Conditions:Ash Creek Canyon-20240618225322
Latest: |
18 Jun 2024 (1 yr ago) |
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| Reported by: | Myownhigh (7 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Good |
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| Waterflow: | Moderate |
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| Wetsuit: | Thin wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | ||
| Time: |  2 days
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Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Beginner
Trip report URL:
Comments: Overall I enjoyed the canyon, here are some take aways:
Water flow was listed as moderate to low, which is about as high as I would want to rapell through this canyon. The raps are technical which made them fun for our team, but in high flow I think they would be a little much.
Wetsuits, 3 of us had on 3mm, and 1 person had a 5 mm. Spent a little extra time in the chasm solving a problem, and that was the only time anyone was at all cold.
The canyon/approach was super slippery. Rocks that seem stable at first were giving out.
Exit-- don't do what we did. We decided to follow trail 307 down hill, and do a shuttle. There is no trail 307 right now, we thought it would get better but it kept getting worse, until it got dangerous. We ended up sleeping on rocks, it took us about 24 hours to move four miles, and without ropes we would of been screwed. Ended up doing 4 raps to get down on a "hiking" trail.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great | Deep pools 
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges  |  8 hours
| 2 people Intermediate | Tsiparles (1 reports) | |
Comment: I created an account to write this review because I wanted to share trail conditions with folks.
First off, we had it easy; the water was still flowing but very low compared with any photos that I’ve seen. Part of why we chose this canyon was that it looked like a loop almost all on trails. How very appealing! This area faced some of the most extreme areas of fire damage that I saw on the mountain. Entire slopes were barren of trees. The switchbacks bringing you from the end of the canyon to the main trail are gone. Even the benching is gone. We occasionally found the old trail and then lost it within a few hundred feet. We spoke to a volunteer at the visitor center and she said that there are zero trail crew employees and that this trail will never be brought back. Additionally, we felt fortunate; she explained to us that about a year ago a volunteer brushed trail 307 and so we took this trail. Being familiar with ecosystems after intense burns, I would not expect this trailwork to hold back the spiny brush for more than another 2 or 3 years. Expect the trails to take significantly longer than you’d expect from a maintained trail.
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| Good | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| | 2 days
| 4 people Intermediate to Beginner | Myownhigh (7 reports) | |
Comment: Overall I enjoyed the canyon, here are some take aways:
Water flow was listed as moderate to low, which is about as high as I would want to rapell through this canyon. The raps are technical which made them fun for our team, but in high flow I think they would be a little much. Wetsuits, 3 of us had on 3mm, and 1 person had a 5 mm. Spent a little extra time in the chasm solving a problem, and that was the only time anyone was at all cold. The canyon/approach was super slippery. Rocks that seem stable at first were giving out. Exit-- don't do what we did. We decided to follow trail 307 down hill, and do a shuttle. There is no trail 307 right now, we thought it would get better but it kept getting worse, until it got dangerous. We ended up sleeping on rocks, it took us about 24 hours to move four miles, and without ropes we would of been screwed. Ended up doing 4 raps to get down on a "hiking" trail.
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| Good | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges |  11 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Advanced | Coalemus (160 reports) | |
Comment: We changed the location of the 1st dark chasm anchor to a small chockstone RDC and above the large chockstone that the webbing previously draped over. The new one goes down a rabbit hole and provides a cleaner pull. It's challenging to lower yourself down to weight it though, so some may want courtesy rigging. Unfortunately, it didn't help us avoid a stuck rope. After pulling the rope through the rap ring (from the mid-chasm anchor at the next big chockstone) the end fell down and got thoroughly stuck up in the first pool. We eventually cut it and continued down. The difficult geometry of the chasm makes it a good candidate for some thoughtful bolting. Flow was fun but not very intense. We didn't find an anchor at the drop right after the chasm but installed a bomber knot chock. The exit up to the ridge trail kinda sucks. We scrambled up a drainage most of the way then bushwhacked the rest. We cut over to the Ash drainage right above the slickrock rather than following the kml track up further, which I think was a good call. All in all it's very beautiful but a lot of work.
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| Great | Moderate High
| Full wetsuit
| | 11 hours
| 3 people Advanced to Intermediate | RFontaine (282 reports) | |
Comment: Beautiful and unique Class C canyon nestled in the cool high mountain forest of Mt Graham!
