Conditions:Patterson Creek-20180409191548

Latest:	31 Mar 2018 (7 yrs, 3 mos ago)

Reported by:	Sarafleetwood (8 reports)
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	High
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Advanced
Time:	11 hours

Team: 4 people with experience level Brand new to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Very high flow, leading to us searching for other rig points outside of some of the waterfalls.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Jul 2025	Good	Low	None		11 hours		RFontaine (289 reports)
Comment: This is a decent route with nice scenery and lots of rappels. Low trickling flow. 2 very brief swims. Very little water exposure. Many of the large raps are low angle and slippery. We had a huge group of people of varying skill level. It took us a long time to get through especially since the raps are slick and rappelling is slow. A few of the raps were of good quality and more shear near the middle. When we arrived at Lower Jump we hiked up canyon and a few of us ran laps on the “toboggan” while others worked on establishing a new bolted route down the large falls. We spent alot of time hanging out here. There are now anchors in place DCL and the falls can be descended with a 220’ rope. Hike out is long and bouldery but the ripe blackberries in canyon made it all worthwhile! The shuttle route for this is very long. Overall, a decent route but there are far better nearby, a one and done for me.
3 Jul 2025		Low	None		6 days	6 people Intermediate to Expert	TMag (1 reports)
Comment: Canyon conditions and weather were perfect. Enough water to stay cool, and enough sun to stay warm. Finished replacing all webbing and hangers, including last rappel (two new double ringed hangers). Combined rap 7 and 8 from a tree at ledge DCL. Boulder maze is always fun, with 9/10 CFS flow, two or three optional jumps, some very minor and easily avoidable foot entrapment spots, but no notable hydraulics or hazards.
13 Jun 2025	Good	Deep pools	Rain jacket	Special challenges	6 hours	4 people Expert to Advanced	Drjayoxnard (8 reports)
Comment: trimmed the entrance, replaced all the webbing, Big drop was fun with water flowing, last anchor is a single bolt with hanger, there is a 3/8 bolt next to it just needs a hanger and a nut, if you go bring some hardware.
31 May 2020	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	2 people Advanced to Expert	Johnbcaves (163 reports)
Comment: Good flow, but a slow day of mistakes, bad luck, and time taken for videography. Rope retrieval issues on several rappels, worst being a stuck long rope (>300') on "Rap 5": the 250-ft waterfall. Cut and left a healthy length of rope (>>100') wedged in rocks near the bottom. Please recover and return to me! :-) Encountered a rattlesnake at top of canyon. Little wetsuit really needed today except for the long waterfall series and the Boulder Maze.
6 May 2018	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	Johnbcaves (163 reports),JohnMetz (14 reports)
Comment: Flow was pretty much perfect. Lots of water but the big waterfalls were manageable, if chilly. Several bolts took some real damage last winter. I replaced a few bent Mad Rock hangers with new SS Fixe hangers which I hope will take some more punishment. One bolt in the first two-rap series is bent and all the nuts are scratched. I had the wrong size wrench tho, so had to tighten with a rapide. I also recovered the bypass anchors I set during my recent too-high-flow descent. Today was a good trip with exit in daylight.
31 Mar 2018	Good	High	Full wetsuit	Advanced	11 hours	4 people Brand new to Advanced	Johnbcaves (163 reports),Revan7Claw (2 reports)
Comment: Met up and started late, drop in at 2pm. Flow very high on raps 1 and 2- only one member rappelled all the way into the pool. We rigged an alternate anchor for rap 4 to avoid the main flow, and Anthony (experienced canyoneer) descended. Our newest canyoneer (2nd canyon) rapped 2, but upon seeing the ledge and landing above rap 5 completely in the spray, with bolts right above the high-flowing falls, stopped and ascended. John then descended and told Anthony we would not proceed, and gave Anthony ascending gear to ascend while he pulled the rope out of the flow. Team rigged an ascent line further out and lowered John's ascending gear to him to ascend out. We then escaped DCL and rigged further out on the cliff face, then proceeded with the canyon. Ascending and re-rigging/bypassing added considerable time, and sun went down while proceeding below Rap 5. Team continued in dark, with falling temperatures worsened by strong cold downdraft driven by significant flow. Alternate rappels were created to keep the team out of main waterflow, most notably Rap 9- John was mildly hypothermic rigging normal anchor before team sought a new anchor. Full moon had risen when team made it to the Boulder Maze, which made progress much easier, and much warmer out of the wet downdraft. Route finding was slow but waterflow was easy to negotiate in Boulder Maze (middle-Jump gauge at ~15 cfs, excluding significant Patterson Creek flow). Final exit ~1:30 am, making shuttle recovery and long drive home tiring and dangerous.
31 Mar 2018	Great	High	Full wetsuit	Advanced	11 hours	4 people Brand new to Advanced	Sarafleetwood (8 reports)
Comment: Very high flow, leading to us searching for other rig points outside of some of the waterfalls.
2 Sep 2017	Ok	Very Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	4 hours	7 people Intermediate to Expert	Dominik (64 reports)
4 Jun 2016	Amazing	Significant	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	8 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Johnbcaves (163 reports)
Comment: Despite a >100° day, we weren't hot in the canyon. Shorty wetsuits were a big help, especially in the ledge pool and the boulder maze. Significant time was spent pruning the creek entrance and dealing with 3 stuck ropes. This was the first trip here in 3 years. What a beautiful canyon! We'd highly recommend a 300' rope. (Will update beta soon.)