Conditions:Bonita Canyon (Lytle Creek Area)-20230514232405
Latest: |
12 May 2023 (1 yr, 9 mos ago) |
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Reported by: | Teamsnuggle (10 reports) | |
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Quality: | Ok |
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Waterflow: | Moderate |
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Wetsuit: | Thin wetsuit |
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Water temperature: | ||
Difficulty: | Normal |
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Time: | ![]() |
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Team: 2 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: Approach is pretty steep and loose and there is abundant poison oak, mosquitoes and ants where we suited up. Two pretty rappels, straightforward, anchors are fine.
All condition reports
Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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12 May 2023
| Ok | Moderate ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2 people Intermediate to Advanced | Teamsnuggle (10 reports) |
Comment: Approach is pretty steep and loose and there is abundant poison oak, mosquitoes and ants where we suited up. Two pretty rappels, straightforward, anchors are fine.
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Good | Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3 people | Willie92708 (973 reports) | |
Great | Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Easy ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 9 people Brand new to Expert | Eljefe62 (55 reports) | |
Comment: Water was not that cold, but wind was, waiting for rappels. No issues pulling does, all the webbing was good thanks to many recent trips during the Roundup.
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Good | Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 12 people Beginner to Advanced | Nclegg (386 reports) | |
Comment: Approach is not fun. Recommend spacing out in the lower section, as there is plenty of unstable rock. Once on the ridge, trail became well defined, though was still steep and loose. Countless ants and mosquitos assaulted us as we geared up above R1. Lots of graffiti and trash throughout the canyon, but R2 and R4 are beautiful rappels and make the route worthwhile. Packed out some trash from below the final waterfall. 3 hours from Bonita Campground and back...for a group of 12...with a LOT of waiting around.
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Great | Moderate Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4 people Beginner to Expert | Estunum (34 reports) | |
Comment: The hike up sucked just as much as I remember. I don't like it. Almost as much as I don't like the anchor for the second rappel, the top of the first 160'; it's just two small trees. They seem stout, but they have no backup, although you get the illusion of a backup because two trunks are slung, but they go to the same root system. I'm just weary now because the original tree was a beast, and look at it now, ripped out all stupid-like at the bottom of the pool. If that thing failed, what are those two little twigs gonna do? Hold my fat ass is what they'll do. They did just fine. It is difficult to fully trust the root system you cannot see. Would you just rap off a cairn or rebuild it? I think bolts are appropriate here, ideally without webbing, even though that isn't crucial as it can be far enough from the water course. Or just rap from the top and prepare for a weird pull. I don't know the solution to anything, just trying to meet my word count here. Extended time was due to the new guy having a hard time on rappels but we made it out without major injuries or insults. We still talk to each other as of time of writing, so it couldn't have been that bad. Views were great, saw a mine tunnel I had not noticed before. People still very much suck, so be prepared for a wilderness art gallery on the wash and bottom of the last falls.
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Great | Deep pools ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4 people Beginner to Expert | TJoelle (4 reports) | |
Comment: Water is flowing nicely, and falls are beautiful as ever. Water very cold and first pool is waist to thigh deep. Warm with wool socks and rain shell. Bring rapides bc we switched a huge one out, and there are still some interesting ones in there worth replacing. Webbing good. Face level poison oak everywhere. Last pool about knee deep. No ticks.
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Amazing | Very Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Easy ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2 people Beginner to Advanced | Stinky buds (7 reports) | |
Comment: Thanks willie for re webbing the first rappel
Also noticed rappel 3 was re rigged (ty whoever did that one too) There’s really nothing new to report Went after our first rain fall but water is still ver very low But makes fun for a short sweet canyon All rappels have great anchors
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Great | Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2 people | Willie92708 (973 reports) | |
Comment: We took our time on the rappels and enjoyed the amazing beauty of Bonita's big drops. The water flow is nice, but cold; I enjoyed having a full body 3/2mm. We rappelled from R1 tree anchor all the way down R2 at 180 feet. R1 webbing was missing; we replaced it. All the other anchor webbing is good. The bottom of the last rappel was a zoo, and almost no one had masks for COVID19, so we left that area quickly and changed out of wetsuits at the main creek. In the photo (here) you can see what is left of the old R2 anchor tree's trunk in the hanging pothole about 10 feet up. BTW, the last part of the approach dropping into the creek bed needs some TLC to remove excessive poison oak!
