Coyote Canyon (Right Fork)

CLOSED DUE TO FIRES A good dry canyon for beginners[1] with a day to kill. A few interesting anchoring challenges. Sparse poison oak. Keep your eyes open for rattlesnakes. As in all canyons, GPS precision is greatly reduced. Coordinates in this beta are provided to three decimal places within the canyon so as not to give a false sense of precision.

Park in the parking areas near the corner of North Altadena Drive and Roosevelt Avenue and Midwick Drive (34.18424,-118.101611). From the vehicles(s), cut northeast across Eaton Wash to the trail that runs parallel to the wash, and walk along this trail until you reach the turnoff point for the Eaton Canyon Trail (34.185465,-118.099992). Hike up Eaton Canyon Trail to the Mt Wilson Toll Road (34.189261,-118.098524). Turn right onto the trail and continue hiking upwards east northeast.

After hiking about and hour and a half, drop in at 34.189530,-118.08850. The descent here is down a long and relatively steep talus slope. Throughout about 20 minutes of scrambling down this slope you will encounter several downclimbs and couple possible rappels (R1 & R2 below). All these obstacles can be down climbed, depending on your ability and confidence. R1: low angle short 2 stage; 11NOV2022 doubled tan webbing on bush DCR R2: low angle approx 40 feet; 11NOV2022 ??? A short rounded downclimb follows with a cubic yard boulder at the bottom R3: The next obstacle, reached after another 10 minutes of hiking, can also be down climbed or rappelled. The height is no more than 12' to 15'. The approach is through a narrow slot with a sharp bend about 10' back from the edge. There are not many live trees near the edge and the rock here is very loose and crumbly, so anchoring may be a challenge unless you have a good deal of webbing and anchor around the bend in the approach. 11NOV2022 purple webbing on a poorly rooted bush DCL A short downclimb with a big piece of sheet steel roofing. 11NOV2022 black webbing on bush DCL The Center Fork joins at this point. Immediately following is another 20 foot rounded downclimb with several live tree limbs that cross the top. And a tunnel through a fallen dead tree right after the downclimb. R4: You should reach the fourth rappel (at around 34.189,-118.091) after about 5 or 10 minutes. It is the first that is unambiguous: about 50' high with a slight overhang and some free descent. 11NOV2022 black webbing bush DCR After the fourth rappel there is a short downclimb. 11NOV2022 all brush has been cleared ?? "There are a few sections of non-trivial bushwhacking in the canyon so don't rush early and wear yourself out." R5: You should reach the fifth rappel (at around 34.189,-118.091) after another 10 minutes. It is about 30 to 35 feet high. 11NOV2022 bush DCR with red webbing R6: You should reach the sixth rappel (at around 34.188,-118.092) after another 10 minutes. It is also about 30 to 35 feet high. 11NOV2022 ??? Beyond, you bushwhack through several thickets of bamboo. The Left Fork joins at this point near a tree with horizontal limb waist high and a huge PO bush on the left beyond this tree. 11NOV2022 a path has been cut around, through and or under all this bamboo. R7: You should reach the seventh rappel (at around 34.188,-118.093) after another 20 to 25 minutes. It is about 20' to 25' high. You can anchor off of a tree directly over the drop, either with webbing or by simply lassoing the tree and rappelling double strand. 11NOV2022 the tree is dead and gone; bush DCL 10 feet back with black webbing R8: You should reach the eighth rappel (at around 34.187,-118.093) after another 15 to 20 minutes and a little more bushwhacking. It is about 30 to 40' high. You have a couple choices for anchoring. You can either wrap some of the large rocks that lie directly in the canyon bed, which provides a more direct approach to the edge, or use a small trail that runs to the right of the main trail and anchor off a tree, which may be a sturdier anchor but which also may be a riskier path. 11NOV2022 large bush DCL 30 feet back with 60 feet of white pull tape webbing tied in a big loop. R9: The ninth and final rappel (at around 34.187,-118.094) is also the longest, about 110' high. It has three rough stages, each of the first two being about 10' to 15' and the third taking up the remainder. 11NOV2022 bush DCR with black webbing; 90 feet down all stages