "Mud Springs Canyon" descent itself; doing this cuts off the 1 non-bypassable rappel but can be done in ~2 hours & without a 2000' vertical approach.
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| Good | Dry
| None
| Advanced |  8 hours
| 2 people | Willie92708 (1003 reports) | |
Comment: Being the First Descent we had a few issues, mainly with getting the FiddleStick stuck twice on both of the 300+ foot rappels! Also, just figuring out where to break up the massive slab walls took time to scout around and this mostly turned out to be fruitless. Thus we wound up with two rappels that were much longer than desired (see pics).
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