Latest:	18 Feb 2022 (4 yrs, 1 month ago)

Reported by:	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Location:	Eaton Canyon
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	3 hours

Team: 1 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: This was a "super sneak" and recon trip. I hiked up Eaton Creek to the Razorback Ridge (just before the final waterfall), climbed up the ridge and explored the various options to get back down above the final waterfall and even climb up to the much flatter ridge top (special challenges). At the ridge top the trails quickly peter out. Facing south from the top, you have a great view of LA and even the Wilson Toll Road Bridge far below. Much lower than the top, there are 2 prominent options that head off the ridge "climbers right" toward the well-traveled gully dropping into Eaton above the final waterfall. The lower one traverses a slope-y ledge which eventually leads to an exposed rock climb traverse on a narrow rock ledge with some crappy handlines connected to 2 glue-in Petzl eyebolts that have been deliberately cut and badly damaged; this makes the rope anchoring to these very suspect. The higher option is better as it leads to directly to the top of a steep gully dropping into Eaton above the final falls. About 80 feet down from where this gully first gets steep is a big tree suspended feet above the ground by its roots. It's easy enough to ghost off a bush to safely get down to the big tree. The big tree has a webbing and ring anchor, as well as a bike cable (rusting internally and suspect now) and big quick-link anchor. From the big tree there is a vertical drop of 20 feet before the gully below becomes less steep again. The traverse handlines from the lower option are connected to this big tree anchor as well, and can be used to get down the vertical 20 feet. Rappelling 140 feet from this tree you can get all the way to the Eaton creek bed safely, instead of using the crappy handline ropes. If you use these handlines to downclimb 20 feet, the rest of the gully is awfully steep and sketchy, because the gully has tons of loose dirt and gravel, with zero secure rocks or plants to grab. However, you can go down 20 feet and traverse 50 feet further in the upstream direction and reach another set of crappy handlines off a large bush. These handlines take you down a much more solid steep "stair case" of rocks and down to a low angle ramp that easily reaches the Eaton Creek. Overall, with rope for rappel, going upstream in Eaton canyon this way is plenty safe. Bypassing the last rappel going downstream in Eaton canyon, be sure and take the ramp up to the handlines, climb up the handlines, traverse in the downstream direction past the traverse lines and onto less exposed terrain. Follow the trail over to the Razorback Ridge and downclimb it.

Water flow in Eaton is "low" but still plenty fun (see pic)

