Latest:	29 Feb 2020 (5 yrs, 2 mos ago)

Reported by:	Mikeatran (84 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Very Low
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	2 hours

Team: 3 people with experience level Brand new to Intermediate

Trip report URL:

Comments: Left trailhead at 10am; used chockstone for the first rappel. Used the second rappel for the 3rd; hiked DCL after the third and didn’t attempt the 4th rap. Water was clear; hike up had some algae streams but was very easy and short. One person in our group had old shoes that had no grip, making the traverse DCL difficult due to the slick rock; probably recommended that those with old non-technical shoes either continue down canyon or use a hand line to get across.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
27 Dec 2024	Good	Deep pools	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	1 hour	2 people Advanced	Dynomike (1 reports)
Comment: Fun quick run down rattlesnake canyon. Water was ice cold. Canyon is so short that a wetsuit isnt needed. No anchors were available when we arrived. 1st rap: can either anchor off a chockstone or knot chock/place nut. Its a 2 stage rap. 2nd anchor off a nut. Last rap was off a handle bar hole. Fun canyon but super short. Time was car to car. If this canyon was a 1/2 day or longer it would be epic
30 Dec 2023	Good	Deep pools	Drysuit	Normal	2 hours	2 people Intermediate	Celes (26 reports)
Comment: There were 2 anchors in the canyon. Each had 2 webbings. All webbings were in good condition. Each anchors were used for multi-stage rappel. After reading a couple of previous trip reports, we brought a 200' rope and that worked out perfectly. We recommend not pull the rope from the first anchor till you find the 2nd anchor. There were no rope pull problems. The water was pretty smelly and the deepest part was about chest deep.
1 Oct 2023	Good	Deep pools	None	Special challenges	2 hours	2 people Intermediate	JasenPlus (17 reports)
Comment: Relatively easy short canyon. Water was not flowing, but pools were up to chest deep. Water was clear and only slightly chilly. Algae on some drops was very slippery. Special challenges only due to anchors. Where used, webbing was pretty worn and probably is nearing (or beyond) needing replacement. We couldn't find any existing anchors or obvious natural points for the second drop, but had enough rope with us (200') to just use the first anchor for the second drop. Third drop was currently off a single climbing nut that may make some folks nervous. We also dropped a final nuisance rap that could be avoided, there was a webbing knot chock, but the end wasn't accessible so we had to pull it out and reposition to get it to work. Fun short trip, if folks are used to trade canyon anchors they may find themselves in trouble.
5 Aug 2022	Amazing	Moderate High	None	Normal	3 hours	1 people Intermediate	Llamafilm (12 reports)
Comment: We’ve had massive rain all week so the water flow was fantastic. Deep pools all along the route, and a couple of strong waterfalls. A lovely feeling in the desert. R1: 60ft. I found one bolt but it’s too far away so that route would skip the first waterfall. So I slung a large rock bridge instead. The bolt also sticks out 6mm although it doesn't wiggle. R2-3: 100ft combined into one. Used a single climbing nut for the anchor. R4: I was running out of time so I jumped this one, landing in 5ft of water.
3 Apr 2022	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	3 hours	2 people Intermediate	Sperry (3 reports)
Comment: Canyon is no longer flowing and algae is beginning to grow in the pools. Pools will likely be pretty gross soon unless there is more rain. R1 was ghosted using a rock chock DCR. R2 - replaced old webbing and a hardware store welded oval thing (chain link?). R3 was anchored off chockstone in water course. R4 was skipped due to stagnate, gross pools at the bottom that had a ton of mosquito larvae. The escape slab was super slick. I had approach shoes with Vibram rubber that slid and wouldn't grip. I recommend against the slabs unless you have super sticky rubber like C4. Overall, it was a fun, quick canyon. We hope to go back when it's flowing.
