Conditions:Lewis River-20230704034701
Latest: |
2 Jul 2023 (2 yrs, 2 mos ago) |
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Reported by: | Rernst86 (92 reports) | |
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Quality: | Amazing |
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Waterflow: | Moderate High |
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Wetsuit: | Full wetsuit |
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Water temperature: | ||
Difficulty: | Advanced |
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Time: | ![]() |
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Team: 7 people with experience level Advanced to Expert
Trip report URL:
Comments: Removed the clear and obvious blue webbing for R0. Probably unnecessary as one can reach the creek by hiking a short ways up creek from the bridge on either side. R1. Good shape. R2. This has always been a downclimb. I guess a bolt was installed. Didn’t use it. S1. Clear and ready for slides R3. New log in the big pool. Jump around it and swim on. R4. Almost want to punt this. A single bolt was installed that pulled fine last year. Now there’s more. The R4B is in a wild spot like the beta states. We used it but the location is subpar. R5. Rope is still kicking. R6. Crux is standable at this point. No real concern. R7. Was rebuilt with fresh webbing.
- the following slide is deep and hood to go.
All condition reports
Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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Amazing | Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 1 people Intermediate | TexasLorenzo (29 reports) | |
Comment: All anchors in good shape, all the small jumps and slides in play. Temps are cooling so less snow melt, meaning the water lvls are quite manageable but that means more inflow fun! Last R webbing is def good for remainder of this yr but looks like due to rubbing on rock and sun exposure, could be replaced early next season? Just my humble opinion. Used the quick exit DCL about half mile down from the last rap. It’s much faster but def cost more calories than the shuttle creek walk.
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Great | Moderate Low ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 5 people Intermediate to Advanced | Treyshoe (55 reports) | |
Comment: Lewis was in great shape today though rain might increase flow significantly. No specific challenges and all the rappels were super fun. We skipped R1 via the short cut and did the creek walk out. The creek exit is easy and the 1-2 log jams are consolidated for easy crossing.
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Great | Moderate ![]() | Drysuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | | 3 people Brand new to Advanced | Rernst86 (92 reports) | |
Comment: Chilly morning start. Had a new person with and they did great. All pools feel deeper than before minus the weird rebelay drop. It’s was about the same. Left a handline to assist with the more obvious erosion taken place since the DCL quick was introduced 4 years ago. Probably not the long term answer but one to bridge the gap.
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Amazing | Moderate ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7 people Beginner to Advanced | Tommy23 (16 reports) | |
Comment: Great day, slides all clear, anchors all good (tho some webbing is getting there....). Crux pool deeper than it has been past couple of years but hydraulic was tame.
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Great | Moderate Low ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 2 people | K arc (388 reports),Treyshoe (55 reports) | |
Comment: FR23 has reopened since the Williams Mine Fire. Lewis River not affected.
We opted to skip R1 and early creekwalk, parking right off the side of FR-23 (near mp34 sign) and descending to the creek. Room for 2-3 vehicles at a pullout. The approach from here takes two minutes to get right into the good stuff above R2. Looked at potentially putting in a couple bolts to break up the long R6 pitch (improve safety & efficiency), but the rock quality in there is awful. Decent spots would be underwater, have bad pulls, or be subject to getting smashed by debris washed downstream in flood events. May have look around some more next time. Tip of the hat to the team who installed the new R7 Tebylon bolts. Descended to the bridge & shuttle. One big logjam seems to have disappeared - other was easily surmounted. Hike out went quick.
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Amazing | Moderate ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6 people Intermediate to Expert | Canyon Hopper (8 reports) | |
Comment: Team of 6 moving efficiently made for a good half day canyon. No notable hydraulics except for the pothole in R7 which the beta notes to avoid. Anchors were in good condition. We rigged some alternate rap lines more in the flow which would be a nice addition if suitable bolt placements are possible, but did not adjust any anchors.
For Rap 4 (optional rebelay), we did it in one stage. With pulling the rope from up on the rock at the pourover it was no problem. Would recommend this method. Exited via the creekwalk. There’s a lot of logjams, but the creek bed widens and the path is easy around them. Took maybe 15-20 minutes to end up directly the shuttle.
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Amazing | Moderate Low ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 6 people | Natureboytimflair (68 reports) | |
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Good | Moderate Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | | 7 people Beginner to Advanced | Kirbside (98 reports) | |
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Great | Moderate High ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7 people Intermediate to Advanced | Briwellman (85 reports) | |
Comment: The flow check pictures don't match what you see from the bridge and should be updated. We monitored flow the previous day and noticed an unexpected drop in the afternoon, despite warm weather that should have increased meltwater. We saw the same pattern today: higher flow in the morning than when we returned in the afternoon. For example, the water was flowing over the rock by R1 pour-over in the morning but had receded to just the river channel by afternoon.
