Conditions:Salmon Creek (Lower)-20230905193208
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...additional reports
Latest: |
4 Sep 2023 (1 yr, 9 mos ago) |
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| Reported by: | Desertnights (37 reports) | |
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| Quality: | Good |
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| Waterflow: | Moderate Low |
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| Wetsuit: | Thin wetsuit |
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| Water temperature: | ||
| Difficulty: | Special challenges |
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| Time: |  3 hours
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Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced
Trip report URL:
Comments: The amount of poison oak in this canyon was the most I've ever seen. Maybe the water at the end washed some of it off, but do this canyon with a decontamination plan in mind for afterward. We did more route-finding around the poison oak than anything else in this canyon. By the pictures shown on this page, the water is high, but I would call this moderate/low overall (the only exception is the rabbit hole where the flow is concentrated). The final rappel is a stunner and the flow at the end was fun & pleasant. The webbing on the final anchor was changed and repaired; the group rappeled 2, 4 & 5 and down-climbed the other raps in this beta.
All condition reports
| Date | Quality | Waterflow | Wetsuit | Difficulty | Time | Team | Reported by |
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| Good | Low 
| Rain jacket
| Normal |  5 hours
| 5 people Beginner to Advanced | Ryan.k (7 reports) | |
Comment: Not a very hot day high of 78 and we started around 10am because we had to pivot due to the incident at teacups. Very fun canyon a couple mini swims and the rock is quite slippery.
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| Good | Low
| None 
| Normal | 3 hours
| 2 people Advanced | David (16 reports) | |
Comment: We got off to a pretty late start, so the approach hike was very hot! While the water flow was on the low side, the temperature was perfect! While there is some poison oak, it is avoidable by staying in the water course.
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| Good | Moderate Low
| Rain jacket
| Normal | 4 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Advanced | Desertnights (37 reports) | |
Comment: There are 4 established anchors in the canyon that were newly changed and smartly set with black webbing. If you stay in the main creek, you will have to do less bush whacking through poison oak. Most of the creek is down climbable, and a tree can be slung or a meat belay offered to protect those areas (slick) as needed. The rabbit hole is in great condition, but it's recommended to drop the pack down first just in case. Final rappel is great as always. The men went without wetsuits and wore jackets and the women wore wetsuits. It's very warm right now and the water is moderate but fun.
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| Great | Moderate
| None
| Normal | 6 hours
| 3 people Beginner to Advanced | Toddk (16 reports) | |
Comment: We took our time the entire day as air temp was around 105. Lots of murky water and slippery rock as well as downed trees and debris also slowed us down a bit. Replaced webbing at all the anchors. Webbing might be a bit short at the last anchor, creating a possible rope pull issue. Either extend webbing a bit more or just get back further for the pull and it should come down. Rabbit hole was moderate and fun. A very enjoyable day!
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| Good | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 3 hours
| 4 people Intermediate to Advanced | Desertnights (37 reports) | |
Comment: The amount of poison oak in this canyon was the most I've ever seen. Maybe the water at the end washed some of it off, but do this canyon with a decontamination plan in mind for afterward. We did more route-finding around the poison oak than anything else in this canyon. By the pictures shown on this page, the water is high, but I would call this moderate/low overall (the only exception is the rabbit hole where the flow is concentrated). The final rappel is a stunner and the flow at the end was fun & pleasant. The webbing on the final anchor was changed and repaired; the group rappeled 2, 4 & 5 and down-climbed the other raps in this beta.
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| Great | Moderate High
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 6 hours
| 9 people Brand new to Advanced | Reiternick (36 reports) | |
Comment: Just had to reinforce webbing on rabbit hole rappel. Great canyon. It was 7 people of team’s first time rapelling, they did great.
