Latest:	5 Nov 2023 (29 days ago)

Reported by:	David (7 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:	cold deg C
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	7 hours

Team: 12 people with experience level Advanced to Beginner

Trip report URL:

Comments: Great day out in Lytle Creek with group of 12. The road is in good shape, a prius was able to easily make it to the trailhead. Good flow for this time of year, the water was very cold though. Beta is accurate, we only used the watercourse anchors. The entire canyon is shaded between R3 and the exit. We were all quite cold in that section. The pool between R3 and R4 is no deeper than waist deep, but mostly about knee deep. All the rappels were slick with algae. Everyone stayed on rappel when accessing the R4 anchor at the spillover. Overall a beautiful day in perfect conditions.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Nov 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	12 people Advanced to Beginner	David (7 reports)
Comment: Great day out in Lytle Creek with group of 12. The road is in good shape, a prius was able to easily make it to the trailhead. Good flow for this time of year, the water was very cold though. Beta is accurate, we only used the watercourse anchors. The entire canyon is shaded between R3 and the exit. We were all quite cold in that section. The pool between R3 and R4 is no deeper than waist deep, but mostly about knee deep. All the rappels were slick with algae. Everyone stayed on rappel when accessing the R4 anchor at the spillover. Overall a beautiful day in perfect conditions.
30 Jul 2023	Amazing	Moderate High	Thin wetsuit	Normal		6 people Intermediate to Advanced	Austin3623 (13 reports)
Comment: Late post, but had a great day in Lytle last week with a group of 6. Conditions were excellent. Flow appeared heavy initially, but ended up being very manageable. As expected, none the alternate anchors off the side of the main route (discussed in the previous condition report) are necessary at this point. Replaced bleached out webbing on R2 & R4, and backed up the single loop on the alternate R1 chock stone anchor with a redundant piece. R1 - Flow looked heavy initially, so we rappelled off the chock stone anchor DCR just to be safe; looked up at the falls from the bottom and realized it would have been completely fine. R2 - Used the tree root anchor DCL, no issues rappelling straight through the water course. Pool is only knee deep right at the base of the rappel (not quite a water belay); deceptively much deeper (swimmable) in the middle/far side of the pool. Mini slide - there’s a shallow little 10ft slide between 3 & 4 that totally rides. A little bumpy, but a safe landing area and we loved it. R3 - Everyone in the group stayed on rappel until the R4 anchor. Flow is still swift through that channel, but no one had any issues battling the current or accessing the anchor. R4 - Some of us descended directly through the flow and others DCR of the flow. Through the flow was heavy and slick with algae but fun and likely manageable for intermediate canyoneers. R5 - Fun rap, rode it right down the middle. Note: the dirt road up to Lytle has changed significantly from last year. Definitely not passable in a low clearance vehicle anymore (last year it was fine). Any high clearance should make it, but it’s a rough ride.
24 Jun 2023 Trip report	Amazing	High	Full wetsuit	Advanced	8 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Brdn.gonzales (39 reports)
Comment: Beautiful day in Lytle Creek and I believe we're the first one's down for the season! The road is in pretty rough shape, really glad we had a 4WD truck. R1: We opted for the dry rappel (DCR) as the normal watercourse rappel (DCL) appeared to be in heavy flow. R2a/b: Due to the flow, the normal bolted anchors are not easily accessible. Situated DCL, wrapped around a tree root in the ground, is the anchor to R2a. Rappel 20', over the lip, to access the anchors for R2b. This is a hanging rebelay, so make sure all the individuals in your group have tethers and are comfortable with multipitch rope management. R3-R4: Only an experienced leader should lead this section. The water is high and flowing quick, which makes getting to R4 very difficult. Do not get off-rope when making the transition or you WILL be swept over the edge. The beta is otherwise the same, it's super slippery, please be careful. We equalized another piece of webbing for R4 to rappel far DCR and avoid the heavy flow. R5: From above, this rappel looks very intimidating because of the huge rooster tail. We opted to climb the embankment and rappel off a tree high DCR to avoid the flow. From below, the flow doesn't look too bad and actually looks like a fun rappel if you're up for it. Be sure to replace the webbing for R5 as we did not. Other notes: Tons of Horse Flies. Super Slippery. Very Cold. Couple Mistakes. Wonderful Day.
11 May 2022	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	9 people Beginner to Expert	Hillbelfi (29 reports)
Comment: Georgia Tech canyoneers out for a SoCal canyon tour! Thank you Todd Kolberg for the expert guiding. Length of time is due to a 1 hour stop for canyon technique review. Air temp was about 60 degrees F so by the last rap and hike we were definitely working to keep warm. Last 3 rappels were just a stunning sequence. Water was low, but flowing. The pool after R3 was a waist deep wade to cross. Pool after R2 was knee deep.