Lewis is very fun at this flow! There was a lot of water but it wasn't too pushy. Everything is straight forward as the beta reads. R4b is unnecessary should be decommissioned. The rope pulls fine from R4a. There is a lot of flow at R4b. Recommend a path DCL along the edge of the flow. R6 isn't as intimidating at the beta reads. Take caution as you have 150 feet of rope out and its sawing on the very sharp edge as people rappel the drops. We deployed 2 ropes for R6, one was used only for the first drop and creeped often. The second rope was creeped also and used for the other drops except for the last person. We could have been more efficient if we used a third rope and positioned a meat anchor to expedite travel down the last drop. The new bolted R7 is very nice to have. Thank you Mike Peterson! Go play in the pothole if you like swift water otherwise rappel out of the flow.
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| Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 5 people Beginner to Intermediate | PsychoWard (46 reports) | ||
Comment: Beautiful canyon with some unique features. Water was very cold. Anchors were in good shape. Some nasty log jams on the hike out. I may try the earlier, steep exit next time to avoid the log jams. Overall an awesome day.
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Great | Moderate Low ![]() | Thin wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | | 5 people | K arc (388 reports) | |
Comment: Entered via the Babyshoe Creek approach just for fun (low water) and dropped in a few hundred yards above R2. Swims were chilly as ever, and pockets of warm sunlight to bask in and warm up were appreciated. Definitely one of the prettier canyons around with stark color contrasts. Tip of the hat to the team who added the quick links at R4a; we were able to pull the rope without issues. R4b is not well placed and should probably be decommissioned. Webbing on R7 was okay, but abraded in places; keep an eye on this one. Hiked out the 0.75mi to the lower bridge that goes quickly.
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Good | Moderate Low ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 8 people Intermediate to Expert | Korey (80 reports) | |
Comment: Fun way to end the rondy, flow was surprisingly good, and some really unique geology. Watch out for ground wasps on the exit.
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Good | Moderate Low ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 4 people Intermediate to Expert | Logan (60 reports) | |
Comment: 5 or 6 fun little jumps break up the space in between rappels. The first one right after Baby Shoe comes in. I would call it a3 today. Not pushy. Rappeller could go very dry to fully wet rappeler’s choice. The only pothole circulation we all avoided was on r7. You could walk in and around all the others. We did the early exit on canyon left at 46.2518, -121.6187. Took us 50 minutes and 500’ gain was dirty and sweaty. Not a great way to arrive at the cars. The shuttle is only 12 minutes(one way). I would do the shuttle from now on. Added maillons to r4 so it pulls fine. No need to do this drop in 2 pitches.
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Amazing | Moderate High ![]() | Full wetsuit ![]() | Advanced ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 7 people Advanced to Expert | Rernst86 (92 reports) | |
Comment: Removed the clear and obvious blue webbing for R0. Probably unnecessary as one can reach the creek by hiking a short ways up creek from the bridge on either side.
R1. Good shape. R2. This has always been a downclimb. I guess a bolt was installed. Didn’t use it. S1. Clear and ready for slides R3. New log in the big pool. Jump around it and swim on. R4. Almost want to punt this. A single bolt was installed that pulled fine last year. Now there’s more. The R4B is in a wild spot like the beta states. We used it but the location is subpar. R5. Rope is still kicking. R6. Crux is standable at this point. No real concern. R7. Was rebuilt with fresh webbing. - the following slide is deep and hood to go. | |||||||
Great | Low ![]() | Drysuit ![]() | Normal ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 3 people Intermediate to Advanced | Beccap (47 reports) | |
Comment: A very beautiful and worthy canyon! We had a great day in extremely friendly conditions. Per request, we intended to bolt the 2nd tier of R4 DCL to facilitate a better rope pull and a drier line for high flow. We found the rock DCL to be hollow and unsuitable for bolting, so put in a hanging rebelay DCR. Pros: for those who like to get technical, the hanging rebelay adds technical interest to the canyon :) Also, the rope pull from the top tier while positioned at the hanging rebelay is fine - requires a bit of muscle in the beginning but not difficult. The pull from the hanging rebelay from the pool below is easy. So, it succeeds at improving the rope pull. Cons: the hanging rebelay may be underwater at high flow (though is unlikely to be damaged) and is not a particularly pleasant spot to hang out as anchor manager. It also does not serve as a high flow option as the line is directly in the flow.
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