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| Great | Moderate High
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal |  2 hours
| 3 people Intermediate to Expert | Aquamoo (91 reports) | |
Comment: Quick run before the drive home. We took the express approach and were car to car in less than 3 hours at a leisurely pace. Did a little bit of trail work on the approach (watch out for poison oak). We did not go in the rabbit hole, the flow was a little spicy but it was probably doable. The last rap was beautiful as always, there was a couple fishing in the last pool.
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| Great | Moderate High
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 2 hours
| 1 people | Jcsjcs (121 reports) | |
Comment: Biked up early in the morning from Kern Valley Airport where I had flown in and camped the previous evening. Locked the bike at the intersection of the exit trail and the dirt road. Approach took 0:50. The canyon was charming with many easy downclimbs and a good bit of boulder hopping. Rappelled R2 and must have skipped R1 and R3. The rabbit hole had too high flow for comfort so I went over the top. R5 was the highlight of the day with an incredible view under the chockstone from the free hang (picture attached). There were no water challenges in the pool. 1:30 descent time.
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| Great | Low
| Full wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 9 people Beginner to Advanced | Speeddreamz (7 reports) | |
| Good | Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Special challenges | 6 hours
| 8 people Beginner to Intermediate | Hillbelfi (31 reports) | |
Comment: Georgia Tech canyoneers on our SoCal adventure!
Lower Salmon was a bit bushwhacky at first, but the early rappels were pretty and we loved how much water there was! We were able to bypass a couple of the rappels with careful downclimbing. Special challenges at the rabbit hole where the last rappeler forgot to unclip their safety and got stuck weighted on the safety, under the chockstone and unable to climb back up to unclip it. Water was low enough that they could maneuver themselves out of the flow and get a knife sent up to cut the safety and descend. 1 carabiner as canyon booty at that anchor for whichever group comes next. Last rappel was just spectacular and a great day overall.
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Full wetsuit
| Special challenges | 5 hours
| 5 people Intermediate to Expert | Willie92708 (997 reports),Aquamoo (91 reports) | |
Comment: We tried out a (maybe new?) sneak approach which drops you in at the big slabby area immediately above the rabbit hole rappel. We experienced some issues at the rabbit hole rappel and chewed up a lot of time. The final rappel (the second one we did) was awesome, it reminds me of Monkeyface in SoCal. Willie: water temp was 41F at the rabbit hole. Anchors are OK.
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| Great | Moderate
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 3 hours
| 8 people Brand new to Advanced | Greatshaitan (45 reports) | |
Comment: Great run in Salmon Creek. Ran into a few snakes. Water levels are flowing but pose no issues. Rabbit hole was nice. 100 degrees out made for a 3/2 suit a perfect option.
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| Great | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 5 hours
| 3 people Beginner to Advanced | KelMo (12 reports) | |
Comment: Water was moderate-low, making the rabbit hole fun but not particularly challenging (minus the annoying "got-water-in-my-ear" factor). We did rig another rappel (3.5) off of a tree that hangs over the stream. I'm going to guess the crazies that came before us downclimbed through the stream, but it seemed awfully slippery to do that when we couldn't tell what was at the bottom of the drop (the stream curved out of view and none of us had done the canyon before so didn't know what was beyond. Spoiler: it was a small drop that was easily down-climbed!). This rappel might have been unnecessary, but now it's there, so you're welcome.
It should be noted that there is an exit path almost immediately DCL after the last rap (much before the indicated GPS point in the beta), so almost no creek-walking required (unless you're into that kind of thing).
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| Amazing | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 4 people | Willie92708 (997 reports) | |
| Great | Moderate Low
| Thin wetsuit
| Normal | 4 hours
| 4 people | Willie92708 (997 reports) | |
Comment: Great fun and not scary at all! The flow in the rabbit hole was easy to descend through without packs. The pool at the last rappel is standing getting off rope an just a touch of swimming to exit with no hydraulics to worry about. We played around with a number of small jumps between R1 and the rabbit hole. Anchors are all good. Poison oak is out in force; be careful at the drop-in point.
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