Conditions:Ross Creek-20240514015501

Latest:	18 Jun 2023 (2 yrs, 9 mos ago)

Reported by:	Sqshemet (85 reports), Epeairs (74 reports)
Location:	Ross Creek
Quality:	Great
Waterflow:	Moderate High
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	6 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Advanced to Expert

Trip report URL:

Comments: We spent a lot of time problem solving and ended up running out of time halfway through. Flows were too high to make first descents productive since we had to bypass some features which could be tested in lower flows. The big rappel was great though. Water temp was pleasant.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
28 Jun 2025	Good	Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	12 hours	3 people Beginner to Intermediate	Hillbelfi (33 reports),Avk (6 reports),Gary (2 reports)
Comment: Full Disclosure: I don't expect this canyon to take anyone 12 hours in the future. It's a beautiful canyon with a great shuttle and fun, classic Sierra features. We had a couple delays due to experience and new-ness of the canyon that turned this into a full day (and night) experience! Your team's downclimbing ability, especially the classic granite slide-and-scoot, will have a big impact on your time! Approach was straightforward in low flow and we skipped R0, though 2 of our original 5 team members had to bail at this point due to a migraine. The remaining 3 of us decided to blaze onwards! We were unable to find the bolts at R4 and R5 (if you find these, please update the descriptions!) so we rigged R3 as one long, ~200' rappel. This made it a tough pull and the rope got stuck in a crack after passing through the anchor. We had to cut our 300' rope, leaving approximately 75' of rope left in the watercourse. The creekwalking section after R7 is pretty and straightforward, but can take some time if you have newer canyoneers. Budget accordingly! The R8 anchor was much lower down the DCL face of the waterfall than we expected, with an exposed downclimb to reach it, so we didn't find it from the top. We didn't have the rope length to rig a longer rappel (though there are good natural anchors at the top of the falls), so we opted for a hot-and-dry scramble high DCL under the ridgeline, and a meat anchor/downclimb on the granite face to the base of the falls. I would recommend adding webbing at the top of the falls or meat anchoring for a ~20 ft. rappel/traverse line down to the main anchor for beginner-intermediate teams. The rest of the raps were straightforward and enjoyable to the river! Added some rain jackets for the pools at the last couple rappels, but otherwise it was a no-wetsuit day. The San Joquain was at 36.5 cfs and the river was very inviting and easy to float out on. I would estimate at least 1-2 cfs higher would also be fine. At this water level, there were long stretches of exposed banks that sped up our exit, but it still took us over and hour to reach the powerhouse. Our last test was finding the exit in the dark (the powerhouse rear wall is ~25 ft high and the hydraulics under the powerhouse outflow are not inviting except for very strong swimmers), but we found the exit beach DCL after some trial and error. This is a great exit going forward! Overall, a great problem-solving day in the Sierras with a great team. Looking forward to hearing more groups experiences!
7 Jun 2025	Good	Moderate Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	7 hours	4 people Advanced to Expert	Xenonrocket (112 reports),Johnbcaves (166 reports),Sqshemet (85 reports),Epeairs (74 reports)
Comment: First descent trip for the second half, plus we added some new stations in the first half, so time includes a fair bit of bolting. Flows were low enough that climbing in some cracks in the full force of water was feasible though challenging, and the wide open rappels were pretty straightforward. 3mm or less neoprene would have been ideal, 4/3 was overkill. San Joaquin flows were around 300CFS, flatwater sections were swimmable with care but we portaged a few rapids.
18 Jun 2023	Great	Moderate High	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	6 hours	2 people Advanced to Expert	Sqshemet (85 reports),Epeairs (74 reports)
Comment: We spent a lot of time problem solving and ended up running out of time halfway through. Flows were too high to make first descents productive since we had to bypass some features which could be tested in lower flows. The big rappel was great though. Water temp was pleasant.