Conditions:Gorge Creek Canyon-20250827050149

Latest:	23 Aug 2025 (1 month ago)

Reported by:	Coops (141 reports), AdamOtter (73 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	3 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Finally made it to Gorge!

Fun short canyon on a GORGEous day (see what I did there?). R1 & R2 are surprisingly large and we had flow on both. There's even jumps to be had in the canyon.

The approach took about 1hr, initially up steep but openish terrain, then as it flattened out hitting all the burn-down trees. After 15mins of swearing you can side-across to R1 on much nicer terrain.

I've been through and updated the beta & maps best I can. The main change is that R4 is now inaccessible (except perhaps via the untested high-water traverse line). This is because a floor/siphon/blockage has collapsed leaving a large hole. The water now flows down behind the R4 boulder, rather than over it. I've attached photos describing the situation. Instead R3 is now extended all the way down. A replacement R4 here would be better for the pull, but, yeah that's difficult to make happen.

NEXT TEAM: please brings plenty of quicklinks, rings and/or entire ring hangers. Many of the unlinked anchors need their orientation corrected to pull better, or rusty quicklinks replaced. Overall the anchors were usable, but in a very mixed state.

Our exit was a lovely swim around the corner to an easy climb-out spot and a 15min walk back to the car.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
12 Sep 2025	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Easy	3 hours	3 people Advanced	Rernst86 (95 reports)
Comment: We meat anchored to R4. Fun rap. R3 looks to be a subpar pull sitch but it isn’t.
23 Aug 2025	Great	Moderate Low		Special challenges	3 hours	2 people Advanced	Coops (141 reports),AdamOtter (73 reports)
Comment: Finally made it to Gorge! Fun short canyon on a GORGEous day (see what I did there?). R1 & R2 are surprisingly large and we had flow on both. There's even jumps to be had in the canyon. The approach took about 1hr, initially up steep but openish terrain, then as it flattened out hitting all the burn-down trees. After 15mins of swearing you can side-across to R1 on much nicer terrain. I've been through and updated the beta & maps best I can. The main change is that R4 is now inaccessible (except perhaps via the untested high-water traverse line). This is because a floor/siphon/blockage has collapsed leaving a large hole. The water now flows down behind the R4 boulder, rather than over it. I've attached photos describing the situation. Instead R3 is now extended all the way down. A replacement R4 here would be better for the pull, but, yeah that's difficult to make happen. NEXT TEAM: please brings plenty of quicklinks, rings and/or entire ring hangers. Many of the unlinked anchors need their orientation corrected to pull better, or rusty quicklinks replaced. Overall the anchors were usable, but in a very mixed state. Our exit was a lovely swim around the corner to an easy climb-out spot and a 15min walk back to the car.
3 Aug 2025	Good	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	2 people Advanced	Dfeerer (3 reports)
Comment: We picked up traces of trail along the approach that often disappeared. Lots of bushwhacking and navigating fallen trees. When we got to R1 we could tell that this canyon hadn’t been run in a very long time as there was very old unsafe webbing. We removed the webbing and left 2 quick links on the bolts. In the future someone may want to bring rap rings to add to these and other anchors in the canyon. Or better yet, bring new bolts and figure out a good way to rig R1 and R2 in the flow! Super fun raps through falls the rest of the way. We didn’t feel it would be a good pull to do a 150’ R3 variation nor did we want to go across the ledge because we wanted to stay in the flow. We ended up adding webbing on a chockstone on the landing of R3. All previous anchors replaced. Of note the listed rap lengths on ropewiki for R3-5 seem short, so plan accordingly. The exit required no swimming for us, only some wading. Super fun canyon. Heinous approach and exit.
23 Jul 2019	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	2 people Advanced to Expert	Logan (60 reports)
Comment: Excellent canyon for waterfall rappelling. Very scenic. Fun swim exit. If you like rappelling in waterfalls this is the canyon for you. Much easier than the photos show, since the falls spread out to canyon left, so when looking at them from the side view from the bridge they appear burly but are friendly. Even at high flow, easy to momentarily duck under the falls and rappel behind the veil with little pushiness.
3 Sep 2016	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Advanced	4 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Willow (15 reports)
Comment: Had some trouble deciding where to drop into the canyon. We replaced some webbing at a few anchors. Did the high water traverse and the second bolt is broken, otherwise all the bolts were present and in OK condition. Would recommend getting an early start as to avoid drawing a crowd on the bridge. Fantastic canyon though!
1 Jul 2015 Trip report	Great	Significant	Full wetsuit	Advanced	6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Lucach (75 reports),Tiffanie (139 reports)
Comment: This is the most technical canyon in Washington and known for its insanely high water levels. We replaced webbing at a few anchors. Bolts were banged but still good, nuts were unscrewed almost all the way, but still there. Bolts on the high water traverse were broken, so had to rappel everything in the watercourse (low water route) and it was fine.