Dave S. and I descended the Wallace River on 8/18. We connected on this message board and had a great day completing Upper and Middle Wallace Falls. Overall there were no major technical difficulties, although 10 raps, finding the anchors, and replacing webbing made for a full physical day.

We left the parking lot about 8 a.m. and took a couple of hours to get to the entrance at Upper Wallace falls per the beta on Canyoneering Northwest. My wife hiked with us, but didn't descend due to a sore neck and shoulder. She took some nice videos and waved from the viewpoints, and I got a nice training hike carrying her gear and wetsuit. Dave and I were suited up and going by about 11:30.

We stayed mainly out of the falls for most of the raps. Moved pretty easily through the first 3 raps on the upper falls. The webbing on the anchors was beaten up, so we replaced as we went. Bolts were generally in great shape except for a loose hanger on one bolt on the 3rd rap. We bypassed one potential rappel below via a downclimb on the right out of the watercourse.

We had located the bolts on top of Middle Wallace Falls on the way up. We rapped and Dave found the next station down and left after a little wrestling with a tree perched below the first anchors. We rapped onto the sloping ledge and couldn't find the next anchor. We established an anchor around a small boulder and completed the rap. It was a good rap line, but I might relocate the anchor to something more substantial if I were to set up the rappel again.

We struggled to find the next anchor, and finally down climbed a potentially tricky section to the next station. Anchor possibilities seemed slim in that area. To find the anchor, downclimb on the left of the first cascade where the water flows right down a ramp. Cross the stream, and walk up some sloping terrain to the edge of the falls to find the anchor. It is hard to see from the spot you downclimb.

We completed 2 raps after Middle Wallace and found the trail above the picnic shelter. We hiked the 1.5 miles back and headed out a little before 7 p.m.

We replaced webbing on all but 2 anchors. Looked like we were the first party to descend this season, any of the anchors in the watercourse had taken a lot of abuse during higher flows. Next ones down may want to replace the webbing on the first anchor (new webbing but rigged pretty short), and bring a lot of rapides. We reused one existing rapide, 2 aluminum rap rings, 4 new rapides, and one (non-locking) leaver biner.

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the update.

--- In pnwcanyoning@yahoogroups.com, "steveabercrom" <steveabercrom@...> wrote:
>
> Dave S. and I descended the Wallace River on 8/18. We connected on this message board and had a great day completing Upper and Middle Wallace Falls. Overall there were no major technical difficulties, although 10 raps, finding the anchors, and replacing webbing made for a full physical day.
>
> We left the parking lot about 8 a.m. and took a couple of hours to get to the entrance at Upper Wallace falls per the beta on Canyoneering Northwest. My wife hiked with us, but didn't descend due to a sore neck and shoulder. She took some nice videos and waved from the viewpoints, and I got a nice training hike carrying her gear and wetsuit. Dave and I were suited up and going by about 11:30.
>
> We stayed mainly out of the falls for most of the raps. Moved pretty easily through the first 3 raps on the upper falls. The webbing on the anchors was beaten up, so we replaced as we went. Bolts were generally in great shape except for a loose hanger on one bolt on the 3rd rap. We bypassed one potential rappel below via a downclimb on the right out of the watercourse.
>
> We had located the bolts on top of Middle Wallace Falls on the way up. We rapped and Dave found the next station down and left after a little wrestling with a tree perched below the first anchors. We rapped onto the sloping ledge and couldn't find the next anchor. We established an anchor around a small boulder and completed the rap. It was a good rap line, but I might relocate the anchor to something more substantial if I were to set up the rappel again.
>
> We struggled to find the next anchor, and finally down climbed a potentially tricky section to the next station. Anchor possibilities seemed slim in that area. To find the anchor, downclimb on the left of the first cascade where the water flows right down a ramp. Cross the stream, and walk up some sloping terrain to the edge of the falls to find the anchor. It is hard to see from the spot you downclimb.
>
> We completed 2 raps after Middle Wallace and found the trail above the picnic shelter. We hiked the 1.5 miles back and headed out a little before 7 p.m.
>
> We replaced webbing on all but 2 anchors. Looked like we were the first party to descend this season, any of the anchors in the watercourse had taken a lot of abuse during higher flows. Next ones down may want to replace the webbing on the first anchor (new webbing but rigged pretty short), and bring a lot of rapides. We reused one existing rapide, 2 aluminum rap rings, 4 new rapides, and one (non-locking) leaver biner.
>