BC Update
There hasn't been a whole lot of posting here lately from the BC folks, but there are some exciting things afoot up here.
Unfortunately, Chris Hood has departed our rainforest encrusted shores for skinny dry sandy places, and with him went a lot of the local knowledge base.
Last summer/fall, some of us did some local classics of Chris's - Jeff, Ilze and I started Terepocki Creek, near Mission, but we felt the flow was too high to commit to the second rappel. We then descended the nearby Lost Creek instead, which was a great romp. Later, Jeff and I did Goldie Creek, on the slopes of Mount Seymour. The water was definitely higher than in the pics on canyoneeringnorthwest.com - we got nicely pounded on the long second rappel, which was totally exhilarating! We didn't complete the canyon, exiting after the 7th rappel.
Jeff and I also did Cypress Creek, a short, sweet classic. I went through the non-technical portion of Cypress a couple of times through the winter as well, rapping in from the side to avoid the raging, icy waterfalls.
Over the winter and spring, Fix (Francois-Xavier De Ruydts), a local adventure photographer, got in touch with some folks in the area, wanting to get into and document some local canyons, as well as some explorations.
Last week a few folks got together for dinner and drinks - close to a dozen of us got together, and discussed our experience and interests. Most have a climbing background, some have done some canyons in places like Utah and Australia, and a couple had been through Cypress Creek.
So there's a buzz in the air around here, and a number of people are looking at exploring new drainages, as well as honing their skills on some of the beta'd canyons.
In the meantime, a couple of updates:
Goldie Creek - this has become my favourite local canyon! Easy access, rapid-fire rappels, beautiful surroundings, nice downclimbing. The anchors are all solid, but right now the flow is what I would actually call too low for maximum fun. The long, precipitous second rap has lost some of its excitement - but it's still a lovely spot. I went through it twice in the last 2 weeks, and averaged 6 hours, car to car. We descended all the way to Sasamat Lane, the bridge over the creek, and walked back up the road to the Baden-Powell Trail, taking it right back to the car.
We also did Terepocki Creek, completing the upper section. The third rap - anchored off an interesting knot chock in a crack in the canyon floor - was particularly interesting. An unexpected downpour started while we were hiking toward the lower section, and my Jeep was roofless; we exited prior to the last couple of raps. A few days later, Fix and Kevin Christensen (Aussie Kev) did the full canyon, including the lower section.
Jeff and I had a look at Mosquito Creek, on Grouse Mountain. We did most of the creek, beginning at a waterfall above Chris's beta, but skipping a rap near the bottom. It was OK, but the fun-to-boulder-walking ration was not as high as we would have liked.
My first descent of Cypress for the season was a week ago, with Jeff plus my kids (15 and 13). Once again, it did not disappoint. The beta on canyoneeringnorthwest.com still states that there is abundant debris in the pool between the first two rappels - not the case. Combine the two rappels into one - the rope pulls easily. A 120' rope, doubled, is sufficient for this two stage rap.
A couple of us are going to have a look at a canyon near Harrison Lake in a couple of days. Depending on how it looks, we may descend or plan a larger trip later...
So yeah, things are exciting around southwest BC right now!
Kevin Swanson
cirrus2000 AT gmail DOT com
From: cirrustwothousand <cirrustwothousand@yahoo.ca>
To: pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 5:58 PM
Subject: [PNWCanyoning] BC Update
Unfortunately, Chris Hood has departed our rainforest encrusted shores for skinny dry sandy places, and with him went a lot of the local knowledge base.
Last summer/fall, some of us did some local classics of Chris's - Jeff, Ilze and I started Terepocki Creek, near Mission, but we felt the flow was too high to commit to the second rappel. We then descended the nearby Lost Creek instead, which was a great romp. Later, Jeff and I did Goldie Creek, on the slopes of Mount Seymour. The water was definitely higher than in the pics on canyoneeringnorthwest.com - we got nicely pounded on the long second rappel, which was totally exhilarating! We didn't complete the canyon, exiting after the 7th rappel.