26 Feb 2022	Good	Very Low	None	Special challenges	6 hours	18 people Brand new to Advanced	Triggerfish (60 reports)
Comment: As seen in other reports, this slot creates mixed feelings. The good: It is pretty. The rappels, while short, have good start angles, and drop through nice fluted granite. Water had some algae, and I would only drink it in an emergency, but there was no bad smell or carcasses in it. The approach and exit hikes are short, fun, and easy. It’s in JT, and in an area with few published canyons. The bad: The water was cold. We also had the bad luck of cold, breezy air temps that went from about 30 degrees at dawn to 60 by afternoon. A fast group would be fine without wetsuits. A slow group in this weather would be happier in some neoprene. In the watercourse, the granite can be frustratingly slick. The surreal: Yes, you can see the end of the slot from the beginning. The end is never far, but can feel like it is! We occasionally saw warm dry hikers up in the sun, sometimes watching and talking with us from just 20 or 30’ above at the lip of the slot. This time of year, despite being in the slot from about 11-3, no sun was hitting the bottom. The details: We ran this slot twice in two days. A 120’ rope was all that was needed (as well as plenty of anchor building gear). In this weather, wetsuits would definitely have made everyone more comfortable. First run was only 2 canyoneers scouting it out. Rap 1: No anchor present. Slung a nice big boulder with 20' green mil-spec webbing and a big steel link. Prior reports mentioned slinging the chockstone a few feet away. It moved when I stepped on it, and looked like it could move more. Hard pass. Prior reports also mention using the flake/horn DCL further down. Looked usable, but would make a hard rappel start for beginners, as it is close to the edge. We started rappel after stemming down the wide crack. Pothole at the bottom of this was 3’ deep. Raps 2-3: No anchor present. No usable cobble to make a deadman with (unless desperate enough to go back up rap 1). Used about 4’ green mil-spec with a steel link in the DCR crack. Finding the right knot chock took a minute. A single strand overhand knot was too flat. Two-strand overhand and single strand Ashley/Oysterman were too big. A double overhand fit just right. Held both of us fine (max body + pack about 220 lbs. 55’ of rope got us down the 3 stages into brief wades up to 5’ deep, allowing us to skip the Rap 3 anchor, so the 120’ rope was just right for the pull. Cold and wet, and growing leery of slippy granite, we didn’t feel comfortable with the exposure of the DCL traverse, and opted for… Rap 4: A nuisance rappel, prob 15-20’. No anchor present. Put another knot chock in a crack DCR. I was by then down to an aluminum escape ring. Fatter crack here, which held an Ashley stopper well. This rap dropped us into water that was 4ish’ deep. Day 2, with a big group of mostly newbies. Stemming the initial crack was challenging for some of the smaller teens, but teamwork got them down fine. I was nervous about new teens using the knot choke anchor on rap 2/3 (a careless lateral pull would flick it out), so we meat anchored them and most of the adults down, then the last two of us used the knot choke anchor placed the day before. By rap 2/3, we had some of the skinny guys huddling in an emergency blanket to stay warm. Obviously, the sheer number of people sequencing down rope took a long time, and the places we piled up to wait were mostly wet. Everyone was at some level of uncomfortably cold and in grim determination mode by the end, but ultimately glad to have pushed through together. Overall, it’s an ok canyon. Because of the anchoring issues, I won’t call it beginner friendly. But it is beginner tolerant as long as at least one experienced canyoneer is on the team.
13 Nov 2021	Great	Deep pools	None	Easy	2 hours	2 people Beginner	Daxianne (1 reports)
Comment: Loved this canyon because it was short. I was afraid to find nasty water to wade through and anticipated shallow, stagnant, dirty pools; but it rained a couple of weeks ago so the water was really clear! - but it was deep. I had to swim through 2 pools, my partner carefully made his way across them but we both got wet. We did two long rappels. The first was on webbing we found around the second chock stone. It was borderline; I'd probably replace it if I were to do it again. There was a third chock stone about half way through the canyon with another sling and quick link on it. This one was water logged, but we didn't bring a knife to remove it so left it on the rock and slung it with another piece of (too long) webbing. I tried to keep the quick link out of sitting water so hopefully it doesn't get as rusted. We scrambled through the rest Overall really fun, short rappels, some down climbing, we had warm sun to keep us warm between the cold pools and I had kept dry clothes in my bag so the hike out wasn't miserable at all. Fun activity for a down day from climbing.
