Nerf Herder Canyon
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| | Difficulty:3A III (v3a1 III) Raps:7-8, max ↨90ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required Vehicle:Passenger | |||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 5 May 2018
"One of the worst bushwhacking experiences we have ever experienced. As of May 2018, copious amounts of poison oak and every other native plant thorou |
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34.2575, -118.1791
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Introduction[edit]
Nerf Herder starts off a little scruffy-looking but but soon develops into a nice canyon with lots of bedrock and interesting pothole pools before culminating in it's precipitous drop into Long canyon and the Arroyo Seco. The final 3 rappels are perhaps the best and most interesting portion of the canyon. Dropping in from the side drainage the brush clears up a bit once it meets the main fork. There isn't any terrible bushwhacking from here (Jan 2016). Like CCC Canyon, its neighbor to the west, Nerf Herder Canyon may be exited on the Twin Canyon trail, may be followed all the way to JPL, or may be connected to one of the forks of Pine Canyon via the Ken Burton Trail for a long canyoneering day.
Approach[edit]
Park in the appropriate pull out. Hike briefly down the small ridge southwest before turning back north to descend into the tributary drainage.
Descent[edit]
Rappel 1: 70'
Rappel 2: 90' anchored from a bush on the left a little ways back from the rappel. If anchored closer this rappel might be 45'.
Rappel 3: 20' anchored from a dead tree LDC
Rappel 4: 70' anchored about 30 feet back on canyon left. Rappel itself is about 40'.
There is a short 2 stage down-climb in/around a hanging pool of water as the canyon curves to the right that some may want to rappel
As the canyon continues you'll notice that there are more and more potholes with water and more smooth bedrock. We found ways to climb around pretty much all of the pools throughout the canyon. But you should be prepared to get wet.
The last section of canyon is the most scenic with 3 rappels in quick succession. The canyon curves around to the left and this upper section can be down-climbed.
Rappel 5: 85' vertical rappel from a deadman cairn anchor just behind the lip.
Rappel 6: 50' from a large rock center canyon
Rappel 7: 30' from a buckthorn bush LDC. Beautiful striped multi-colored flume.
Exit[edit]
After descending to Arroyo Seco, find the trail on the close (north) side of the stream as it bypasses a waterfall by following a ledge downstream. Continue downstream past CCC Canyon to near Oakwilde Picnic Area at the confluence with Dark Canyon.
Twin Canyon trail[edit]
Exit up the Twin Canyon trail. As of January 2018, it was well-marked with yellow and orange ribbons tied to branches and easy to follow. Finding the path from the bottom could be difficult, it starts inside a small ravine before trending left onto a ridge.
Arroyo Seco[edit]
Or, turn left and continue downstream. The trail will leave the canyon bottom periodically, most notably to bypass Brown Dam. The dam can be rappelled to add another 70' drop to the trip.
Ken Burton trail[edit]
Or, turn left and continue downstream until you come to a ridge. Head up the ridge, walk through a small burnt forest of trees, bushwhack up a slope, and meet up with the remains of the Ken Burton trail. Follow it up to Brown Mountain fire road.
Red tape[edit]
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
First descent:
Before receiving its first-descent name, this canyon was tentatively named Short Canyon for its proximity to Long Canyon
Background[edit]
First known canyoneering descent by: Alden Anderson, Benjamin Pelletier, Jason Milligan and Scott Merill. The descent was done in conjunction with Pine Canyon (another excellent route), accessing it via the Ken Burton trail.