Conditions:Mineral Creek (Alpine Lakes)-20240709091334

Latest:	7 Jul 2024 (11 mos ago)

Reported by:	Korey (65 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	High
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	5 hours

Team: 7 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Amazing day in a spectacular canyon. Higher flow meant several raps and slides had moderate hydraulic problems to mitigate. Only had to create a bypass for rap 1 off the overhead log. Lost a rope bag to a pour-over at R4, recovered bag further down canyon, but were not able to locate rope. See Coops report for further details.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
7 Jul 2024	Amazing	High	Full wetsuit	Advanced	5 hours	7 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coops (121 reports),AdamOtter (52 reports)
Comment: A great day out in Mineral Creek. As expected the flow was high & spicy requiring strong technical skills. It'll be a little time before it reaches the classic relaxed levels teams normally run it at. Water temperature was mild. All anchors are in excellent condition, and have survived the last ~2 years without a problem. The placement of the anchors worked very well for high flow conditions. We did not need to add any new anchors or redirects. The hazards are quite different to moderate/low flow, e.g. usually shallow pools are now much cleaner to jump, however elsewhere there's hydraulics that need to be cleared and careful foot work required on rope. The canyon has a different feel to previous trips. Progress through the upper section is slower due to less exposed bed rock, however it can actually be floated down in multiple sections. Be very weary of foot entrapments, stick together. Rope & pack management is a a top priority. We lost one bag to a pour-over. Whilst we recovered the bag & keg, the rope vanished. If you find a ~150' orange rope somewhere below R5 let us know. We avoided the water in R1, traversing DCL to the overhead log, and dry rapping to the pool, which has a very fun recirculation to play in - like a giant hot tub. The log jam at R5 is the same as two years ago (i.e. still sketchy but not hard to cross), and the bolts on the other side are still reachable. The old trailhead is still in use, the new one is yet to open by way of a trench across the road.
7 Jul 2024	Amazing	High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	5 hours	7 people Intermediate to Advanced	Korey (65 reports)
Comment: Amazing day in a spectacular canyon. Higher flow meant several raps and slides had moderate hydraulic problems to mitigate. Only had to create a bypass for rap 1 off the overhead log. Lost a rope bag to a pour-over at R4, recovered bag further down canyon, but were not able to locate rope. See Coops report for further details.
15 Jun 2024		Very High					Coops (121 reports)
Comment: Didn't run the canyon, just went to check out the work they'd done last season. Updated the summary section with new info. Video of the canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAkKivqiZSM The area around the original trailhead (currently open) is very different now. What was a nice wooded path from the trailhead down to the river is now thinned out forest strewn with debris and new river side-channels. The lack of a trail makes sense as they plan to decommission the trailhead and use a new one a short way uphill, complete with new trails (currently closed by way of a trench across the road). River running very high. Crossed the river via one of the many trees intentionally laid across the creek (again part of the habitat redevelopment plan) and hiked the connector trail up to junction with Kachess/Mineral trail, which was in good condition. TBH on a rainy grey day the place looked messy and abandoned, and made me feel a bit sad. I hope phase 2 progresses quickly and it returns to being welcoming to both humans and trout! Photos attached.
15 Jul 2023	Unknown						Andrewsandstrom (46 reports)
Comment: The road is gated, shut, locked 3 miles from the trail head. ????? Its a real gate and no options to get around, We headed over to dingford. Bummer
1 Oct 2022	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Easy	8 hours	2 people Intermediate	Oleks (1 reports)
Comment: Super fun canyon. We enjoyed the downclimbing, jumping, and sliding immensely. We are used to sandy Zion canyons so this was a lovely change of scenery. We went very slow and steady on the upper part as a lot of a rocks were slippery and unstable
21 Aug 2022		Moderate Low	Full wetsuit		4 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Logan (60 reports)
Comment: Super fun little water park. Very cold water, hands go numb in the water quickly. Flow was low enough to downclimb R1 on the top half and then slide the bottom. Almost all the anchors are for dry rappelling. R2, R5 and R6 look like they would be great to be in the flow. Would be a worthwhile project for someone to drill these three anchors on the left. The canyon has potential to be great if it’s fully equipped for wet rappelling.
12 Sep 2021	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	3 people Intermediate to Beginner	Ecakiryan (12 reports)
Comment: Flow wasn't in play much, we did not think it was a "water-park". Perhaps in higher flows. We skipped setting up traverse line at R5. Be careful where you step over the logjam! I sent down a piece by stepping on it which opened up a big enough gap to fall down.
5 Sep 2021	Amazing	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	6 people Intermediate to Expert	Michelle (60 reports)
Comment: What a spectacular canyon -- easy approach and exit, having lots of jumps and gorgeous rock. The water was very cold. We combined this with Incognito earlier in the day (9hrs total for both canyons)
22 Aug 2021	Great	Moderate Low		Normal	4 hours	3 people	Coops (121 reports)
Comment: Mixed weather with some early clouds made for a cool hike in and initial descent. However later bursts of sunshine brought the canyon rapidly to life, returning the green pools and orange rock to their full glory. Flow was on a the low side, but plenty of big jumps & slides still to be had (inc the iconic feet-in-the-air one). A bunch of bolts had smaller size quick-links on them, these caught the end-cap on both our ropes on separate occasions. With a little encouragement they finally came loose, but if anyone's carrying 5/16" stainless-steel quick links it would be nice to upgrade them. We remembered to explore the old mine this time too!
21 Aug 2021	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Canyonero (4 reports)
Comment: Mineral is as great as ever. There are many more options to jump than are listed in the beta but as the saying goes, check the depth. Proper shallow jumping technique will open a lot of jumps but expect to touch bottom regularly. Some entire raps can be jumped if done properly but as deep as the pools look, most depths are no more than 6-7’. Rap 1 was done as a slide by both in our party without incident, but it is a little bumpy. Fantastic canyon and doesn’t look like anything has changed since last year.
11 Aug 2021	Good	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Andrewsandstrom (46 reports)
Comment: Water level is very manageable. Jumps are good, but check depths. R6 bolt was tightened. It was almost all the way off the screw thread, Please remember to check all your anchors before using. Trail up was nicely cleared. We started at 1pm, and hiked in the shade most of the way up
8 Aug 2021	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	5 people Beginner to Intermediate	Mlpavela (3 reports)
Comment: 3.5 stars, fun day out.
13 Jul 2021	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	5 people Beginner to Expert	Andrewsandstrom (46 reports)
Comment: High flow, but not knock you over the lip flows, We definitely got very, very wet at times. Note, almost all the rappels are into pools, so fireman safety does not apply. Plus most starts have room for one person to load and go, so not great for newbies who need hand holding. Replace webbing on R4, something is nibbling on it. R6 bolts need to be tighten. In the middle of the upper section we did 4 nice jumps, but always check depth. Trail maintenance is happening, YAAH
23 Sep 2020	Great	Moderate	Drysuit	Normal	4 hours	4 people Advanced	Rernst86 (88 reports)
Comment: Fun, rainy day in Mineral. Bolts look great and did a few more jumps then when we did the FD. Much more fun.
12 Sep 2020	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	4 people Intermediate	Egnarts (1 reports)
Comment: Tons of fun!

...additional reports