Conditions:Eaton Canyon-20240417035737
Latest: |
7 Apr 2024 (1 yr, 5 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | Willie92708 (1008 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Amazing |
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| Waterflow: | High |
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| Wetsuit: | Full wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | 9.8C deg C |
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| Difficulty: | Special challenges |
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| Time: |  8 hours
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Team: 5 people
Trip report URL:
Comments: Eaton's water flow got a boost from the rain a few days back. As such we had "high" flow (see pics) and sub 50F water temp. Even with a mostly clear and a high around 70F, I was glad I brought plenty of neoprene (3mm full-suit, 3mm hooded top, gloves and booties), as I was a bit cold through the Grotto, warm enough in the middle canyon, but never hot until I had to hang out in the Sun at the rescue anchor (story below). The "wild side" anchor at the Grotto was indeed wild, but not too crazy to rappel. East Muir was flowing nicely, and plenty of frogs are out. Everything was good until:
Three of us climbed around the Penultimate (myself included), since the flow was "high", and 2 members were new to class C. I checked the Penultimate pool depth twice by swimming out behind the waterfall and then into the falls itself. Depth was as it's been all season, about 8 feet deep with sand / gravel bottom. The first member to slide hit the bottom hard and before he had swam over to the pool edge, the 2nd member to slide arced out hitting the water and only bumped the bottom. Once the 1st member was at the pool edge, it was clear he had a serious injury. A quick check of both legs indicated that there were no completely broken bones; instead most likely a fracture. The member insisted that we self rescue (if possible) and we did. Getting him down stream to the final rappel was slow with a walking stick and shoulders to rest on, but we made it within an 1:20. I climbed around on the bypass and rappelled down to the rescue anchor, which allows easy rappelling without being in the final waterfall. Within 15 minutes, we had the injured member down to the pool (and peanut gallery) with ease. He walked all the way out to his vehicle, making for a total time of 2:50 from slide mishap to vehicle. He went to the hospital and X-rays revealed a complete vertical fracture of the fibula.
Given large number of times that people have slid the Penultimate this season (and last season too), it would seem that he was unlucky. But I will note that the pool has never been properly deep (like 12 to 15 feet) this season, so it's definitely risky if you hit the water mostly straight into it.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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| 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.
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| Great | Low 
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 2 people Advanced to Intermediate | Willie92708 (1008 reports),BryceM777 (23 reports) | |
| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal |  4 hours
| 1 people | Willie92708 (1008 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.
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| Good | Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 3 people | Mikeatran (85 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.
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| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 1 people | Willie92708 (1008 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.
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| | 8 hours
| 2 people Advanced to Brand new | Greatshaitan (45 reports) | |
Comment: Another great trip down Eaton Canyon. All anchors were in good shape water is pretty chilly 2/3 wetsuit was perfect
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| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 9 people | Mikeatran (85 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.
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| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 1 people | Willie92708 (1008 reports) | |
| Good | Low
| Rain jacket
| Special challenges | 6 hours
| 11 people | Willie92708 (1008 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.
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| Good | Low
| Rain jacket
| Special challenges | 4 hours
| 1 people | Willie92708 (1008 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.
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| Great | Deep pools
| Rain jacket
| Normal | 3 hours
| 1 people | Mikeatran (85 reports) | |
| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 2 people | Willie92708 (1008 reports) | |
| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 10 people | Rapbear (76 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. | |||||||
| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 8 hours
| 3 people | Willie92708 (1008 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!
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| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 8 hours
| 4 people Brand new to Expert | Willie92708 (1008 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.
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