20140628 Beggars Canyon #2

Post by **Taco** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:39 pm

Second time down this short fun canyon. It be located at the northern parking lot for the west fork/Cogswell Dam road. Hike up the ridge that leads northwest from the parking lot and drop into the last canyon that ends on the road to Cogswell. Very short. Not a lotta bushwhacking, not too much Poison Oak, and only 2 rappels for me today. Normally 4 rappels, but I downclimbed two of them all ninjalike, and divided the last 180ft or so rappel into 2 stages, as I had a total of 200ft and thus would come up short. Ty, Bart, and myself did the 'first descent' (I'm sure lizards did it first, who cares right? I'm never first at anything! >:-) )

Not a helluva lot else to say about it.

Got some sorta infection or something getting to me now with a rash on my chest and back, and some other crap. I have a sorta-uncommon autoimmune disease that flares up every so often, or so I assume (I can't afford medical care yet). I have to take more brakes, and take them sooner now. Usually I feel very very strong since I've been exploring random brushy canyons alone and with a friend since I was very young, so it's disconcerting. I feel old.

Some pics:

Looking downcanyon.

Anchor for rapp #1, which looks flimsy but is fine if you load it properly, which isn't hard to do.

Down we go, about 90ft?

Looking up from the bottom.

The worst of the bushwhacking, which was a walk in the park.

Ash tree?

Mega-convenient anchor for last rapp, and looking down. Took more pics on the way down but they came out really fuzzy.

Some ugly guy with a food prep net on his face. What kinda moron does that? This ain't the DiFac!

Real busy day up there along the river. Loads of people. I was nearly hit while driving up the start of R39 just above Azusa by someone in a sedan crossing the double yellow on a right turn. Missed them by inches. On the way home, someone had crashed into the metal roadside barrier thing in a sedan, really totalled it. A few kids were holding each other and crying in the road. Lots of police activity, loads of CHP, the LASD SAR Puma flew over my head in the canyon, and more. Not so sure I dig being up here on weekends.

Be safe folks.

OutdoorAbstract · Post by **OutdoorAbstract** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:14 pm

I was returning to the car in that same parking lot after an excursion in the area, this was on Wednesday (3 days ago) and there were paramedics, private ambulance, fire trucks, CHP, and sheriffs all rolling up just as I departed around 7pm. Hmmmmm...
Those yellow line crossers are more prevalent lately, being careful really only counts for so much. I did get a different vehicle since my close call in the next drainage, I have a better probability of surviving a head-to-head encounter but I do think we need a bit more enforcement...

Post by **tekewin** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 3:28 pm

That first anchor looks like it is attached to a small bush. How do you judge how much weight a plant like that can hold?

Post by **Sean** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:15 am

Thanks for the post. I finally got around to reading these new reports. It's always fascinating to see what you get into.

Post by **Taco** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 12:37 pm

tekewin wrote: ↑That first anchor looks like it is attached to a small bush. How do you judge how much weight a plant like that can hold?

Once I build the anchor, I weight it and bounce test it, putting a higher load than just my own bodyweight plus some shifting etc while on rappel. After rappelling off enough junk and using smaller trees and bushes for protection on climbs, you learn what looks good and what doesn't.

Thanks Sean. Lemme know if you wanna go one of these days, it'll open up more places for you to explore.