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Good | Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Special challenges ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3 people | Willie92708 (973 reports) | |
Comment: There was a good bit of snow on the approach ridge, making for a more challenging climb up. The water flow is strong, but nothing near class C. The water temp is frigid! We all had plenty of layers; I wore a thin farmer-john wetsuit with neopene socks, rappelled first, and setup a guided rappel for the others so they would not have to wade in the deep parts of the pools. The air was cold too and blowing. If it was warmer in the canyon, I'd give it a "great" rating, but my hands were numb with my leaky 5mm neoprene gloves, so it got a "good" rating.
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Good | Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 1 people | Willie92708 (973 reports) | |
Comment: It's a bit of a Bonita Bugfest in the trees of lower canyon approach, and on the ridge going up, but not many flying bugs in the technical canyon proper. The big tree is still quite wiggly all the way to the base of the trunk. I set a different anchor off 2 small trees, about the same vertical level, but DCR of the big tree. That anchor works well for now. The big tree needs a major pruning job to remove the large weight loading of dead wood. Graffiti is bad as always, even in between the big drops. I picked up a dozen beer cans and cardboard beer cases in between the big drops too. For R3 someone rigged a 16-3 electrical power extension cord as a hand-line down the whole drop, which I removed from the canyon. There is still a full sized shovel and 5 gallon bucket at the top of R4. All anchor webbing is reasonable new, except R3 webbing is missing. The water temp is quite cold; rain jacket is enough, but not to stay in the water long. The water flow is surprisingly high for so late in the season, and the moss and ferns are beautiful and untouched by all these other poor users.
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Great | Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Special challenges ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 1 people | Willie92708 (973 reports) | |
Comment: I spent an extra hour pruning the approach on the ridge, as some spots had plants that had fallen over the trail, and others just needed trimming back, especially the sticker bushes. I also evaluated the R2 anchor tree, which is still alive. However most of the top of it is dead, rotting, and about ready for big chunks to fall down. Definitely need to be careful about shaking this tree!
All the anchors have fresh webbing. Poison Oak is heavy along the approach trail at the bottom, dropping into the creek off the ridge, and in a few spots making your way to the first rappel. Water temp is warm enough that neoprene socks and gloves are overkill, but cold enough that just a rain shell will be chilly rappelling into the pools at the bottom of the 2 big drops. I put on 3mm wetsuit bottom and a rain jacket and was plenty warm in the spray and standing in the pools. | |||||||
Good | Very Low ![]() | None ![]() | Normal ![]() | | Engreric (1 reports) | ||
Comment: There were no anchors on last 2 rappels so I placed new ones
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Ok | Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Special challenges ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3 people Beginner to Advanced | Johnbcaves (150 reports) | |
Comment: Approach was hard to find. We went up loose ant-covered 4th class.
Rap 2 station is awkward. GrafittI really detracts. Waterfalls were pretty, but I wouldn't come back soon.
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Ok | Low ![]() | Rain jacket ![]() | Special challenges ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3 people Beginner to Advanced | Sarafleetwood (8 reports) | |
Comment: We originally found a nice approach up a scree slope, but opted to try and find the "Hobo" approach. We ended up off-route, climbing up some 4th class instead. Ran into a group before us that bailed because they couldn't find the approach. Rap 2 was an awkward station. The whole canyon was vandalized in graffiti. The first large waterfall was pretty, but I wouldn't return to this canyon.
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Good | Very Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2 people Intermediate to Expert | Kdinger (9 reports) | |
Comment: The graffiti really detracts. It is throughout the entire canyon. In some places nearly every single rock and tree within sight is covered. Trash too. Once leaving the watercourse on the way up, we didn't consult the map until we hit the ridge so our line ended up just about splitting the difference between the watercourse and the approach shown here on ropewiki. Some 3rd class but mostly reasonably solid (this was after a day of decent rain, probably everything's looser when dry).
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