Rockets Red Glare Gulch
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| | Difficulty:3B II R (v5a2 II) Raps:5, max ↨190ft
Red Tape: Shuttle:Required 5 min Vehicle:Passenger | |||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 5 Apr 2025
"This is a canyon-wannabe. Its a glorified drainage area. With that said, its a fun, easy route with a big payoff at the end. Definitely worth doing. |
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34.3137, -118.1518
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Introduction
A short canyon with a nice big rappel into Big Tujunga just downstream of the narrows. From the top of the last rappel there is a great view looking into the narrows. The canyon itself is a little crumbly especially near the top as it's not a big drainage area. The last rappel however with the great views into the narrows is pretty nice.
Approach
Park in the Hidden Springs Picnic Area off the Angeles Crest Highway 34.3155, -118.1362.
Proceed up the road a little until you see a small dirt are on your left (North) around 34.3177, -118.1349. This is the start of the old (Fall Creek?) trail.
Follow the trail as it winds around and crosses Deer Spring Canyon. Drop in at 34.3147, -118.1516, it doesn't look like much of a drainage.
Descent
There is a a crumbly down-climb or two before you come to the top of the first real rappel:
Rappel 1: 30ft from a bush LDC.
Rappel 2: 90ft from a bush RDC. Low angle. If you choose to downclimb be careful as there may be loose rock. There's a crack on the right side of the canyon and a safe area to get off rope.
Rappel 3: 140-150ft from a bush LDC.
Rappel 4: 20ft from a bush RDC.
After a few short down-climbs you will come to the top of the last rappel.
Rappel 5: 190' from a bush RDC. The first half is free-hanging.
Exit
Once at the bottom of the final rappel there are two options, head downstream and exit via the fall creek fire road or head upstream through the Tujunga Narrows, the more scenic route. You will have to choose an exit route before hand which will determine where you park your shuttle vehicle.
One thing to take into account when choosing your route is that if there has been a lot of rain recently it might be difficult or impossible to head up via the narrows. Also there is a 20-25ft waterfall at the top of the narrows that may hinder your exit. There are currently (July 2015) 2 make-shift ladders on the side of the canyon that can be used to climb around but at some point these may be destroyed.
Once you are out of the narrows you can exit up on your right (looking up canyon) pretty much as soon as it looks doable. There are numerous use trails heading back up to the road, some steeper than others. The GPS route up is an approximation of where to exit up the ridge. It also looked like there might be a better trail on the ridge just East (upstream) of where we exited.
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Trip reports and media
Background
First canyoneering descent by: Alden Anderson, Dave Red, Mika Enriquez & Jason Milligan on July 4th 2015. The name? It's a Chinny Convulsion.
