Conditions:Dark Creek-20200817022251

Latest:	15 Aug 2020 (4 yrs, 9 mos ago)

Reported by:	K arc (373 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:

Team: 3 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: Always a good time on Dark Creek. Reasonable approach/exit, minimal bushwhacking, and some quality rappels. A must-do if you're in the Dark Divide.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
19 Jul 2024	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	5 people Intermediate to Advanced	Briwellman (76 reports)
Comment: We ran Dark both last weekend and this weekend. The flow is really dropping. Get in there soon!
13 Jul 2024	Good	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Briwellman (76 reports)
Comment: Fun day in Dark. Rebuilt anchors as required. There is a new log jammed under the old log on R7 which is stabilizing it or at least it doesn't bounce anymore. The carin anchor is gone so we added one to the log. We did not run the flow in R8. It looked way to powerful!
5 Aug 2023	Good	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	8 people Intermediate to Expert	Korey (65 reports)
Comment: Surprisingly fun canyon with some really scenic rappels, although flow was very low.
4 Aug 2023	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	8 people Beginner to Advanced	Brdn.gonzales (44 reports)
Comment: Dark Creek was good, but the flow is pretty wimpy. Anchors were in good shape.
29 Jul 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		8 people	K arc (373 reports)
Comment: First time actually seeing motorbikes at the trailhead; they took off in front of us and we never saw them again. Flow low to moderate-low, no issues, all anchors in good shape. Surprisingly nice cairn at R7. Current line takes you right down a rock rib between the main part of the waterfall and pothole to rappeller's right. (Going in the pothole is fun at this level.) The funnel rappel at R8 has a log spanning the canyon from one side to the other which is not visible from the rappel station. If following the watercourse, you'll need to squeak underneath it. Best to extend your rope on this anchor for the pull and toss the pull side over the log. A large number of mountain bikers showed up at the trailhead just after we got out and were picked up by a shuttle. Looked like a guide service.
23 Jul 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	8 people Intermediate to Advanced	Briwellman (76 reports)
Comment: Fun day on Dark. Performed anchor maintenance as required. The last anchor should be replaced. We should have done it but by the time I got there, most of the team was already down.
17 Sep 2022	Good	Very Low	Thick wetsuit	Easy	5 hours	3 people Beginner to Advanced	Beccap (47 reports)
Comment: We did a low-flow run of Dark and it was happily more than the trickle we expected (slightly more). We found it to be great for canyoneers who are nervous about water but want to gain experience rappelling in the flow. It’s a beautiful canyon. We removed the webbing from the rotten wobbly log at the top of R7. We had intended to bolt it (per requests in the beta) but found the rock quality to be insufficient for bolting. We built a cairn anchor and used that. Unless someone else is able to find suitable rock that we didn’t find, it may be that a cairn anchor is the long-term solution here, as there is ample mateial.
31 Jul 2022	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	2 people Intermediate	Smontanya (3 reports)
Comment: What a beautiful canyon. I was pleasantly suprised at the bang for your buck on this one. Approach is 3 miles but on all established trails. I want to know who did this approach in 1 hr (STUDS!) More flow would have been better but just on the edge of moderate flow and still super fun. Closing in on one of the PNW classics if you ask me!!!
30 Jul 2022	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	6 people	K arc (373 reports)
Comment: Another great day in Dark. Flow was perfect. A lot of fallen logs that were present last time I was here have been blown out, so the rappels are all clear and good to go. There have been endless reports of people sticking ropes on R8, so we re-rigged the bolts as a Y-hang anchor. Rope pulled like a dream. Be aware: the log on R8 is now about 10ft lower wedged between walls of the chasm. If you run the flow, there's a great line all the way down into the "Dark Room" at the bottom although you have to slide under the log. Played around doing some jumps on the very last drop in the canyon. Ran East Canyon Creek as a chaser.
17 Jul 2022	Amazing	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Briwellman (76 reports)
Comment: Dark was awesome! I wouldn't have wanted to run it at any higher flow. We couldn't find a lot of the anchors and the ones that we found were "baconed" so we built or rebuilt most of them. R7 hanging pothole was not a problem. The flow was going mostly over and beside the pothole. R8 rappelled out of the flow into the slot room. Very splashy and no hydraulic. Easy to swim into and out of the area. R8 wouldn't pull. We had to ascend back up to check it. It looked fine, block was on top and it wasn't caught on anything. I rerouted the pull over the log (above the slot room) and we pulled from far back. Ended up building a 3:1 to get it to pull. Extremely fun creek at this flow!
31 Jul 2021	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		2 people	K arc (373 reports)
Comment: There's a new log perched precariously in the middle of the pitch on R8 -- just above the funnel chamber. Looks like a rappeller accidentally bumping into it could knock it down. We used caution and detoured around it... the rope will run clean underneath it. On the same pitch, we discovered a doubled 200ft rope will just reach the bottom. Extending the pull side may be recommended for a clean pull in a better location just downstream of the slot. All anchors in good shape.
15 Aug 2020	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		3 people	K arc (373 reports)
Comment: Always a good time on Dark Creek. Reasonable approach/exit, minimal bushwhacking, and some quality rappels. A must-do if you're in the Dark Divide.
25 Aug 2019	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	K arc (373 reports)
Comment: Returning to Dark Creek after a couple of years and it doesn't disappoint. A fabulous creek in the Dark Divide. Water colder than I remember; we're suspicious it must be spring-fed. Once out of the water, you'd warm up relatively quickly. Stuck a rope on the bolted anchor that we were able to free with a great deal of hauling and thrashing the rope from below. Might be good to extend this anchor so the master point hangs in space to keep this from happening in future. Great rappel.
10 Aug 2019	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	4 people Beginner to Advanced	Norhex (24 reports)
Comment: The approach is on an OHV trail, heads up for dirt bikes. Flow was on the low side but still fun. Great rock formations throughout.
28 Jul 2019	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Jakehuddleston (35 reports)
Comment: A very pleasant canyon with a short rapid-fire technical section. Added a backup bolt to the single bolted anchor. Moderate low flow. A very nice time.

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