3 Apr 2022	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	9 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: This was a SoCal Roundup trip and thus big with 9 people. Water temp was quite chilly, but there was plenty of Sun in the canyon to stay warm midday (see pic) Flow is more "low" than "moderate low", but I'll give it the bottom of the class C for chute on R3. Anchor webbing is all recent.
2 Apr 2022	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	9 people Beginner to Expert	Eljefe62 (52 reports)
Comment: Water was cold, the rock was slippery. Extended rappel to 4th anchor to avoid any issues. Webbing was all good, the Roundup saw many trips here.
1 Apr 2022	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	10 people Intermediate to Advanced	Nclegg (308 reports)
Comment: Ants. So many damn ants.
22 Jan 2022	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	7 people Intermediate to Expert	Aquamoo (85 reports),Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: The water and air temp are both pretty cold, lots of ice. Pools are both pretty shallow, all anchors are fine. The road has already taken a beating, probably isn't doable in anything that doesn't have good clearance. Willie: water temp was 44F, and the air 35F! Don't skimp on the thermal protection if you run Lytle soon. Also, there was a bit of icy snow on the approach trail, but nothing that needed crampons.
4 Dec 2021	Good	Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	6 hours	5 people	Willie92708 (812 reports),Brdn.gonzales (39 reports)
Comment: Since not everyone brought full wetsuits, we played a few tricks (guided rappel and alternate anchor points) on R1 and R2 to keep those without full-suits out of the water. For R3 everyone was at least waist deep and some chest deep. With a light cold breeze and water temp below 50F, it was prudent to stay dry as long as possible. Waterflow is low (see pic), but considering how dry it has been, it's significant flow. Anchors are fine, although the webbing on the R3 bolts is getting a little bleached (showing its age). Also, there are various other anchors that other parties had built that are not on the normal rappel lines.
7 Aug 2021	Great	Low	None				Mcc (19 reports)
Comment: The road out to Middle Fork TH is now accessible to all vehicles.
19 May 2021 Trip report	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		2 people Beginner to Expert	Rlebfrom (24 reports)
Comment: Due to the road conditions, the road to the trail head now requires a high clearance 4wd vehicle. You might want to bring a shovel and utilize rocks to get through the difficult part of the road. The great thing about the road access is that you have the place all to yourself. Nothing but solitude back in the canyon. It is an incredible canyon. I was glad that we brought in the 4/3 mm wetsuits. The wind picked up and we were glad that we went with the thickness. Water flow conditions were low to very low. We took our time and enjoyed the canyon. The water was cold. Lytle is a beautiful canyon. Here is a video of the trip and canyon conditions: https://vimeo.com/553826826
3 Apr 2021	Good	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	7 people Beginner to Advanced	Toddk (13 reports)
Comment: Lowest water level I've seen in this canyon, but still fun. Anchors in good condition. We had wetsuits but only really needed them because standing around in the wind made it chilly. If we had kept moving, we probably wouldn't have needed them.
21 Feb 2021	Great	Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Aquamoo (85 reports),Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: Water flow is down a bit from last week but still enough to go through the entire canyon. R3 pool is not very deep, definitely not a swimmer right now. The air was very cold at first, I was fairly cold in my 3mm wetsuit. The "sporty" descent side on R3 is missing the RDC anchor now. Algae on some of the waterfalls is very slippery. Willie: air was freezing, which formed ice on the rock not in the waterflow and icicles on plants. I used a 5mm wetsuit with integral hood, 5mm glove and double neoprene socks; combo kept me plenty warm, except fingers got cold suiting up. There was a fair amount of hard snow on the ground in the canyon itself, but almost none on the approach. R2 could use some new webbing; it's double redundant pieces now. R3 LDC has brand new webbing, doubled over. Others are OK.
13 Feb 2021	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	1 people Intermediate	Aquamoo (85 reports)
Comment: Missed the creek crossing and I am happy to report that the canyon above this one has nothing worth mentioning for at least the first half mile. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to do the full canyon but I managed to find a way to get to the top of the last rappel and rappelled it a few times. The water was pretty cold but I was plenty warm in my 3mm wetsuit and 5mm booties. Waterflow was high B, maybe low C.
14 Jul 2020	Great	Moderate	None	Normal	5 hours	1 people Beginner to Intermediate	Activedad29 (19 reports)
Comment: Directions and coordinates were spot on in the description. Bring bug spray and/or mosquito net for the hike up and down. Bring plenty of water or a filter if you plan on this during summer. The hike is exposed and it gets HOT. Waterfalls were spectacular. I didn't use a wetsuit but wish I had. It's obviously doable but would have been more comfortable in a spring suit. Lots of poison oak and stinging nettle. (I dont know which is worse.) The webbing on all the raps were still in good condition. Enjoy