Conditions:Epinephrine Error-20221229031515

Latest:	9 Oct 2022 (2 yrs, 6 mos ago)

Reported by:	Willie92708 (997 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	11 hours

Team: 4 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: We were a bit slow on the climb up, since it was already quite warm. We saw a Gili Monster on the way up, which was way cool! The "canyon" (chimney system) went well, and we fixed up a few anchors that needed help badly. There are plenty of anchors in the chimney system that are sketchy, but not all need to be used. Since my run last year, many anchors have changed, so it's clear that some parties do go down this way occasionally. Once out of the chimney system we got spread out and people headed in different directions down the wide gully toward the Black Velvet creek. We regrouped and rappelled off the bisecting ridge using an anchor I placed on a previous trip (specially challenges). We exited the gully onto the Black Velvet Wall bench and used the climbing rappel station in the creek.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
3 Mar 2024	Good	Very Low	None	Special challenges	17 hours	4 people Beginner to Intermediate	PsychoWard (33 reports)
Comment: We started the approach at 8:20 am. Winds were pretty high. Based on that alone we should have opted to not do the canyon, but we decided otherwise. The approach is pretty burly. Anyone planning on doing this canyon should make sure each person in their group is fit and unafraid of heights and exposure at times. The approach alone took us 4 hours. The canyon itself is really fun, but it carries the potential to get your rope stuck on most of the rappels. Using a fiddle stick or just double stranding, at least for the last person descending, is highly recommended. Allow yourself plenty of time to complete the canyon. It may take longer than expected.
9 Dec 2023	Great	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	4 people Intermediate	Celes (25 reports)
Comment: 12 raps all anchors were good. Our lead changed webbing for one anchor. 2 of the long raps we had LAPAR reset rope midway down for easier pull. LAPAR double strand ropes for all raps. 0 rope pull problems. IMO, this canyon is nicer than how people have described.
6 Oct 2023	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Lvbruce (13 reports)
Comment: This was the second time for me to run this canyon...the "Revenge" run. So glad I went back. Why? The first time was a disaster run...everything was a challenge for some reason and it didn't appear to be as straight forward as it was this time. We cleaned up a few anchors. The canyon could use some TLC to clean out some of the overgrowth, but that just seems to be par for the course on a lot of the RR area canyons. We felt comfortable with 11 raps (12 if you want to protect yourself more from possibly getting your rope stuck). Longest rap for us was 100 feet. There's a TON of old anchors down the canyon...but you don't need to use all of them. Here is a list of our raps: R1-50' pinch; R2-60' tree; R3-75' multi-pinch; R4-100' overhead choke stone; R5-90' pinch; R6-75' chock stone; R7-90 sketchy bolts/webbing to tree backup; R8-40' pinch (R8 and 9 can be done as one but there are many pinch points to stick rope); R9-90 pinch (optional R9:last person reset anchor part way down on a choke stone to help prevent a stuck rope); R10-20' pinch; R11-60 LDC pinch. The last rap is just before the rabbit hole with the loop of webbing to help you down. From there you can follow cairns down canyon, staying to the right on the way down. All very down climbable. Exit into Black Velvet Canyon.
7 May 2023	Good	Dry	None	Normal	7 hours	7 people Beginner to Expert	Scientist (8 reports)
Comment: Tough approach with good amount of bushwhacking. Interesting shaded crack canyon with nice views. Did about 15 raps in total (120 longest). All stations were in good condition.
31 Dec 2022	Good	Dry			10 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	RFontaine (254 reports)
Comment: A very long and engaging route though an interesting crack chimney system! The approach took us 3.5hrs. We had some very slow teammates on the hike up. I really enjoyed this fun approach with all the 4th class terrain and beautiful views! A lot of interesting rappels down the deep crack system, the longest of which used every bit of my 125' rope. Alot of these rappels would be tight "meat grinders" if one didnt stem out while descending down the crack. Alot of down climbing throughout. Was a good day. It's definitely not your typical canyon, and with other higher caliber wet canyons nearby I can't quite give it a 4 stars but it is definitely a fun and worthwhile adventure, especially if you want to stay dry!
9 Oct 2022	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	11 hours	4 people	Willie92708 (997 reports)
Comment: We were a bit slow on the climb up, since it was already quite warm. We saw a Gili Monster on the way up, which was way cool! The "canyon" (chimney system) went well, and we fixed up a few anchors that needed help badly. There are plenty of anchors in the chimney system that are sketchy, but not all need to be used. Since my run last year, many anchors have changed, so it's clear that some parties do go down this way occasionally. Once out of the chimney system we got spread out and people headed in different directions down the wide gully toward the Black Velvet creek. We regrouped and rappelled off the bisecting ridge using an anchor I placed on a previous trip (specially challenges). We exited the gully onto the Black Velvet Wall bench and used the climbing rappel station in the creek.
15 Oct 2021	Great	Dry	None	Special challenges	9 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (997 reports)
Comment: This being my 2nd descent, my opinion of this "canyon" is still the same. It has some fun rappels, little brush in the way, easy to avoid puddles of water, and amazingly deep chimneys. I think CrackCocainino (previous report) was smoking crack cocaine! ;) I spent an extra hour (special challenges) fixing the most awkward rappel start in the canyon with 2 "emergency" bolts (backed up to a small tree); not needed, but nice now. I did not do much with all the other anchors with their many pieces of cord and webbing, other than swap out some biners for quick-links. At some point, it would be nice to clean up the anchors. Still, the over abundance of cord and webbing is part of the charm of climbers having an epic descending Epi Err in the dark. At the final 2 rappels, I traversed DCL onto the Black Velvet wall bench and use the climbing rappel station down into the creek bottom at the large chockstone boulder in the main creek. Overall, I was not in a hurry all day, thus the total time of 9 hours.
16 May 2020	Poor	Dry	None	Special challenges	13 hours	4 people Intermediate to Brand new	CrackCocainino (9 reports)
Comment: There is a reason climbers avoid this gully and call it the “do not go down gully.” Lots of anchors are found in brush, making rigging your rope and starting your rap a pain. Almost every anchor is a gnarled mess of old webbing or cord, with either rap rings or carabiners, it’d be nice to see it cleaned up. A couple of rappels are cool, descending through tight chimneys, but most are mediocre at best. We had way more fun on the ascent, scrambling to the top of Black Velvet, with some class 3 scrambling involved. Take a pass on Epi Error, it makes this gully sound way cooler than it is.
8 Mar 2020	Good	Very Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	9 hours	2 people	Willie92708 (997 reports)
Comment: Since the only beta we had was decades old war stories from climbing buddies that went down this way by mistake, we took far more gear than we needed. We had a bunch of trad rock pro, and we used none of it. We had a 440 foot rope, which was not needed at all; we used my 200 footer all day. We brought lots of webbing but used very little, since their was so much already in place. We brought a bolt kit, but I only drilled a couple of feed through holes while I had time to kill for an anchor that's not really needed since we could have down-climbed the slab. Anyway, WAY too much gear, but now we know, and you do too! Overall I think Epi Error is a good canyon experience, especially if you like dealing with 20 rappels with all sort of positional requirements. It's certainly good training. Also, the dribbles of water make for plenty of moss and small pools, all can be stemmed over to avoid getting feet wet. There is little brush in the way too. If nothing else, it packs a ton of vertical into a very short horizontal.