Das Pfeife Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A II (v3a1 II) Raps:2-3, max ↨110ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger Watercraft:Yes | |||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 10 Apr 2022
"Descent was cleaner than expected with minimal brush and some interesting downclimbs, taking one hour. We started getting cold during the swim and ele |
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34.2963, -118.1804
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Introduction
Another short pack-raft canyon dropping into the Big Tujunga Reservoir, ending with a nice rappel. There are 3 canyons that end right around the same point Das Soup Canyon & Das Fledermaus Canyon. The pack-raft exit is the main draw to these canyons. Out of the three I'd say this one has the nicest rappel at the end and perhaps the one to start with. For Das Soup you will have to rappel into your raft so you'll probably want to ensure everyone in the party is comfortable with this.
Approach
These 3 routes (mentioned above) are right next to each other, so be careful with the navigation to avoid dropping into the wrong canyon, which actually wouldn't be terrible as they are not significantly different technically. Drop-in at 34.2956, -118.1794. There is a pipe sticking out from under the road. That is the right place.
Descent
The canyon starts off as a steep brushy slope eventually coming to the top of the first rappel.
Rappel 1: 60 ft. Anchored from a bush DCR. It may be a little tricky to get to this bush.
Rappel 2: (Optional) 20-30ft. Multiple anchor possibilities here including bushes on the right and a large dead tree up on the left. We skipped it however due to the abundance of poison oak. Climbed up the slope DCL up and around through a small side drainage and then over a small ridge to come back into the main canyon.
Rappel 3: 110 ft. Small tree center canyon. Nice vertical drop of about 80 feet.
Exit
After the final rappel there is an area (with varying amounts of debris) to inflate your pack rafts and get into the water. Unlike Alimony Creek and Das Soup Canyon where you must rappel into your inflated raft.
Paddle up canyon until the water ends. You can use the right wall (continuing down canyon from Das Pfeife) as a navigation handrail for paddling out.
Alternate exit: if you want to leave the water sooner, you can get out on the north bank at 34°17'54.14"N, 118°10'58.71"W. It's steep going up a gully at first but there's a helpful handline at the beginning. Once you gain the ridgeline it's a lot mellower and the trail becomes better defined. Time from the water to the road should be about 0:45.
Red tape
Review the boundaries and rules for the Big Tujunga reservoir before attempting this canyon.
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Background
First known canyoneering descent by: Steve Sieren, Dave Red, Ben Pelletier, Neil MacMillan, Bahman Engheta, Lauren Grabowski, Peter Bohler & Alden Anderson on August 20th, 2014.
The third of the 3 "Das" canyons:
"The first was "Das Soup" based on a comment from Neil MacMillan upon seeing the pictures of the soupy mess we rappelled into. This started the "Das" naming convention. Which of course is inspired by "Das Boot" in Zion. The second canyon we named "Das Fledermaus" which translates into "The Bat" (grammatically incorrect but in keeping with the "Das" naming system) based on the hundreds of bats flying over the water, feasting on the bugs no doubt.
Tonight it was "Das Pfeife" (The Pipe)"
A. Anderson (talk) 08:50, 22 August 2014 (PDT)
