Conditions:Muir Ravine (West)-20231121070934

Latest:	18 Nov 2023 (16 days ago)

Reported by:	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Dry
Wetsuit:	None
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	7 hours

Team: 1 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: I hiked from the Rubio Catch Basin up the Gooseberry connector to Lone Tree Trail, then the ridge trail in 1:15. After which I spent at least an extra hour trimming the drop-in path to the sub-gully (special challenges 1) The sub-gully is hard to follow initially, but it gets easy once it's has a defined depth. I proceeded down all the rappels carefully inspecting the anchor plants, the webbing, and anchor locations (special challenges 2) which added at least another 30 minutes to the descent of 2:50 I wound up using all the existing webbing, although much of it needs replacement at this point. Some anchors have multiple pieces, so not such much urgency to replace. Throughout the technical canyon is a specific weed plant that has 1/2" long spine seeds that stick to anything fabric. The seeds are much easier to remove that the grass seeds often found in SoCal canyons and approaches, but still a bit annoying. I'm sure all the seeds will drop off the plants once we get solid winter rains.

Eaton is still flowing at the low end of class C. The water is getting cold and my neoprene shorts and neoprene vest top was barely comfortable for the Penultimate pool swim. It took 1:30 to get back to the Pinecrest Gate and another 30 minutes to hike back to my truck at the Rubio Catch Basin.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
18 Nov 2023	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: I hiked from the Rubio Catch Basin up the Gooseberry connector to Lone Tree Trail, then the ridge trail in 1:15. After which I spent at least an extra hour trimming the drop-in path to the sub-gully (special challenges 1) The sub-gully is hard to follow initially, but it gets easy once it's has a defined depth. I proceeded down all the rappels carefully inspecting the anchor plants, the webbing, and anchor locations (special challenges 2) which added at least another 30 minutes to the descent of 2:50 I wound up using all the existing webbing, although much of it needs replacement at this point. Some anchors have multiple pieces, so not such much urgency to replace. Throughout the technical canyon is a specific weed plant that has 1/2" long spine seeds that stick to anything fabric. The seeds are much easier to remove that the grass seeds often found in SoCal canyons and approaches, but still a bit annoying. I'm sure all the seeds will drop off the plants once we get solid winter rains. Eaton is still flowing at the low end of class C. The water is getting cold and my neoprene shorts and neoprene vest top was barely comfortable for the Penultimate pool swim. It took 1:30 to get back to the Pinecrest Gate and another 30 minutes to hike back to my truck at the Rubio Catch Basin.
1 Oct 2023	Great	Dry	None	Normal	4 hours	1 people	Jcsjcs (88 reports)
Comment: Foggy during the approach which took 1:05 but turned sunny during the descent. A bit of bushwhacking to get from the drop-in to the canyon floor but was clean after that. The canyon was even more fun than I remember from 2019 with excellent anchors and interesting downclimbs. I rappelled about 6 drops and downclimbed the rest. Near Eaton the drops are so closely spaced you can pull the rope straight to the next anchor. Descent took 1:30. Hiked around the penultimate to check depth and then slid it. Bypassed the final rappel in Eaton.
16 Jan 2023	Amazing	Very Low	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: To minimize hiking back on the streets after the run, I hike up the approach ridge to Upper Lower Ravine, but continued all the way up to the Rock Mass Drop-in point where the Lone Tree Trail connects, taking 2.0 hours (special challenges 1). The run down West Muir was quite wet with a surprising class B flow (see pic) that picked up about half way through the technical canyon. The rock cairn anchor for R9 was destroyed, but I did find the stick and webbing. I used a bush further back DCR with a very long piece of webbing. Eaton was flowing extreme, and the crux was rappelling short drop right near the end of West Muir. I used an anchor off the big tree and a redirect off a log jammed into the rabbit hole (special challenges 2). I bypassed the Penultimate and the Final waterfall in Eaton.
30 May 2022	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	9 hours	5 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: We hiked up the Gooseberry connector to the Lone Tree trail. I had a bit of trouble finding the cut path drop-in to the sub drainage (special challenges), but soon enough we were in it and following the well worn path. We replaced some of the oldest webbing and rebuilt the rock cairn for R9 (more special challenges :) ). We left in place redundant older webbing that was in OK shape. The approach climb was about 2 hours, 5 hours in Middle Muir, and 2 hours to finish out Eaton. The "Dry" rating is only for Middle Muir, not Eaton as it was flowing nicely. Also, I updated the beta for the rappel anchor and lengths.
12 Dec 2021	Great	Dry	None	Normal	10 hours	3 people Intermediate	ADubs (10 reports)
