Conditions:Canyon Creek (Opho)-20240722173235

Latest:	21 Jul 2024 (10 mos ago)

Reported by:	Sqshemet (75 reports), Epeairs (70 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:	Warm deg C
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	9 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Beginner to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: We took the bailout exit and hung out for a while by the creek, so our report only covers the first half, and the time estimate isn't useful. I found the bailout trail to be sketchily thin and exposed.

At least for the first half, the nice new anchors are all still in place. With air temps forecast around 100F, the water was warm enough that a shorty would have been fine.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
21 Jul 2024	Amazing	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Sqshemet (75 reports),Epeairs (70 reports)
Comment: We took the bailout exit and hung out for a while by the creek, so our report only covers the first half, and the time estimate isn't useful. I found the bailout trail to be sketchily thin and exposed. At least for the first half, the nice new anchors are all still in place. With air temps forecast around 100F, the water was warm enough that a shorty would have been fine.
16 Sep 2022	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	13 hours	2 people Advanced	Reiternick (33 reports)
Comment: We did entire canyon and place bolts so each bolted rappel now has two hangers. We also placed a 2 bolt rebelay station at rap 11 (the 160ft) DCL. This rebelay has a line of sight ropepull with the rocky beach DCR, and you can setup a great 120’ zipline for all your packs. We reinforced/replaced webbing that needed it.
14 Aug 2022	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	12 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Ameister (43 reports),Epeairs (70 reports)
Comment: We reinstalled hangers on a few of the stations that got ripped out. All raps now have anchors, though the bolts on some probably won't last another winter, and you're rappelling on single bolts for a few stations. Please stop adding webbing to the bolts!
3 Jul 2022	Amazing	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Kirbside (96 reports)
Comment: Amazing canyon. We only completed the upper section (~11 rappels) as we were driving back the same night and decided to get home at a reasonable time. Conditions were slightly above moderate as pictured. I think overall the canyon is still in moderate condition. A bit pushy but fun. One slightly sketchy moment where someone had to unclip a backpack that was pinned by water on rappel. A few anchors are a bit sketchy. Lots of redundant bolts are missing nuts / anchors which means most rappels are off a single point. One single point bolt had a freely spinning and very loose nut; we were able to tighten it enough by hand and creatively wedging the hanger that we felt safe rappelling off of it but at the very least next time I would bring a wrench to fix this more permanently. Multiple bolts have 5/8 or 11/16 tubular webbing. It looked relatively new so in the interest of time we used it but if I went back again I would replace this. Honestly the upper section deserves a run with a bolt kit. One redundant and solid dual bolt station is very poorly equalized. Again in the interest of time we used it but this is also on the list for replacement on a future trip. We ended up with a ~160' rappel as the last one in the upper section as we didn't see an existing anchor. We had enough rope for it and it seemed like a fun drop so we weren't looking too hard for an alternative. TONS of poison oak on the exit. Be very aware of where you are walking and likely wear long pants / long socks and change clothes as soon as you are back at the car.
21 Aug 2021	Ok	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	2 people Advanced	Blueshade (55 reports)
Comment: Descended this years back only doing the top part. Turns out, second half isn't really worth doing- but doesn't take too much more time. One bolt needed a hanger, but had an anchor on a flake in the water. Another set of bolts were pretty beaten up by the floods in 2017, but were still solid and usable. Other anchors seemed mostly pretty good. To the guy that couldn't find the mid-way anchor at the end of the Upper section- it's behind the little rib on the obvious deck on the right just 45'down. Smoke was bad, but tolerable. Gnats were bad on the exit, but not nearly as bad as Royal.
26 Jun 2021	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal		6 people Beginner to Expert	Ihiromi (26 reports),Sqshemet (75 reports),Rbowru (54 reports)
Comment: Lovely canyon! Enough water to make it fun without there being huge dangers. It was a very hot day, and I was nearly overheating in a 3/2mm farmer john wetsuit. We decided to complete the final two rappels and spend some time playing in the river to start the exit hike ~5pm to help with the heat. The exit was still sunny, exposed, and boiling, and it melted the last life out of my 5.10 canyoneers. On the exit, we passed a large family near the tunnel entrance closer to a canyon (not sure what approach they took to get there, but it made us wonder if there would be an easier approach to the canyon). We took the rappel into the tunnel at the start of the day and the ladder exit. At the ladder exit, there was a bird inside the cave that did not move despite the huge amount of rock debris we were knocking in. Beware of rock fall (and creepy birds) if taking the ladder exit.
20 Jun 2021	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	11 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	KelMo (12 reports)
