Conditions:South Branch Feather River (Log Ride)-20170823064531

Latest:	20 Aug 2017 (7 yrs, 11 mos ago)

Reported by:	Mayalk (12 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Moderate High
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	4 hours

Team: 2 people with experience level Brand new to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: (upper)

Log Ride is NOT currently a shuttle: there’s a landslide blocking the road to the campground, and the rest of the road has fallen trees, boulders, and washed out sections. It’s an easy, low-grade 7mi hike, though.

The canyon is gorgeous; lots of whitewater in places especially where you first drop in, but there’s always a side safe to descend, often with a great slide or stem. Deep blue-green water with a clear view all the way to the bottom. Pay attention on rappel: there are some places where you can let go early and drop into a deep section after clearing a bump or two.

3-4 wetsuit was perfect.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
25 Jul 2020	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	5 people	Deesaki (1 reports)
Comment: Beautiful sunny day. Replaced webbing on 3 anchors and moved anchor from dead bush/tree to a pinch point in a rock above the dead bush. Lower half of canyon is amazing. Upper half is okay. Water was clear. Did not do all jumps. Check before you jump.
25 Jul 2020	Amazing	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	2 people Intermediate	Kylenedd (3 reports)
Comment: My partner and I did upper Log Ride on 7/25. Not sure if we were before or after the trip report below. We arrived somewhat late in the day, and there were no other cars parked at the start of the upper start. We lingered at the bottom pool until 6:00 and did not see anyone else come down. Don't underestimate the drive. After leaving the pavement it takes well over an hour to get to the upper start. Probably closer to 1.5 hours. We drove a stock Tacoma and did not need the 4x4, but higher ground clearance toward the end was essential. The approach from the road is a bit of a bushwhack and unquestionably the least enjoyable part of the trip. We could see evidence of previous hikers, but footprints were faint, and it's quite steep and overgrown. We wore 4/3mm surfing wetsuits which felt adequate. It was in the upper 70s at the upper parking area. We decided to only descend the first half--as described on the .pdf topos listed on the page description. With only two of us moving without any hurry it took 6.5 hours from the upper parking to the pool before the mid-way exit. The trial back up to the road is very well defied. Non-technical hikes use it to access the swimming pools and waterfalls below. From the last large pool walk downstream along the river for a hundred yards or so until you see signs of a use trail up a steep sandy slab. We rap'd some of the jumps--leaving new webbing/cord and replaced some other webbing. No bolts--all natural pro. Water was clear and cool. This is a good one--highly recommended.
14 Sep 2019	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	6 people Intermediate to Expert	Dominik (64 reports),Natasha (14 reports),Morgan (103 reports)
Comment: Morgan: Combined Upper and Lower into one moderately long day. Water was quite cold till around noon. Alas, the namesake log pool was devoid of worthy logs :( The R2 anchor in Lower relies on a small scrub oak that's either dead or about to be, looks and feels marginal, and probably shouldn't be counted on to exist in a usable state next season. Natural options to replace it are similarly marginal, and this station would benefit greatly from a bolt anchor similar to the one found at R4. Lower R3 is currently a webbing sling around a large block (beta says tree, but no tree observed). Mosquitoes were out in force.
2 Sep 2019	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Xenonrocket (103 reports),Sqshemet (78 reports)
Comment: Upper section only. Disappointing lack of ridable logs in bottom pool. Car shuttle is fully accessible with moderate high clearance (Rav4). The approach trail is relatively non-existent and overgrown though. Webbing generally still usable-final rap was the only one replaced.
1 Sep 2019	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit		5 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Xenonrocket (103 reports),Sqshemet (78 reports)
Comment: Lower section only. Replaced webbing on first 4 rappels-seems like the lower section hasn't seen traffic in quite a while. Car shuttle is fully functional
10 Sep 2017	Amazing	Moderate High	Thin wetsuit	Normal	12 hours	3 people Advanced to Expert	Michelle (60 reports)
Comment: It took us 3 hours to walk the 8 miles from the landslide on the approach road to the drop in, then 8 hours to descend the canyon (lower section needed all webbing replaced), and finally 30 mins back to landslide. There was a nice level camping spot on the approach road about a half mile before the landslide; otherwise at the landslide itself the road is steep and not level, not good for camping. The waterflow was slightly higher than normal and gorgeous. We found webbing for a couple new short rappels before the first listed rappel, which avoid a bit of downclimbing. The webbing on the lower section needed to all be replaced.
20 Aug 2017	Amazing	Moderate High	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	4 hours	2 people Brand new to Advanced	Mayalk (12 reports)
Comment: (upper) Log Ride is NOT currently a shuttle: there’s a landslide blocking the road to the campground, and the rest of the road has fallen trees, boulders, and washed out sections. It’s an easy, low-grade 7mi hike, though. The canyon is gorgeous; lots of whitewater in places especially where you first drop in, but there’s always a side safe to descend, often with a great slide or stem. Deep blue-green water with a clear view all the way to the bottom. Pay attention on rappel: there are some places where you can let go early and drop into a deep section after clearing a bump or two. 3-4 wetsuit was perfect.
7 Aug 2016	Amazing	Significant	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	11 hours	6 people Intermediate to Advanced	DMonroy (188 reports)
Comment: Glad to return to this special place. Log Ride is a LONG day - do NOT underestimate it. There's really little way to speed up the boulder slog sections. That said, conditions were perfect. Full of water, baby hydraulics, plenty of little slides and jumps - more than what the beta says if you look. Check for boulders before jumping - there are plenty, but the water is crystal clear so you can see what is there from above. We rebuilt more than half of the anchors. Someone had been through very recently, with obvious footprints, and they had replaced two or three anchors as well. The canyon is currently in perfect shape! After the last rappel in the lower section there is a spot that looks like it could be a jump, or a rappel off a boulder (the boulder is HUGE and wobbles). It is a JUMP! Very deep water there! The campground at Mislap Bar was completely full - we had the last spot. There were no bugs at all. Very pleasant trip in California's arguably most beautiful canyon!
13 Jun 2015	Amazing	Significant	Full wetsuit	Normal	10 hours	7 people Beginner to Advanced	Vxgokulvx (5 reports)
Comment: There was moderate flow. We left the start car at around 9:30 AM. Reached the mid exit at 12:30 PM. and reached the campground at 7 PM. And then another 1 hour to retrieve the car from trail head.
5 Jul 2014	Amazing	Significant	Full wetsuit	Normal	10 hours	9 people Beginner to Expert	Lucach (75 reports)
Comment: We did Upper + Lower with a BIG group. Coming from Opho that morning, we started the canyon late, around 1pm, and reached the middle exit around 5pm. During the descent found all pre-built anchors away from the water, rebuilt several to be right in the water flow for added fun. Put on headlamps after last rappel and did final river scramble in the dark. Camped for the night at the Milsap Bar Campground (right at the exit).