Jeff and I also did Cypress Creek, a short, sweet classic. I went through the non-technical portion of Cypress a couple of times through the winter as well, rapping in from the side to avoid the raging, icy waterfalls.
Over the winter and spring, Fix (Francois-Xavier De Ruydts), a local adventure photographer, got in touch with some folks in the area, wanting to get into and document some local canyons, as well as some explorations.
Last week a few folks got together for dinner and drinks - close to a dozen of us got together, and discussed our experience and interests. Most have a climbing background, some have done some canyons in places like Utah and Australia, and a couple had been through Cypress Creek.
So there's a buzz in the air around here, and a number of people are looking at exploring new drainages, as well as honing their skills on some of the beta'd canyons.
In the meantime, a couple of updates:
Goldie Creek - this has become my favourite local canyon! Easy access, rapid-fire rappels, beautiful surroundings, nice downclimbing. The anchors are all solid, but right now the flow is what I would actually call too low for maximum fun. The long, precipitous second rap has lost some of its excitement - but it's still a lovely spot. I went through it twice in the last 2 weeks, and averaged 6 hours, car to car. We descended all the way to Sasamat Lane, the bridge over the creek, and walked back up the road to the Baden-Powell Trail, taking it right back to the car.
We also did Terepocki Creek, completing the upper section. The third rap - anchored off an interesting knot chock in a crack in the canyon floor - was particularly interesting. An unexpected downpour started while we were hiking toward the lower section, and my Jeep was roofless; we exited prior to the last couple of raps. A few days later, Fix and Kevin Christensen (Aussie Kev) did the full canyon, including the lower section.
Jeff and I had a look at Mosquito Creek, on Grouse Mountain. We did most of the creek, beginning at a waterfall above Chris's beta, but skipping a rap near the bottom. It was OK, but the fun-to-boulder-walking ration was not as high as we would have liked.
My first descent of Cypress for the season was a week ago, with Jeff plus my kids (15 and 13). Once again, it did not disappoint. The beta on canyoneeringnorthwest.com still states that there is abundant debris in the pool between the first two rappels - not the case. Combine the two rappels into one - the rope pulls easily. A 120' rope, doubled, is sufficient for this two stage rap.
A couple of us are going to have a look at a canyon near Harrison Lake in a couple of days. Depending on how it looks, we may descend or plan a larger trip later...
So yeah, things are exciting around southwest BC right now!
Kevin Swanson
cirrus2000 AT gmail DOT com
No, not yet. Don't have a rope of that length. Nor did Fix and Kevin do that rap...
--- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, Ken Leibert <canyoneeringnorthwest@...> wrote:
>
> Have you done the 90 meter drop at the lower end of Terepocki?
>
> Ken Leibert
>
We have added 4 new canyons at www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com Upper Opal Creek in the Oregon Cascades, Falls Creek in the south Cascades in Washington, and Rock Creek and Gable Creek in the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. These can be seen at:
http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/OpalCreek/Opal_Creek.php
http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/GableCreek/Gable_Creek.php
http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/RockCreek2/Rock_Creek.php
http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/FallsCreekFalls/Falls_Creek_Falls.php
We are also adding new photos and improved and updated beta for other canyons. If you have beta, trip reports, photos, or suggestions please send them to www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com
Ken Leibert
Wow nice additions. Thanks Ken and conributers. Take that Utah! :)
On Wed, 3 Oct 2012, Ken Leibert wrote:
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________
> We have added 4 new canyons at www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com Upper Opal
> Creek in the Oregon Cascades, Falls Creek in the south Cascades in
> Washington, and Rock Creek and Gable Creek in the Washington side of the
> Columbia Gorge. These can be seen at:
>
> http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/OpalCreek/Opal_Creek.php
>
> http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/GableCreek/Gable_Creek.php
>
> http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/RockCreek2/Rock_Creek.php
>
> http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/FallsCreekFalls/Falls_Creek_Falls.php
>
> We are also adding new photos and improved and updated beta for other
> canyons. If you have beta, trip reports, photos, or suggestions please
> send them to www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com
>
> Ken Leibert
>
>
>
Craig,
If this was UT we would still be mired in controversy about who we were going to let descend these new routes and this beta release would be controversial. ;)
Flee drama,
Neil
--- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, Craig Coonrad <coonrad@...> wrote:
>
>
> Wow nice additions. Thanks Ken and conributers. Take that Utah! :)
>
> On Wed, 3 Oct 2012, Ken Leibert wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________
> > We have added 4 new canyons at www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com Upper Opal
> > Creek in the Oregon Cascades, Falls Creek in the south Cascades in
> > Washington, and Rock Creek and Gable Creek in the Washington side of the
> > Columbia Gorge. These can be seen at:
> >
> > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/OpalCreek/Opal_Creek.php
> >
> > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/GableCreek/Gable_Creek.php
> >
> > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/RockCreek2/Rock_Creek.php
> >
> > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/FallsCreekFalls/Falls_Creek_Falls.php
> >
> > We are also adding new photos and improved and updated beta for other
> > canyons. If you have beta, trip reports, photos, or suggestions please
> > send them to www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com
> >
> > Ken Leibert
> >
> >
> >
>
Thats really funny !!!
--- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, "Neil" <mtngoat59102@...> wrote:
>
> Craig,
>
> If this was UT we would still be mired in controversy about who we were going to let descend these new routes and this beta release would be controversial. ;)
>
> Flee drama,
> Neil
>
> --- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, Craig Coonrad <coonrad@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Wow nice additions. Thanks Ken and conributers. Take that Utah! :)
> >
> > On Wed, 3 Oct 2012, Ken Leibert wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________________
> > > We have added 4 new canyons at www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com Upper Opal
> > > Creek in the Oregon Cascades, Falls Creek in the south Cascades in
> > > Washington, and Rock Creek and Gable Creek in the Washington side of the
> > > Columbia Gorge. These can be seen at:
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/OpalCreek/Opal_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/GableCreek/Gable_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/RockCreek2/Rock_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/FallsCreekFalls/Falls_Creek_Falls.php
> > >
> > > We are also adding new photos and improved and updated beta for other
> > > canyons. If you have beta, trip reports, photos, or suggestions please
> > > send them to www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com
> > >
> > > Ken Leibert
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
Hey let's talk tonight. How would we get Colorado canyons info out there? I mean what's not in your guide book. maybe put up all of Colorado minus the San Juans? It's already out there anyway, just not up to date online.
From: "rob_a_cobb" <robert_a_cobb@hotmail.com>
Date: Oct 3, 2012 2:09 PM
Subject: [PNWCanyoning] Re: new canyons
To: <pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com>
Thats really funny !!!
--- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, "Neil" <mtngoat59102@...> wrote:
>
> Craig,
>
> If this was UT we would still be mired in controversy about who we were going to let descend these new routes and this beta release would be controversial. ;)
>
> Flee drama,
> Neil
>
> >
> >
> > Wow nice additions. Thanks Ken and conributers. Take that Utah! :)
> >
> > On Wed, 3 Oct 2012, Ken Leibert wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________________
> > > We have added 4 new canyons at www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com Upper Opal
> > > Creek in the Oregon Cascades, Falls Creek in the south Cascades in
> > > Washington, and Rock Creek and Gable Creek in the Washington side of the
> > > Columbia Gorge. These can be seen at:
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/OpalCreek/Opal_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/GableCreek/Gable_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/RockCreek2/Rock_Creek.php
> > >
> > > http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/FallsCreekFalls/Falls_Creek_Falls.php
> > >
> > > We are also adding new photos and improved and updated beta for other
> > > canyons. If you have beta, trip reports, photos, or suggestions please
> > > send them to www.canyoneeringnorthwest.com
> > >
> > > Ken Leibert
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
We have posted a topo for Ape Canyon provided by Ira Lewis.
This can be seen at
http://canyoneeringnorthwest.com/ApeCanyon/Ape-Canyon-Topo.jpg
New canyon beta is always needed and welcome.
Ken Leibert