Conditions:Quicksilver Creek-20220822182156
Latest: |
21 Aug 2022 (3 yrs ago) |
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| Reported by: | Mfeingol (52 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Great |
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| Waterflow: | Moderate Low |
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| Wetsuit: | Full wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Normal |
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| Time: |  6 hours
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Team: 3 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: The approach and exit are a bit of a slog. But the crux of the canyon is fantastic: a sequence of gorgeous chutes, waterfalls, and pools in which the creek plunges down into the valley below. Flow was pleasant without feeling threatening. The water was chilly but not exceptionally cold. Anchors were in good shape and at this flow the traverse lines were largely optional. Only R2 needed some extra protection to rig.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great | Low 
| Full wetsuit
| Special challenges | | 6 people Brand new to Expert | Shyamv (5 reports) | |
Comment: New green slimey-sludge this season compared to last year (or previous years). I suspect it may be invasive to the watershed.
For future trips, Please make sure to thoroughly wash and/or dry gear after quicksilver, and before doing another canyon. Scrub boots/disinfect. This canyon is often strung together with mineral and/or incognito. We want to protect those areas from similar invasive slime.
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| Great | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal |  4 hours
| AdamOtter (72 reports) | ||
Comment: Quicksilver is quicker than I remember. Forgot to bring my wrench so bolts still need tightening in a few places.
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| Amazing | Moderate Low
| Thick wetsuit 
| Normal | 6 hours
| 5 people | Canderson (27 reports) | |
Comment: The high today was mid 60's and overcast. Air temperature at 9am was around 57. All anchors looked good although R4 hangers were loose and needed to be screwed down. We cut out torn webbing from R6; the remaining webbing and redirect are in good shape. One member didn't have a wind breaker for the canyon but still managed to stay warm enough by avoiding extended exposure to the water. The flagging and worn trail on the exit were easy to navigate.
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| Amazing | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 2 people Advanced | Jrisken (7 reports) | |
Comment: A second group descended Quicksilver in the afternoon. Can confirm conditions from the morning group. 5/4 wetsuit and splash top worked well. 4/3 wetsuit and splash top was marginal.
Not trying to over-react but until we know more, we really should de-contaminate our gear after running this canyon. De-contamination procedures involve "Check, Clean, Dry". Check your gear to remove visible algae, Clean your gear by soaking in dish detergent solution (directions here https://www.kiwicanyons.org/didymo/), and ideally Dry your gear (bone dry) for 48 hours. We absolutely do not want to have to de-contaminate after each canyon like New Zealanders do, unless we have to... so early caution helps our community. Thanks! -Jake- | |||||||
| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 2 people Advanced | Ivanbland (6 reports) | |
Comment: Great canyon, the beta is spot on- no surprises. Canyon took us 4 hours, approach/exit was around 2 hours, for a 6 hour car to car. Although the water is cold, this isn't a canyon that forces you to be waiting in the water - you can easily get out of it between rappels/jumps/downclimbs. 5/4mm + outer layer was sufficient. Flow was moderate.
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| Good | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Easy | 4 hours
| 7 people | Amyjaja (1 reports) | |
| Great | Moderate High
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Advanced | Coops (140 reports) | |
| Great | Moderate High
| Drysuit 
| Special challenges | 5 hours
| 3 people Advanced | Jakehuddleston (38 reports) | |
Comment: A great day in Quicksilver with a small team. Water was ice cold and canyon was windy, 2 of us were happy to have drysuits. Moderate high flow. All anchors in good condition, and all jumps and slides in the current beta are clear. Concentrated flow on R1 and R6 were the most pushy, recommend confident rappellers in flow at this level. Climbing out of the pool between R3 and R4 requires a confident swimmer/climber to exit the pool to avoid being swept over the pourover. Overall a great day!
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 2 people Intermediate to Advanced | Andyzellner (2 reports) | |
Comment: Fun canyon, and yes the water seems extra cold. There's only a few swims though. All anchors are in good shape, however the nuts were loose on a few hangers (we finger-tightened them but they could use a wrench which we did not have, sorry). The pink/orange exit flagging was still visible and very helpful. At this flow level, we only needed a traverse line for R2.
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| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | | 4 people | Coops (140 reports) | |
Comment: Cold cold water (like normal), but glorious sunny weather.
All anchors are good, but we had to dig out the R2 traverse line bolts that were entirely buried under rock debris. Flow was solid moderate - plenty of water, but few problems. Entry jump is good, R1 exit slide is good, r5 jump is too dangerous, final jump is good.
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| Good | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 7 hours
| 4 people Intermediate to Advanced | Sbrown (17 reports) | |
Comment: COLD! It was 37F when we arrived at the TH, which made the slog up the mountain nice, but brrrrr when changing into wetsuit and getting into the water. Good canyon to work on traverses and rebelays. We took our time, in no rush.
Is this a 5 star canyon? No. Should you drive a long way JUST to do this canyon? eh? Probably not. But it is still a good canyon. A little more flow would have been nice, but still a decent day. Did I mention it was cold? It was cold... Did not jump @ entrance, because we were cold... but 2 of us jumped below R5 and it was enjoyable and deep enough. Saw a mountain goat way off in the distance... jealous of their ability to climb on rocks...
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Advanced | Mfeingol (52 reports) | |
Comment: The approach and exit are a bit of a slog. But the crux of the canyon is fantastic: a sequence of gorgeous chutes, waterfalls, and pools in which the creek plunges down into the valley below. Flow was pleasant without feeling threatening. The water was chilly but not exceptionally cold. Anchors were in good shape and at this flow the traverse lines were largely optional. Only R2 needed some extra protection to rig.
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| Great | Moderate
| Thick wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 6 people Brand new to Advanced | Beccap (47 reports) | |
Comment: Flow is prime right now! Challenging but not dangerous for beginners with support from experienced leaders. Beautiful sunny day - even the narrows were warm! The water seemed warmer than normal… but that was probably a result of the delightful air temps. All anchors in good condition.
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| Great | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 3 people Advanced | Coops (140 reports) | |
Comment: Great day, and lovely temps in the forest for the hike in & out, and the canyon looked beautiful. Recent rain restored the flows a little. The check-point still looked "moderate" but the group member who'd run it twice before confirmed were was definitely more water than previous "moderate" trips. Still took the wet-line on every rap.
I'm not normally affected by water temperature much - but this was definitely cold! Luckily there's plenty of open sunny spots along the canyon to warm up. J1 & J2 are both nice and deep. R1 slide was great fun. We considered the R3 jump, but it seemed pretty risky to jump far enough out to reach the deep, and the pool was churning enough to complicate things. A redirect anchor on R5 would make a great addition to allow for a line that keeps you in the center of the flow! | |||||||
| Great | Moderate
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 8 people | Jakehuddleston (38 reports) | |
Comment: Great day in the creek. The water was cold as always, but was a surprisingly warm day overall. A bit smoky from the fires burning further out in Eastern WA. Replaced the webbing on the last rappel and tightened up a few bolts. Be careful of crumbly rock/rockfall hazard on R3, this has been a recurring issue each trip through this canyon.
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