Conditions:Stafford Creek-20230521013141

Latest:	20 May 2023 (19 days ago)

Reported by:	K arc (271 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Moderate Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:

Team: 4 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Flow has dropped off tremendously -- back to typical levels for this time of year. Investigated possibility of installing a new rebelay station on the big pitch, but rock is largely poor quality. Found & packed out a mostly-full bottle of engine oil that some idiots were using to light a campfire at the bottom of the pitch. Otherwise, a fun day out.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
20 May 2023	Good	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		4 people Intermediate to Advanced	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Flow has dropped off tremendously -- back to typical levels for this time of year. Investigated possibility of installing a new rebelay station on the big pitch, but rock is largely poor quality. Found & packed out a mostly-full bottle of engine oil that some idiots were using to light a campfire at the bottom of the pitch. Otherwise, a fun day out.
29 Apr 2023	Good	High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges		2 people	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Stafford is currently in flood stage; most rappels not suitable for running the flow direct. Probably the highest I've ever seen the creek at. Double falls at the bottom was more of a uni-falls... albeit with light flow in the center. Still lots of snow higher up in the coast range; road was blocked near the bridge. We had to park and hike the last 0.5mi to the usual drop in. Probably would recommend waiting a couple weeks for the snow to melt off and flow to subside to "fun" level. Problematic log in the previous TR has disappeared. Creek still surprisingly clean given the big snow-pocalypse this winter. Found and fixed a few wonky anchors. Need to come back and install a rebelay station for a better way to run the big falls. Looks like a nice rock panel DCL just before the big vertical.
10 Jul 2022	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		2 people	Jrdezso (1 reports)
Comment: Good jaunt through today with a two man team. Not sure if it is rap 3 or 4 but someone had a sling around a log center creek. The log was blocked with a large bolder and propped with another log. A slight tug on the main log had the whole system moving including the large bolder. We removed this so others didn’t get the idea it was safe. We retired webbing around the nearby large root center creek. There was a lot of debris build up there. We removed most. Probably best running your rope under the sketch log, just watch too much upward lift on your rope if you run the rope under the log.
25 Jun 2022	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit			5 people	Fil (10 reports)
25 Jun 2022	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal		5 people	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Terrific training day in Stafford skipping the 90-degree temps in town. Replaced several anchors; all are good to go. Great fun to lounge in the pools and introduce some new folks to canyoning.
25 Jun 2021	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	2 people Advanced to Intermediate	RWBUSA96 (2 reports)
Comment: Very fun run off Stafford which is my home area. The added anchors are all in good shape and allowed the waterflow to be rappelled in these conditions. All anchors ideally set and in good shape. Anchor webbing added to Stafford Falls tree anchor. The existing sling started to show it's age from fading, no mechanical or creature damage. The set anchors are really helping to restore the banks and moss on side of the waterflow.
27 Mar 2021	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Normal		6 people	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Great day on Stafford. Water conditions were on the spicy side, requiring some evaluation of the drops before committing. Found several over-built anchors. Seemed a bit more slippery than I remembered. The big drop should probably be bolted eventually -- put in a bolt station right on the brink would be safer and allow an easier pull. A tree anchor set back from the edge could be the anchor for a retrievable safety line. Kicked back in the sun with a festive beverage back at the lower parking area. Great way to unwind after a great day.
19 May 2019	Good	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal		5 people	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Removed DCL anchor on the final falls. Please rappel DCR only to avoid the Dipper nest.
12 May 2019	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal		3 people	K arc (271 reports)
Comment: Always fun -- flow was great today. Stafford is looking a little beaten up; to keep impact to a minimum please stay in the watercourse as much as possible. It's easy to do. We removed a few dodgy anchors. Please rappel DCR on the final falls as there's a confirmed dipper nest on the DCL side again this year. We probably should have removed the DCL anchor.
10 Jun 2018	Good	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	2 people Brand new to Intermediate	Sbrown (14 reports)
12 May 2018	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	6 people Beginner to Intermediate	Sbrown (14 reports)
Comment: We were able to swim/wade across the Devil's Fork of the Wilson River - no issues.
9 Jun 2017 Trip report	Amazing	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Normal	5 hours	3 people Beginner to Intermediate	Kshell25 (5 reports)
Comment: No shuttle so we dropped in the west drainage. Conditions were great, enough water to be fun but not sketchy.
21 May 2017	Great	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	8 people Beginner to Intermediate	Karl Helser (1 reports)
Comment: Near perfect conditions. The center of most flows was pretty heavy so we stayed to one side or the other while still in the flow. We stayed out of the flow on the main Stafford Falls, but noticed after all were down that we could have dropped in the flow DCR of the heavy flow. Fun shit!!
24 Apr 2017	Great	Very High	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	3 people Intermediate	Willow (15 reports)
Comment: We only had one car so we dropped in on a tributary on the western side of the creek. It was filled with wood but the approach was only ~10 minutes. We stayed out of the flow for most drops because of high water, but a more adventurous group might have ran some of them. Very fun canyon, I'm excited to come back in the summer!
18 Mar 2017	Great	Extreme	Full wetsuit	Normal	4 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Tiffanie (139 reports)
Comment: Flow was way too extreme to rappel directly in the flow. For some drops, we were able to skirt along side the falls; for others we bypassed due to unavoidable hazards. The Wilson river was not crossable so we skirted along the cliffs (easy) back to the bridge. Wore a full wetsuit + windbreaker and managed to stay relatively warm except in a few spots.

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