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Jan 2025	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	9 people Beginner to Expert	Austinfarnworth (8 reports)
Comment: 7 members of the group slid the second to last rappel (penultimate slide) and had no injuries. Most group members touched the ground, but it was soft and we all kept our legs bent and had our packs on to slow us down.
1 Jan 2025	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	2 people Advanced to Intermediate	Willie92708 (1019 reports),BryceM777 (31 reports)
Comment: Great way to start off the new year! Got to see the start of the rose bowl from a distance and the B2 military jet was flying over LA (see pic). Started around 730 am and took about 5 hours. I was very comfortable with 2x 3/2 wetsuits. Temps probably somewhere in the high 40s low 50s.
24 Nov 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: This was a quick (4.0 hour) run with an early morning start on a chilly day. I was warm enough with a 4/3mm, neoprene socks and gloves, but I should have brought a hood too as the water temp is definitely cooling down for the approaching winter season. Water flow is the same. The fall colors are great right now! But the frogs have gone into hibernation mode.
17 Nov 2024	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	3 people	Mikeatran (93 reports)
Comment: Cold with the chilly weekend. Folks in a 4/3 were cold when stopped. Jumps were all good, some requiring soft landings. Weird extended anchor was built on the penultimate that would choke and kill the tree and was made with a non rated link so that was taken down. Penultimate is still a slider! All in all a good albeit colder than normal day.
13 Nov 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: The water temp is definitely dropping; I measured 54F! The best fall color is the poison oak at this point. Very few frogs are out and about.
4 Nov 2024	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit		8 hours	2 people Advanced to Brand new	Greatshaitan (46 reports)
Comment: Another great trip down Eaton Canyon. All anchors were in good shape water is pretty chilly 2/3 wetsuit was perfect
26 Oct 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	9 people	Mikeatran (93 reports)
Comment: Fun chill day in canyon. Took some time to look at alternate canyons to combo into or offshoot to. Anchors are good, no major concerns or hurdles. Penultimate is still slidable with a soft landing. Given the water temp and overcast type day, a thin full wetsuit and rain jacket was perfect for most folks; a 4/3 might be a bit too hot.
9 Oct 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: The hike up was warm at 1:30 PM but not as hot as last Wednesday afternoon. Water flow is still holding on to "low" (see pics). Water temp has cooled from the summer peak (I need to measure it soon). Still many frogs are out and about, especially on the wall of the Penultimate.
6 Oct 2024	Good	Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	6 hours	11 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: Since I had been so hot on my trip on Wednesday, I decided to just take a long sleeve top and take it off after the Grotto. This turned out to be a mistake, even though I was in the front of the group and moving reasonably quickly through the Grotto. I got cold and blasted ahead, hiking around the Penultimate. There, I waited for the group to show up, and by then I was plenty warmed back up. Anyway, everyone had a good time and many slid the Penultimate, some more than once.
2 Oct 2024	Good	Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	4 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: My special challenges was hiking up in full Sun and 96F air temp! I dribbled water on my head all the way up and refilled at the water tank. I took a thin full body wetsuit, since that was good for the last "hot day" run, but that was early morning, not later afternoon. Through the Grotto, the wetsuit was fine, but after that too hot. I wound up flushing the suit out often. I could have taken it off completely and not been cold at all. Water flow is hanging in there (see pic) and the frogs are out in force.
28 Sep 2024	Great	Deep pools	Rain jacket	Normal	3 hours	1 people	Mikeatran (93 reports)
Comment: Fun day solo running the canyon. Rappelled first slide and penultimate due to potential risk of botching. Other slides are good to go; lots of folks at the peanut gallery at 10 o clock. 3:27 car to car. All around fun 1/2 day.
23 Sep 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	2 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: We started hiking before 6:00AM and totally beat the heat climbing up. As such, thin full body wetsuits were nice through the Grotto, and not too warm for the rest of the canyon. However, it was getting hot, so getting out of them after the last rappel was good.
22 Sep 2024	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	10 people	Rapbear (80 reports)
Comment: I'm surprised no one has updated this wiki with all the traffic Eaton has been getting on the weekends. Eaton flow is hanging on and the pools are still slideable/jumpable. We had a big group and we were still able to make our way down pretty quickly. The rappels/waterfalls are slimy so some caution needs to be exercised there. 3 folks slide the penultimate (please check before you do) while the rest rappelled off the rope 15' short of the pool. The last rappel (aka Peanut gallery) was not as busy which was surprising. We wore wet suits as the upper pools are cold even on a high 80F day. Things warmed up after the Grotto (which we stemmed the second part). Overall, another fun day in Eaton canyon.
31 Aug 2024	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	3 people	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: We hiked up early at 6:00 AM, so we beat any heat or Sun on the way up. We spent about an hour working on the hand lines at the drop-in (special challenges). We also took our time through the canyon as neither of my partners had run Eaton before. As such, thin wetsuits were nice as we were comfortable almost all day, only getting a bit hot through the longer "hiking" sections on a day that reached 90F in Altadena. We rinsed out our wetsuits at the busted pipe flow near the Wilson Toll Road bridge. The frogs are out, but in much smaller numbers now. The peanut gallery was BUSY!
25 Aug 2024	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	4 people Brand new to Expert	Willie92708 (1019 reports)
Comment: The water temp dropped a bit to 61F and given noobs in tow (special challenges) on a day that was only 80F+ I was glad everyone had wetsuits. The run was slow, but all the water features are in "easy mode", even taking routes directly down the waterfalls in the full force of the flow. Eaton has really lost any class C force. We used the rappel lines directly in the flow without issue. There were not many frogs out and about; I guess it getting past mating season now.