Comment: Canyon was mostly as described, but found a couple of the rappels to have outdated anchor info. R7 is DCR not DCL and R10 was DCL, not DCR as noted in the beta. The anchor in the chimney at R6 is super easy to miss, which I did as first man and ended up on the ledge below it. We had enough rope (over 400') to allow us to combine 5 and 6 into one (walkie talkies recommended in this canyon because of some of the long distances from top to bottom on the combos), but the pull was challenging and we almost stuck the rope. We inspected the cairn/deadman at R9 and could not inspect the buried webbing because the deadman it was wrapped around was unmoving, so we rebuilt the cairn with new webbing...however, because of the deadman below it preventing the big rock from being properly seated, it will 100% need to be inspected carefully again. Want to note that this canyon has a LOT of loose rock, and most of the rappels should probably not be belayed. Canyon has a lot of big walls and you travel through several thick bands of fault-tortured different types of red/pink/black and striped rock, really beautiful and fun!
2 May 2021	Ok	Dry	None	Normal	6 hours	8 people Intermediate to Expert	Freddy (50 reports)
Comment: All anchors are in good condition. I replaced the anchor at the final rappel due to sun damage.
6 Aug 2020	Good	Dry	None	Normal	4 hours	2 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: We hike up the Lone Tree trail and dropped into West Muir form that. Time includes the hike from the car connecting to Eaton. Doing the rest of Eaton back to the other car was 1.6 hours more, 5.6 total. Yes, it's bone dry, but thanks to trimming brush over the past couple years, it's not at all overgrown. Even the drop-in is easy to travel with minimal brush issues. And given the heavy marine layer that morning, it was pleasantly cool in the ravine itself. Much of the anchor webbing / rope is getting old, but the old pieces are redundant, so immediate worries.
29 Sep 2019	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	2 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: The rain the night before cut the dust factor down to basically zero, making for an nice trip overall. There was no flowing water in West Muir, but a few small shallow potholes had water in them. "Dry" refers to we did not touch any water in West Muir, but Eaton still has "low" waterflow and we were swimming in the Penultimate pool. The canyon definitely has changed a bit from last year, since this last winter storms were so strong. We hiked up the Lone Tree Trail to the saddle in 1:15. We spent extra time pruning the drop into the side tributary. At one point we both slipped in the same spot (where the only poison oak is in the side tributary), I fell on my butt, but my partner smashed his tiny toe (he taped it up). We rebuilt some anchors with redundant webbing, replaced webbing on some that were suspect, and installed new webbing on the last rappel, since the old webbing was cut from the anchor location and tossed off to the side. I bounce tested an old buried deadman anchor and the webbing failed, but this anchor is not needed anymore, because there is a short downclimb to a much better anchor location. We also pruned back brush in the main canyon and around some of the anchors. We spent 4:15 from the saddle to Eaton Creek, and under 2 hours finishing Eaton back to my truck.
22 Nov 2018	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	7 hours	3 people	Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: A bit of rain, a much cooler day, and a direct climb approach up Lone Tree Trail, made this canyon at least 5 star! :) OK, it's not that good, but vastly nicer than a month ago, even a bit surreal hiking up into the clouds. It took less than 1.5 hours to hike up the Lone Tree Trail, which is much faster than the shuttle hike even without counting the drive time. We did a little more trimming on the way down from the ridge, having a bit of trouble finding the gully at the top. We spent about one extra hour rebuilding the last 3 anchors, since a bounce test on R11's old anchor webbing caused it to fail. The webbing generally looked OK (clearly older), only being a bit frayed at the point it broke. However once we dug it up, we discovered that the webbing was actually red, not tan. Maybe Brennen installed it back in 2006! And we had a rappelling mishap; fortunately no injury (see incident report) The "dry" waterflow only reflects the conditions in West Muir, not in Eaton proper which was "Very Low".
20 Oct 2018	Ok	Dry	None	Normal	8 hours	4 people Advanced	Freddy (50 reports),Willie92708 (812 reports)
Comment: Freddy: Very hot weather making this trip slightly brutal. We trimmed the gully with loppers making the approach eaiser. Most anchors were in tact. We replaced a couple due to animal's snacking on them. Lower Eaton was a trickle and many flys were present, very annoying. Willie: Adding to what Freddy says, Muir has some nice drops, but hot and dry it's not much fun. In the spring after some good rains, it will be much better. And the approach is really long compared with the technical part.
11 Mar 2017	Good	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	8 people	Freddy (50 reports)
Comment: All anchors have been replaced.
11 Mar 2017 Trip report							BellaChu@Facebook (3 reports)
Comment: extracts from Facebook posts, click link for full details (privacy restrictions may apply) " West Muir to Lower Eaton. Long day in the Canyons!" West Muir to Lower Eaton 3/11/17
28 Nov 2015	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	9 hours	8 people Intermediate to Advanced	Freddy (50 reports)
Comment: Replaced the anchor on rap 7 high off a bush LDCR