Mud Springs (Direct)
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| | Difficulty:3A III (v3a1 III) Raps:max ↨330ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:High Clearance Rock type:Sandstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 25 May 2025
"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 sm |
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| Best season: | oct-mar
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36.0315, -115.4660
36.0345, -115.4496
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Introduction[edit]
Mud Springs Direct is a short-cut (true sneak) version of Mud Springs Canyon, which cuts off the first rappel sequence in Mud Springs; instead drops directly into the "money" section at the end, hitting all the rappels / down-climbs there. Also, it's a non-shuttle route, but does require climbing up over 2000 vertical feet on the Epinephrine climber's descent route.
Approach[edit]
Park at the Black Velvet canyon climber's parking area, follow the trail toward Black Velvet canyon, take a left toward Frog Land, contour around on the Frog Land climber's descent route, climb up Frog Land gully, at the Frog Land saddle head onto the Epinephrine climber's descent route and follow it all the way to the ridge top (where there are normally several huge cairns). Directly on the other side is a large cedar tree. Head toward that tree then down to the smaller cedar bush/tree below. From here you can down-climb or rappel as needed. Be careful with down-climbing as there is a TON of loose rock here!
Descent[edit]
R0 cedar bush (ghosted) over a short headwall
R1 big rocks (rust webbing 17JAN2025) 150 feet?
R2 rock horn RDC (ghosted) 330 feet? down the water stained slab
Large "flat" area with lots of plants at the bottom of R2. Proceed down the obvious shallow gully, and downclimb into the "V" trough:
R4 chock stone in the slot 330 feet? Extend the webbing over the lip for pull!
R5 BFR center (black webbing 17JAN2025) 80 feet?
After R5 it's easy to down-climb into a ramp angling right to the floor of Mud Springs Canyon. Follow the Mud Springs beta for the rest of the rappels.
Exit[edit]
Follow the Mud Springs exit beta, but angle more left once out in the open desert and intersect with the MTB trail that leads back to the Black Velvet parking area.