Conditions:Irene Creek-20210827045232

Latest:	26 Aug 2021 (4 yrs ago)

Reported by:	Andrewsandstrom (46 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: We flagged a decent route down to the river, with easy crossing. Water level was below 400CFS, and aggressive swimming was required to cross the cascade, but not risky. Strenuous hike to the top, wearing a wetsuit up has high risk of overheating. After an hour effort with a couple 5 minute breaks we reached a clear cut and turned to the river and set up a tree with a clean rappel into the canyon. All the webbing on the side of the river was in good shape, and none were found intact in the river beds. All the pulls were good, no rope abrasion notices. Check all jump depth, they are not always as deep as thought. R1 is full flow all the way down and amazing. No backpacks, easy to invert. Cold rainy day but amazing canyon if willing to put some sweat hiking to get up there.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
25 Jul 2025			Full wetsuit	Special challenges		3 people	Reiternick (39 reports)
Comment: Awesome day in mod high flow. All anchors good. River crossing at 620cfs wasnt bad. Swam with no backpack, then ferried packs with rope. Then other 2 swam. R7 was kind of spicy with this high flow, very pushy. Also the slippy ramp section likely deserves to have a bolted traverse line, in retrospect I regret not putting one. I think someone will fall from that someday and thats going to a broken leg mid-canyon. Theres ok hand holds in crack along most of the ramp section.
22 Sep 2024	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Sri (30 reports)
Comment: Awesome canyon. The river crossing was a wade with short aggressive swim bursts, the river was flowing at 265cfs. The approach was reasonably well flagged. We skipped the R1 entry rappel and found a way to downclimb into the canyon through a gully. We bolted the R3 drop with a single bolt RDC (called a knot chock in the beta). We rappelled J1 using a tree log as the pool wasn't deep. We jumped J3. We replaced the webbing on R6 and R7. Beware of siphon at the bottom of R7 DCL, it wasn't an issue for us, but it can be hazardous at higher flow.
22 Aug 2023	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	2 people Advanced	Blueshade (55 reports)
Comment: Beta is more or less accurate. River flow was about 265cfs. Probably could find a complete wade across (much further down from Monster, like 80yds). But it is a relatively easy wade with a short swim just below monster. Even for my partner who is a weak swimmer. Upon exiting the river on the return, we went straight up (veering just slightly left at first) from the fairly accurate point at the river. Going up here involved very minimal bushwhacking and we were at the road in 15min. Note that the start point down from the road is about 50yds west of what I call the old parking, which now has tree debris placed in it. Stay just west of a shallow drainage while descending and ascending and you should be golden. Few of the raps were in "heavy" flow, but, as is, still not ideal for less confident rappelers. I used a 3/2 with a rashguard top underneath and a cheap jacket and was only occasionally cold (on a cloudy day). But I deal with the cold better than many. Note that the entry anchor had been eaten and/or disintegrated at the knot. Nearly came apart in my hand, and a small tug separated it completely. Just a reminder to check your anchors.
9 Oct 2022	Good	Moderate		Normal	6 hours	3 people	Coops (140 reports)
Comment: River was flowing at ~220cfs. Crossing was a straightforward swim in mild current. The climb through the forest was easier than expected, the flagging and faint trail made it much simpler. The approach to R3 was really slippery, maybe at higher flow a handline anchor would be useful to install. Only one of the jumps went (J3). J1 & J2 were only ~5ft deep with trees blocking a lot of the pool. I'm surprised these ever worked as jumps! R7 can be rigged as a handline out to R8. With good rope placement I could get right in the middle of the flow on R1 and R8 - great fun. Overall, a lot of trees in the canyon, made it a bit annoying, turning a 4* canyon into a 3.5* one.
7 Aug 2022	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	5 people Intermediate to Expert	Logan (60 reports),Mads (61 reports)
Comment: Cascade River gauge was reading 800cfs. We did not cross the Cascade at this flow and instead bushwhacked overland from the south side of the river. Slightly sporty flow but no scary hydraulics. New bolts at R1 make for a roughly 130ft rappel length - R1 is the showcase rappel. Replaced webbing on R3 and R4. R6 has developed a massive siphon DCL shifting the flow to the left. Avoiding the massive siphon at this flow level was a must-make move or die. New bolts at R6 reached by rigging a traverse guide line from a boulder wrap/pinch back DCR. The flow has been diverted left due to the sieve and now this is a very slippery but out fo the flow rappel.
26 Aug 2021	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Andrewsandstrom (46 reports)
Comment: We flagged a decent route down to the river, with easy crossing. Water level was below 400CFS, and aggressive swimming was required to cross the cascade, but not risky. Strenuous hike to the top, wearing a wetsuit up has high risk of overheating. After an hour effort with a couple 5 minute breaks we reached a clear cut and turned to the river and set up a tree with a clean rappel into the canyon. All the webbing on the side of the river was in good shape, and none were found intact in the river beds. All the pulls were good, no rope abrasion notices. Check all jump depth, they are not always as deep as thought. R1 is full flow all the way down and amazing. No backpacks, easy to invert. Cold rainy day but amazing canyon if willing to put some sweat hiking to get up there.
13 Sep 2020	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	8 people Intermediate to Advanced	Mads (61 reports)
Comment: We scoped out the river crossing the night before, an hour-long bushwhacking nightmare through thick blackberry, salmonberry, and devil's club if you follow the overgrown GPS track. We found a better way on our way out which turned out to be a 10-minute hike up a mostly clear ditch. Don't start at the top of the old logging road, instead, travel back up the road for 10-20 yards until you see a depression in the earth, start your hike at the low point, and follow it down to the river. I will upload the updated track as soon as I figure out how. River crossing was a waist-deep wade (it is pushy) or a short swim at 380 cfs. The ascent to the Upper Falls, which we worried would be a hellacious bushwhack like the other side of the river, was easy but steep travel up mostly open and moss-covered slopes. We rappelled off the western cliffs into the watercourse, but saw a possible way down without a rappel once we were at the bottom. Total approach time was 2 hours, including about 30 minutes planning and executing the river crossing. This canyon was incredible and exceeded all of our expectations. Rap 1 starts off with great action right away with a 165’ rappel fully in the flow. It drops you into a narrow gorge which you navigate all the way to the river. We were able to rappel nearly every drop in the flow (or jump them) which was delightful. There are high water alternate anchors available as well. We took a different route through the last two drops compared to the original beta. Instead of scrambling up to the DCL promontory after 'twin falls', we rappelled the waterfall (R5, two stages) to the pool just above Lower Irene Falls. We slung a chockstone for the final rappel where you go right through the narrow pourover and into the heart of the flow. Really fun. Compared to Thornton, which we ran the day before, Irene had pushier flow as well as a few narrow pourovers where rappeller is taking the brunt of the full flow. There were no significant swiftwater challenges at this flow, which we believed to be moderate/a4. We found a couple webbing anchors but ended up building/rebuilding almost all of our own anchors. Massive logjams show that Irene must get impressive flow in the spring, and any anchors in the flow are unlikely to survive to next season.
24 Sep 2017	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Kevinsteffa (2 reports)
Comment: Cascade River crossing went easy at 200 cfs, some brush encountered while descending road to river. Rock anchor at R2 may wash away, though it is possible to use the log weir as an alternate.