Fantastic Mr. Fox Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A IV (v3a1 IV) Raps:6, max ↨185ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 10 min | |||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 19 Feb 2022
"Approach wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. If you like tallish rappels and downclimbing then you might like this canyon. The brush near the bott |
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34.3056, -118.1810
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Introduction[edit]
Fantastic Mr. Fox is a small tributary to Fox Creek with a large number of solid rocky down climbs and a few surprisingly tall rappels. It empties into Fox Creek shortly before the final rappel of Great Falls of the Fox.
Approach[edit]
Shuttle[edit]
Park along Angeles Forest Highway at the Josephine Creek trail head -- you will exit at this point.
Trail head[edit]
Drive a few minutes down hill from the shuttle spot to the Condor Peak trail head.
Hike[edit]
Climb the Condor Peak trail 2900 ft to just short of Fox Peak. Leave the trail at 34.3132, -118.1974 to climb directly up to the top of the ridge at its lowest point. Then continue along the ridge to the east to the drop in point.
Descent[edit]
The loose dirt/scree drop in is only about 400 horizontal feet long, and then the drainage begins to present many small down climbing challenges for the next 800 horizontal feet during which canyoneers descend 500 vertical feet. The first rappel is followed by a series of down-climbs and rappels ending with a brushy section at the base of the 5th rappel.
Rappel 1: 155 ft. Anchored from a tree DCL. FEB2022 tree is dead and falling over -> ghost from live tree DCR 30 feet back thus 185 foot plus stone knot loop => 200 foot rope
After a few down-climbs you will arrive at the top of the second rappel
Rappel 2: 35 ft. Anchored off a bush DCL -> FEB2022 ghost off bush
Rappel 3: 75 ft. Cairn anchor, center canyon -> FEB2022 ghost off boulder center canyon
Rappel 4: 120 ft. from bush anchor, DCL. -> FEB2022 ghost off boulder center canyon
Followed by a few more down-climbs.
Optional rappel, or sketchy 20ft down-climb. Rappelled by all but the last person, used as a meat anchor.
Rappel 5: 100 ft. Anchored off a dead tree DCR. -> FEB2022 ghost off live tree canyon center. Two stage rappel (2nd stage 10 more feet in heavy canyon kelp), but easy enough to be done as one. On this rappel a trickle of water comes out and the cracks and makes gets
After a short distance of bushwhacking, it is possible to bypass much of the brush section by climbing up RDC just down canyon of a prominent RDC drainage. The next drainage is a good point to reenter the canyon bottom and proceed to the final rappel into Fox Creek. Once you reenter the drainage there is slab downclimb with waterflow which gets steep at the bottom with a small pool (enough to get your feet wet). Below this you can downclimb into Fox Creek through a bunch of Poison Oak DCL, or rappel off something down the brush free water course. FEB2022 once in Fox Creek there is a mess of sticks, small logs and sticker vines between you and the water course of Fox Creek.
A short ways downstream is the last rappel (75 feet) of the Great Falls of Fox Creek itself, anchored off a horizontal growing large tree (2 branches one across the water course the other DCL). After this rappel, hike down stream on shelves, then up Big T creek to the steep climb up to the trail back to the shuttle car.
Exit[edit]
Continue down stream until Fox Creek empties into the Big Tujunga near the top of the reservoir. Under some circumstances, this exit may require a swim if the reservoir level is high enough. Turn upstream (left) and proceed around the large ridge on your right (LDC). Continue following the ridge upstream into the large bowl that branches off to the right (LDC) of Big Tujunga. Josephine Creek usually runs all year, so there should be a dark streak down the canyon walls where it enters the bowl. If it is difficult to find the trail, hike all the way up to Josephine Falls and then turn around and look for the trail to start LDC. Otherwise, scramble directly up to meet the trail approximately 100 ft above the bowl on the ridge LDC of the bowl. The trail should become more and more established as elevation increases. There are many shortcuts and alternate trails, but they all lead to the top of the ridge. Continue until the trail reaches the road near the shuttle car.
Red tape[edit]
None; although this hike is within the Angeles National Forest and many locations do require an Adventure Pass, the trail head is not developed and should not require one.
