Conditions:Santiago Hidden Falls Canyon-20200120011203

Latest:	18 Jan 2020 (5 yrs, 5 mos ago)

Reported by:	Willie92708 (1003 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Very Low
Wetsuit:	Rain jacket
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	7 hours

Team: 1 people

Trip report URL:

Comments: I finally got around to scoping out a sneak route. Previous to this trip I had re-established the connector between the Santiago Truck Trail at the top of the Luge to Santiago Creek. On this trip I finished the sneak approach directly up the ridge on the North side of the creek, just upstream from the Luge connector. The key was finding a spot where there was no poison oak on the North bank, which there is where a sizable tree rotted and fell down. On the ridge there was little brush in the way, except for 3 patches of bushes. High on the ridge I ran into a boundary of thick brush, but traversed around it and reached the a side gully that completed the sneak connection. The side gully has one BIG poison oak bush in it, but it's easy to climb up and around to avoid. Right before connecting to the main canyon drainage, if I'd traversed out of the side Gully, I could have done an extra rappel in the main canyon (see picture, note double rope in gully right side).

Water flow in the main canyon was just enough to give a little shower on the 50 footer, and just streaming down the 100 footer. The canyon debris and fill certainly has changed a bunch in 3 years (as comparing with old pictures). It has quite a few fun and easy down climbs, some we rappelled last time because of the higher water flow.

Using a MTB as and out and back certainly speeds up the trip, and now that I've done the hard work, I can see cutting the time to 5 hours car to car.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
5 Feb 2022	Good			Special challenges	4 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1003 reports)
Comment: I road my MTB from my home in Foothill Ranch there and back. I did not run the canyon, but instead cleaned up the approach drop-in from the Luge MTB trail and fixed up the handline.
27 Nov 2021	Good	Dry			4 hours	1 people	Jcsjcs (121 reports)
Comment: MTB approach took 0:50. After descending to the creek I stayed a bit too far to the right and ended up climbing a steeper slope than I needed to. Remainder of approach was okay brush-wise; took 1:15 to get from the flagpole to the drop-in. Canyon was mostly clear of brush and easy to travel down with good anchors for both rappels. All pools were avoidable. It felt like Eaton other than having less flow. Technical section took 0:40, then another 0:40 back to the bike; I appreciated Willie's handline on the exit. Then 0:35 to blast down the Luge and return to the car.
18 Jan 2020	Good	Very Low	Rain jacket	Special challenges	7 hours	1 people	Willie92708 (1003 reports)
Comment: I finally got around to scoping out a sneak route. Previous to this trip I had re-established the connector between the Santiago Truck Trail at the top of the Luge to Santiago Creek. On this trip I finished the sneak approach directly up the ridge on the North side of the creek, just upstream from the Luge connector. The key was finding a spot where there was no poison oak on the North bank, which there is where a sizable tree rotted and fell down. On the ridge there was little brush in the way, except for 3 patches of bushes. High on the ridge I ran into a boundary of thick brush, but traversed around it and reached the a side gully that completed the sneak connection. The side gully has one BIG poison oak bush in it, but it's easy to climb up and around to avoid. Right before connecting to the main canyon drainage, if I'd traversed out of the side Gully, I could have done an extra rappel in the main canyon (see picture, note double rope in gully right side). Water flow in the main canyon was just enough to give a little shower on the 50 footer, and just streaming down the 100 footer. The canyon debris and fill certainly has changed a bunch in 3 years (as comparing with old pictures). It has quite a few fun and easy down climbs, some we rappelled last time because of the higher water flow. Using a MTB as and out and back certainly speeds up the trip, and now that I've done the hard work, I can see cutting the time to 5 hours car to car.
4 Mar 2017	Good		Rain jacket	Normal	10 hours	2 people Intermediate to Expert	Willie92708 (1003 reports)
Comment: The lower 1/3 is amazing, but the upper 2/3 is mostly breaking through wood in the stream with 2 cascade waterfalls (upper was dry, middle flowing). The bottom third was great with "low" flow. Thus the average "good" over quality.