We camped at the campground both nights which was incredibly convenient! Following Ash Creek Trail down is easy and fairly obvious with lots of log hopping over fallen trees. Easy to stay out of the creek bed and walk along the trail on the side up until you must turn off. Couple of old mill relics scattered here and there, very cool! The forest and meadows made for very enjoyable scenery! Slick rock section was very slick but pretty! Once at the top of the "Dark Chasm" we deliberated for a bit about how to best handle it; trying to make sense of the confusing and slightly inaccurate old beta. Once in the Chasm, we found it to be fairly straight forward. Had to build an anchor at R3 in water course. The rap sequence was smooth and tons of fun!! A total gem!! The "Dark Chasm" is a narrow slot with multiple small ledges but wasn't really all that "dark". It is dimly lit, but there is enough light from above to see what you are doing. The other rappels were pretty fun too but the Chasm was definitely the best part! I wore a 4/3 wetsuit and rain jacket. I was plenty comfortable, water was not as cold as I thought it'd be. On the exit, we followed the hiking trails as it was mapped out on the GPS file. About 1/2 way up the first drainage the trail fizzles out so we cut over to the right on a less bushy line to pick up the ridge trail above. Following the ridge trail for awhile eventually takes you to a spot where GPS file has you take the switchback up to the right instead of re-joining the slick rock watercourse you took on the approach. We again followed the GPS but this seemed to take us up and out of the way, gaining an unnecessary amount of elevation when we could have probably shaved some time off by re-tracing the approach trail at this point. Much further down, after following faint remnants of trail we eventually re-joined the approach trail as per the GPS track. We definitely enjoyed this one! The combination of big cascading water falls, the "Dark Chasm", intricate rock, and beautiful lush forest scenery with easy camping made this a memorable trip! Beta has been updated! | |||||||
| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | | 2 people Intermediate to Advanced | Natureboytimflair (68 reports) | |
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| Amazing | Moderate High
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 10 hours
| 3 people Beginner to Advanced | Erek (206 reports) | |
Comment: Probably the best and most technically challenging class C canyon in Arizona. Lots of down logs on approach and exit due to recent fire, but is now reopened. Dark Chasm is the real deal, technically challenging, very difficult to communicate. Solid class C experience needed. 15' foot meat anchor had fallen tree at time we did it that was easy for everyone to downclimb. Dark Chasm did 70' rappel off of chockstone to VW size chokestone below. Anchor material at VW chokestone was low, would be very difficult to setup anchor under high flow. From VW chokestone, last person down must watch rope placement. Pull is difficult, moderate chance of rope getting stuck. Easy going after Dark Chasm with a couple more fun waterfall rappels before the hike out. Setup all new bomber anchors on all the rappels. Only one anchor on one rappel after Dark Chasm existed. You are welcome Arizona.
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| | | | | JasonNaparalla@Facebook (2 reports) | |||
Comment: extracts from Facebook posts, click link for full details (privacy restrictions may apply)
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| High
| | | | LucaChiarabini@Facebook (14 reports) | |||
Comment: extracts from Facebook posts, click link for full details (privacy restrictions may apply)
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| Amazing | High
| Thick wetsuit
| Special challenges | 9 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Expert | Conrad (12 reports) | |
Comment: The Dark Chasm is very deserving of its name and is the most technically challenging part in high flow. When we did it, we had to build a new anchor because the standard canyon left tree route would have taken us directly into the flow which was too intense.
The canyon was very cold and I wore two 4/3mm wetsuits and was still a little chilled. Luca and Tiffanie wore 4/3's and were cold but comfortable after the Dark Chasm section. Hike out reminds me of the MIA exit. It's long and steep will easily take groups 2-4 hours depending on hiking strength.
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| Amazing | High
| Full wetsuit
| Special challenges | 9 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Expert | Tiffanie (139 reports) | |
Comment: Great technical canyon when done in high flow! Slept at the campground the night prior to get used to the altitude. On the first rappel into the dark chasm, we added a webbing anchor DCR around a boulder to avoid the flow. The anchor 40 ft down from that rappel was used as a redirect. In high flow, this rappel is the most technical and intimidating due to avoiding the rabbit hole. It is possible to skirt around the rabbit hole DCR to climb up on the boulder. Be sure to use class c techniques when running this class in high flow. A whistle can be heard on most drops despite the roar of the water.The hike out sucked...really sucked.
Approach hike 2 hours (we stopped several times to evaluate waterflow) Technical section 4 hours Hike out 3 hours (strong hikers can finish this probably in 2 hours;I slowed the group down considerably :P)
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| | | | | TiffanieLin@Facebook (6 reports) | |||
Comment: extracts from Facebook posts, click link for full details (privacy restrictions may apply)
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| Good | | | | | HikeArizona.com (271 reports) | ||
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at HikeArizona.com, see Trip Report for full details.
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| | | | | Candition.com (287 reports) | |||
Comment: Most recent conditions reported at Candition.com, see Trip Report for full details.
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| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
| Amazing | | | | | CanditionBot (2103 reports) | ||