27 Feb 2021	Poor	Very Low	None	Easy	1 hour	4 people Intermediate	Stinky buds (7 reports)
Comment: JT is very hot no wet suit needed This canyon was very short.. I would’ve enjoyed it better had I not had to swim through bat juice soup Each pool we rappelled into had multiple bats to bypass… yes dead bats just swimming in the Un avoidable pools The water was cold instead it was just nasty especially cuz there is no flow either
7 Feb 2021	Ok	Very Low	None	Easy	3 hours	4 people Brand new to Advanced	Erichransom (20 reports)
Comment: very cold water. Would want to move faster or have a 3mm wetsuit next time. Time could be 1-2 hours with efficient team
7 Feb 2021	Ok	Very Low	None	Easy	4 hours	6 people Advanced to Brand new	Cesar (21 reports)
Comment: 6 of us went up the canyon but only 4 went in the canyon because 1 person, who did not know how to swim, was not comfortable with the water in the pools. The water in the pools at the approach was green but as you climb up to the first rappel the water gets clearer. The water in the top pools that you will be in are clear but ,again, the more you descend the greener they get. Plenty of small dead animals in the pools. Of the 4 people that went into the canyon 1 was advance, 2 intermediate, and 1 brand new person with absolutely no experience on any type of rope. That person had a very hard time slipping on the approach, canyon, and exit due to shoes not being sticky at all. As the previous report states, you can setup a line to help the person across the traverse DCL or have them rappel the last section. There were no swimmers as the water only goes as far as your chest. Since I stayed at the top to help manage the rope, the team in the canyon opted to use only the choke stone anchor I was managing. We tied the two 100 ft ropes which were exactly enough to rappel to the exit with the traverse. The approach is easy but make sure that everyone in your team has good sticky shoes as it helps them not be too nervous. Also, the first rappel has an awkward start for someone new. Its an easy and beautiful canyon. Hopefully it will rain a bit more to keep the pools clean. OTHER anchors in the canyon will need to be rebuilt and since we did not use them, we can not report on them. Air temp was about 75 degrees.
12 Dec 2020	Ok	Very Low	None	Normal	4 hours	4 people Brand new to Intermediate	Brdn.gonzales (44 reports)
Comment: A cool little canyon that might be worth doing if you have the equipment and are in the area with optimal conditions. Based off my experience, wouldn't recommend planning for it beyond that. No water flow, but there was knee deep residual water from when it was flowing. More of a carcass soup if anything! Between the green algae, dead snakes, bats, and mice; it smelled wonderful. Went with 2 friends who've rappelled before and 1 newbie. Used a nut to setup the first rappel, placed in a crack on canyon right. The rest were cairn anchors found about ankle deep in the water. We rappelled twice, down climbed the rest, and exited canyon left before the big pothole. Because it was such a short approach, I ran back to the top and grabbed the nut I placed. Would love to give it another chance in better conditions when it's flowing.
29 Feb 2020	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	2 hours	3 people Brand new to Intermediate	Mikeatran (84 reports)
Comment: Left trailhead at 10am; used chockstone for the first rappel. Used the second rappel for the 3rd; hiked DCL after the third and didn’t attempt the 4th rap. Water was clear; hike up had some algae streams but was very easy and short. One person in our group had old shoes that had no grip, making the traverse DCL difficult due to the slick rock; probably recommended that those with old non-technical shoes either continue down canyon or use a hand line to get across.
26 Jan 2020	Amazing	Very Low	Rain jacket	Normal	2 hours	2 people Brand new to Expert	Danielson (93 reports)
Comment: Welp, pretty sure I'm the only person who annually runs this canyon. I didn't fill out a trip report last you, but you know what? That's ok because no one reads these trip reports anyway. Total waste of my time. But anywhoooooo... the canyon: Best conditions I've seen it in. Flowing water, not as much as last year, but still really rad. All potholes were filled with gravel. Water was only ankle deep which was also rad. Water was very clean. Temp were about 65F which made it just right for a light rain jacket. Partly cloudy which was excellent for photos. Anchor #1 was exactly where I left it, right over the edge of the first rappel DCL slung around a big flake. It was still in good condition. Left it since no one else usually finds it and uses the chock stone up canyon. Anchor #2 was gone. Rebuilt in the same crack with a knot-chock DCR. Anchor #3 was garbage. Removed from the low pinch point center canyon. Used anchor 2 for the final rap. And that's about it. Went to Pappy and Harriet's. The fish sandwich was surprisingly good.
13 Apr 2019	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	1 hour	2 people Beginner to Advanced	Nathan (7 reports)
Comment: Exactly as described in the beta, a short but sweet technical canyon. Re-tied first anchor off of small choke stone, 2nd and 3rd anchors from knot chocks already in place. Slight flow keeping the pools nice and clear, water temp comfortable. All potholes about waist deep except the one below the final down climb which was chest deep.
14 Apr 2018	Good	Deep pools	None	Normal	2 hours	2 people Beginner to Expert	Danielson (93 reports)
Comment: Everything the Dude says below except the knot chock at anchor 2 looked compromised. I remade it. The end.