Comment: Water flow was moderate: you were definitely getting wet, but nothing too pushy. Our group wore thin wetsuits (from a 2mm shortie to a 4/3), outside air temp was near 100 degrees and we were happy in the water. All webbing in good shape from previous group. Took the crashed cabin/alternate route on both the approach and exit. On our return we got slightly off track and did find ourselves facing some "no trespassing signs". Our longest rappel ended up being closer to 160'. There were several pools/ledges on the way down. Looked but didn't see an established rebelay station. Updating the beta to reflect this so others bring enough rope. The exit and entrance are on surprisingly well-maintained trails (minimal bushwhacking). The exit is steep and brutal. Definitely feels longer than 2.5 miles and 1600'!
15 Jun 2021	Amazing	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	12 hours	8 people Beginner to Expert	DMonroy (188 reports)
Comment: What a great canyon. Webbing looked good ... we only had to replace a few. The canyon needs a few new bolt stations for the last 3 rappels, for people who don't want to walk around or jump. The last one is probably a jump, but we were at the river and everyone was satisfied so we skipped it. What a great canyon! Lot's of Poisoned Oak on the trail.
9 Sep 2020	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	5 people Intermediate to Expert	Michelle (60 reports)
Comment: Descended Opho on a Wed. As has happened several times before, the upper rappels all had good webbing but every single drop had to be replaced downstream from the big drop. Groups must hike out after the upper rappel? Rapped through the mine on the approach and exited past the crushed cabin. 7hrs car-to-car; we camped at the parking spot.
11 Aug 2018	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	12 hours		DMonroy (188 reports)
Comment: The 5 hour exit time probably refers to the midway exit route. We ran the full canyon in a long 12 hour day, but that included rebuilding the bolts/anchors. Please DO NOT add webbing to the hangars. Debris in storms is catching on webbing slings and ripping the bolts out of the rock. Hangars with fixed rap rings are installed in several places. Regarding "red tape": We took the approach route that follows the tracks to the crashed cabin. At no time did we cross any no trespass signs (this does not mean that permission is granted, just that no one is taking any steps to post that it is not), and we took note that someone is travel the trail and maintaining it with clippers, etc. There are some signs that forbid mining and panhandling without permission. There is also a maintained dirt road you will travel on towards the crash cabin, and it is maintained, and also has a few pull outs with campfire circles. The area does appear frequented.
9 Sep 2017	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Michelle (60 reports)
Comment: All of the bolt stations had suffered damage and were missing one or both hangers. Although the canyon has been descended in the past using only natural anchors, in at least one location the rocks used for the original deadman are now completely washed out; other places you will be rappelling on a single spinning hanger. Future descents should prepared with a bolt kit when descending this canyon. There were people camping at the large dirt area near the top of the mine and riding ATVs around. Although this is technically public land on a federal mining claim (the private land starts on the other side of the hill that the mine passes through), we have heard reports of canyoneers being chased off by locals. Not wanting a confrontation, we simply did the approach and exit hikes along the ridge by the collapsed cabin (going through the short tunnel), instead of rappelling into the mine. Also, it was reported to us that the ladder in place in the alternate mine opening is now gone. The canyon flow was nice, not too high, and water relatively very clear for this canyon (which normally is rather black due to algae growth).
12 Oct 2014	Great	Significant	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	3 people Intermediate	Vxgokulvx (5 reports)
Comment: Water was very cold at places. Saw 2 and a half snakes. One snake was swallowing another just at the bottom of the tunnel rap. http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/images/shhexalepissd5084.jpg And another one was a rattle snake all coiled up and relaxing. Just at the bottom of the metal ladder in the exit tunnel. Hence the 2.5 snake.
13 Sep 2014	Amazing	Significant	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	12 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Elenius (7 reports)
Comment: Our longest rappel was about 160', not 110' as stated in the beta. It is the one in the main photo on the page. However, it looks like the party in the photo did an intermediate station that we skipped. The anchor at the top right of that photo was attached to a large boulder. That boulder tilted/crashed dramatically when one of us stood on top of it, and the anchor broke. We were able to build a new anchor formed by a different constriction of the same boulder. Fortunately no-one was harmed in this incident. It would be best if this anchor was bolted. Most rappels are short. None other than this long two- or three-stage rappel are more than 100'.
4 Jul 2014	Amazing	Significant	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	10 people Beginner to Expert	Lucach (75 reports)
Comment: Apparently someone did the canyon a week or two earlier and fixed a lot of the shitty bolts that were installed last year. Bolt anchors are now dual bolt and are properly located. After the big drop most anchors had to be rebuilt, sometimes with long webbing extension to facilitate pull. We descended it all the way to the American River, 20+ raps. We camped at the trailhead, started hiking at 9am and came back just in time for sunset. We stayed there for a second night and had a 4th of July fireworks show.