High Noon Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A III (v3a1 III) Raps:7, max ↨215ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 22 Dec 2024
"High noon is a great canyon if you have limited time. I found it interesting that the approach is to hike up a side canyon to rappel in high noon. T |
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| Best season: | Nov-Mar
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36.1270, -116.7345
36.1143, -116.7440
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Introduction
High Noon is a worthy shorter-day canyon in a location easily accessible from paved roads. It has a relatively easy approach. (It’s DV easy, not Pine-Creek easy, but the exit beats Pine Creek’s exit for sure.)
South fork option:
The main High Noon route is arguably the better of the two, but the south fork provides another variation that might be interesting to some. The south fork joins the main route for the last 5 rappels, skipping the longer two at the top.
Approach
From the junction of Highway 190 and Badwater Road, drive about 27.5 miles south on Badwater Road. Note, this is about 10.9 miles south of the Badwater parking area. There is a long, straight stretch of road on the south side of Copper Canyon’s enormous alluvial fan. Park at the east end of this straight stretch, just before the road turns at the foot of the mountain.
Hike north from the parking spot, staying in the alluvial paths just left of the more rocky alluvial fan. After about .6 mile, continue hiking on easy terrain to the northeast, and then north up into a wash. About .1 mile into the wash, look for a dryfall on the right.
About 50 feet past this dryfall, on the same (right) side of the wash, ascend the steep slope. Avoid the tempting smooth terrain on the left (north). Stay to the right and go up the more steppy stuff. About 50 feet up, there is a rock outcrop, and you will want to head for the left side of that. Directly above the rock outcrop, find your way into a very small gully. As soon as the terrain levels out a bit (about 120 feet up), exit to the right and enter a significant and obvious drainage.
Continue up this drainage, bypassing left or right or climbing each dryfall as it is encountered. After about .3 to .4 mile, fork right, into what appears to be a side drainage. Another few hundred feet after that, fork right again. From there, continue up the drainages, forking to the right every time there is a choice, until it levels out at the top, at a minor saddle, just below elevation 1000 feet. From here, the canyon in front of you is High Noon Canyon.
South fork option:
From the level area, angle to the left (northeast) into High Noon Canyon. Ascend directly up the slope on the opposite side. When the terrain looks reasonable, about 120 feet up, angle up to the right (south) and work your way over to a small ridge. Cross over the ridge and enter the South Fork of High Noon.
Descent
DC 1: Downclimb, or bypass on the left.
Rap 1: 125ft, 2-stage. From rock bollard.
Rap 2: 215ft, 2-stage. From cairn. (Update: Now split with a cairn at the 2-stage. First stage ~85ft with 2nd stage ~135ft)
Optional cairn anchor rap set but can be down climbed.
Rap 3: 45ft. From cairn.
Rap 4: 25+50=75ft. From creosote bush.
Rap 5: 45ft. From cairn.
Rap 6: 45ft. From cairn.
Rap 7: 35ft. From cairn.
South fork option:
The features begin with a drop that can be downclimbed, and then further down, a couple more drops that can be bypassed. Then a seemingly impossible series of downclimbs begins where the canyon gets steeper, with the canyon in front of you dropping 350 feet in about 400 feet of horizontal distance. This long series of drops ends with a rappel.
South fork rap 1: 95ft, 2-stage. From cairn.
Rappel length is rope length, not drop height. All rappel lengths are approximate. Some are only estimated, not actually measured. Numbers provided as a rough guide only. Be aware of your surroundings and do not blindly follow any canyoneering info. Max rap length of 215 feet is an approximation.
Exit
About 20 minutes of easy hiking down alluvial fan.
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Background
Rick Kent discovered and named the canyon in 2018.
First descent: 30 December 2018. Mike Cressman, Lori Curry, James Edwards, Alyson Heare, Angela Horvath, Rick Kent, Janice Muscio, Jackie Snodgrass, Tina Tretina, Kevin Trieu, Abby Wines. (Alphabetical order.)
South fork variation, first descent: 21 December 2020. Mike Cressman, Ali Miller.
