TR: McKinley Canyon 2009_02_01
* ACA Rating: 3A R IV (R is from falling rock hazard)
* Our hiking time: 10hrs 36min
* Our Hiking distance: 11.3 miles (GPS accumulated)
* Elevation loss: 3235ft (TOPO! accumulated)
* Elevation gain: 3235ft (TOPO! accumulated)
* Required equipment: Standard canyoneering gear 3, 200ft ropes, 100ft webbing 12 quicklinks
* Rappels: 10 to 14 (numerous down climbs)
* Hazards: vehicle burglaries*, pot farmers, heat, loose/falling rock
* USGS TOPO map(s) Condor Peak, CA
Acme Mapper
See attached file for Google Earth KMZ & GPX file
Elevation profile
Photos (by Ken)
General description:
We were exploring the area earlier in 2008 and felt McKinley Canyon might have some interest to the canyoneer. This canyon descends the South face of Mt McKinley (4920ft) which is below Mendenhall Ridge and above Big Tujunga creek. The upper part of the unnamed eastern branch of McKinley Canyon drops roughly 1000ft in 0.85 miles! Seems there might be something there... Or maybe lots of scree and loose boulder filled soil.
Let's find OUT!
(Note: all coordinates are WGS84 datum)
Trailhead*:
Trail Canyon Trail trailhead (N34.30539 W118.25567 1825ft) parking lot. This is located at the large parking area at the gated end of Trail Canyon Rd.(TCRD) About 0.8 miles from the first bridge turn left onto Trail Cyn Rd (maintained dirt rd) drive 0.4 miles to the large open parking area, past Gold Canyon Rd.
The Trip:
Hike back up TCRD to Gold Cyn Rd (0.2 miles N34.30405 W118.25711 1838ft) Turn right here and proceed past the locked FS gate (0.23 miles) and on to Gold Cyn Saddle 4.3 miles ahead. We stopped at 3.22 miles 3251ft to decide which branch of the Cyn we'd take. By 8:30 am (2hrs 4.5 miles) we arrive at the Saddle and Yerba Buena Trail.
The Yerba Buena Trail connects Gold Cyn Saddle with Mendenhall Ridge Rd and Pacoima Cyn We hiked up after a 10min break at 8:40am. The trail is more road like here I surmise it is how the firefighting bulldozers descend the ridge to the saddle, past the saddle at (5.2 miles 2hrs 30min) the trail narrows. You could ascend the firebreak here to Mt McKinley, with our heavy packs we took the trail to the saddle at 6.0 miles 4690ft 3 hrs 20min and started out XC portion of the trip.
The group quickly summited the Lower Peaks Committee listed Mt McKinley and stopped to sign the register and enjoy the vistas of the local and far flung mountains.
At 6.5 miles 4712ft 3hrs 47min (N34.33888 W118.26222) we selected our drop-in point, donned helmets and started down the very very steep mountain side. Very quickly the lead canyoneer determines we need to rappel. We called up to the others to get on their harnesses.
Some in our party declined to rappel here but loosing your footing here could be very bad. (R1) Using our 400ft rope I descended the very steep loose slope to a point I had to rappel down and clipped into a sturdy bush 200ft down out of the fall line of the rain of rocks. (R2) Another rope was set high canyon right out of the fall line by our free climbers, most every one rappelled to me and traversed over the scree (on rope) to the next rope and continued descending
About 100ft lower the steep slope has more brush and stable soil. We had trouble pulling this rope and I am unsure why, caution is recommended.
I arrived at the bare rock canyon floor (4390ft 4hrs 35min) Shortly down canyon one of many smaller rappels appeared (N34.33671 W118.26168 4067ft) (R3) anchored canyon right, about 30ft. We took lunch break under an oak that shaded the otherwise barren canyon. (N34.33624 W118.26175 3990ft) 5hrs 39min
Just down canyon is the next rappel (R4) anchored on a large boulder, this is about 40-50 ft. At 6.8 miles (N34.33537 W118.26145 3860ft) We arrived at the next rappel (R5), anchored high canyon left around a stout bush,, dropped the rope from there then tied webbing to redirect the rope so canyoneers could get on rope easily, this was a 3 step affair of about 60 ft
Another rappel (R6) greets you 2-3mins down canyon, the rope was anchored canyon left around a stout bush, this is another 30-40fter . Rappel 7 (R7) is anchored in a bomber oak tree canyon right and is about 50ft. Rappel 8 (R8) is optional but it was anchored mid-creek around a horn This is 20-30ft
A goodly drop of 60-80ft greets you at the top of an oak shaded part of the canyon (R9) We anchored high canyon right in the Oak Tree, the webbing is long but there is little chance the rope will be damaged here from bounce .
Thankfully McKinley Canyon becomes more shaded here, as even on cool days it is hot on south facing slopes / canyons here in Big-T. At the junction of the 2 major branches of McKinley there is a nice rappel into the branch we are descending (N34.33347 W118.26174 3404 ft 7hrs 30min) We'll just have to come back to explore that branch!
There are 2 more optional rappels below here (R10 & R11) which have some exposed downclimbs. They are short in the 10-20ft range but a slip would likely result in an injury making for a bad day.
At 3265ft came the next rappel (R12) wow we've descended 1655ft in 1.6-ish miles are we in Death Valley? The anchor point is high canyon right around the roots of a stout but dead Big Cone Douglas Fir, this is a drop of 60-80 ft
There's more to come (R13 N34.33069 W118.26066 3067ft) we had to anchor high canyon right as the obvious anchor, a bomber oak canyon left is favored by the local bees, one of our group was stung determining this fact. This drop was about 100ft, probably the nicest in my opinion.
I was getting a bit concerned at this point we'd not exit the canyon before dark having hit the 8hr mark. We pressed on, below here the canyon starts to slot up and has numerous scrambles and pools, chances are good you are going to get wet along here in the 2-3ft deep pools. Our pace increased and the rappels diminished.
(R14) N34.32715 W118.26034 2836ft 8hrs 45min we came to what was to be our last rappel, and anchored cyn left, a few in our group managed to stay dry here most did not. The drop was in the 20-30ft range.
The decision to bring loppers along was vindicated when the lead hikers hit a wall of down alder trees festooned with copious amounts of Blackberry Brambles, when I arrived a nice tunnel had been cut through. I'm unsure if this was above or below the last rappel, but as the trees fall brambles will creep up making loppers a wise choice for the gear load.
9 hours 22min We arrived at the confluence with the named McKinley Canyon, having hiked up to here several times before we where certain there where no further rappels and removed our gear. 15Min later with a spring in our step we made for Trail Canyon Trail at 2563 ft 9hrs 42 min we reached the trail and headed down to our vehicles 2.2 miles away.
Thankfully we reached our vehicles at 5:10pm 10hrs 36min with daylight to spare
This is a keeper for sure Will it be a “classic” , with the long hike in and the limited season, only time will tell but it's a good winter canyon with little water. Well worth the effort is the consensus by all involved
Matt
*Due to repeated auto burglaries at all Big-T trailheads it is highly recommended you not leave anything in your vehicle, not in the trunk or anywhere else, leave the windows down too...Oh the joys of urban canyoneering!
