Conditions:Suicide Canyon-20230413014202

Latest:	8 Apr 2023 (2 yrs, 6 mos ago)

Reported by:	Austin3623 (16 reports)
Quality:	Good
Waterflow:	Low
Wetsuit:	Thin wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Special challenges
Time:	8 hours

Team: 5 people with experience level Brand new to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: Definitely had a fun, but interesting day out in Suicide. We knew ahead of time there would be some extra challenges, and agreed as a group to take it on anyway. Lots of type 2 fun today, but screw it. Said challenges outlined below:

River crossings - Be prepared to cross a very full Big Tujunga Creek minimum three times EACH WAY. The first two crossings are waist high and flowing swiftly but straight forward nonetheless. The third crossing closest to the route is the deepest/heaviest and gets up to chest high in some spots (and impassible whitewater in others). We protected the first and third crossings with a tensioned line and crossed easily without any scares.

Finding the ridge - This was our first time doing the route. The RopeWiki GPS file is clearly wrong at the base of the approach, as Willie indicates in the beta. With the creek being safe to cross in very few areas and completely overgrown on the canyon side of the river, we gave it our best shot and found a gully slightly climbers right of the green route. Found ourselves bushwhacking and squeezing between poison oak plants until we climbed high enough to cut left over to the ridge. It was doable, but would not recommend this route for future groups.

Heavily overgrown - Dense, leafy vegetation throughout the entire approach and the canyon itself. POISON OAK LITERALLY EVERYWHERE—one of our group members fell victim. Forget the garden shears, bring a machete or power tools.

Finding the trimmed tunnel to R1 - Again, our first time on the route, and heavily overgrown. After the power lines, we followed the intuitive trail we were on, which took us to the sign and down to R1. Willie Hunt generously carved out a clean path through that dense area with power tools in the recent past. At the time, we thought we were on that trail, but it had simply grown back since he cut it (there was a clear trail, but everything above the waist was pretty leafy). After talking with Willie, sounds like there’s very likely a cleaner version of the route. If the trail looks dense on the upper section of the approach, take a minute to search for other options.

Final note - if you’re familiar with the nuances of the route (specifically the approach), it may be a breeze. Even for us, the extra challenge was fun without being overwhelming for anyone. The rappels are great in flow. Water levels are a Class B shower, similar to San Antonio Falls in September. We were hoping for a little more water on the route but still had fun. Would recommend budgeting extra time for the river crossings, and even more time if it’s your first time doing it. Bring some chopping tools and do anything you can to protect yourself from the poison oak. It’s fucking everywhere.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
13 Oct 2025	Great				8 hours	4 people	Ames (11 reports)
Comment: A wonderful way to welcome in the fall season. This is a very scenic shoulder season canyon, with stunning views of wintery mountain tops above and vibrant fall foliage below. Three members of the team wore dry suits, one wore a full wetsuit. No regrets with attire choices, although it was a bit toasty at times. The water was cold, but at mod-low conditions you were not generally not subjected to the direct watercourse unless you so chose (I would recommend!). Most anchors seems in good condition - we did have to clean debris/tighten a hanger on R3. We placed a single bolt DCL where normally a cairn anchor is required (R6). The rock in this section was of horrible quality (you could hear the hollowness from a distance!) which is why we were unable to place a bolt before stage 2 of R5 as originally intended. While the rappels/water features themselves are trivial beyond longer rappels, the team discussed overall ability level required for this canyon and agreed it was intermediate. To descend this canyon, the ability to identify and mitigate rope abrasion is required, and the rock quality is poor so one must be able to 1) inspect anchors and 2) find a suitable place to replace a bolt (good luck!) or be able to build cairns. We followed Weeden creek out until we eventually crossed the Sauk river and rejoined the Monte Cristo trail - would recommend this route as opposed to the overland approach, although there was significant water in the creek which slowed the team’s pace. Be warned that there are a fair amount of log crossings on this route, but one teammate who has now done both exit routes says he preferred this one.
12 Oct 2025	Great	Very Low	None	Normal	3 hours	2 people	Nclegg (446 reports)
Comment: Pools of fresh rainwater throughout the canyon and a light trickle at the final rap. Time reflects use of the 4th class approach.
12 Oct 2025	Good	Dry	None	Special challenges	4 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Nathandonny (10 reports)
Comment: The two rappels were great. Webbing is starting to get sun bleached so bring extra webbing. Use courtesy rigging for all but the last person for the last rappel. This made the pull easy as the webbing extended over the lip.
12 Oct 2025	Great	Dry		Normal	6 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Alex Columbus (6 reports)
Comment: For R1 throw rope far out RDC to avoid cactus. R2 had exposure so we opted for a handline using webbing found LDC just before the bend. Rest of my group went over the spyhole while I opted to go in. 65 meter rope is enough for the spyhole if you can get it perfectly. No handline was seen above the spyhole.
12 Oct 2025	Great	Dry	None	Normal	6 hours	8 people	Anonrope and community Canyon Day (1 reports)
Comment: All the anchors from the bridge down were replaced with redundant webbing and rap rings
12 Oct 2025	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	5 hours	3 people Brand new to Intermediate	Celes (32 reports)
Comment: We went day after a couple of consecutive days rain. This class A canyon turned into a class B with unavoidable thigh deep to chest deep pools with a couple of tricky-to-avoid swimmers. Of course there were muddy sections too. This is our first time in a canyon and brought a beginner-- not recommended as the rappels had tricky start for most beginners and may take a bit (but fun challenge for intermediate canyoneers). For the first rap we saw a webbing on a tree directly facing the canyon and used it. Retrospectively, would recommend using the big tree LDC for toggle/CEM as it would offer a much milder start.
12 Oct 2025	Good	Very Low	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	4 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	669AllWhales (3 reports)
Comment: Trick or Treat run of Vivian in the afternoon after running Monkeyface earlier in the day. The "treat" was the stunning fall colors that could be seen in a gully across the valley and some parts of the descent. The "tricks", however, were numerous on this day. On R1, I couldn't get a clean throw of my rappel side rope bag and somehow on the 2nd throw it landed on a bench and busted the drawstring of my double ended bag releasing rope out both sides and creating a mess. On R2, our other rope managed to tie itself in a knot at the end and we didn't notice during the pull until it was already out of reach. Luckily, it was possible to walk back up to the top or R2 on the DCL side and we got the whole rope back. On R3, the tail of the rope knotted itself again although we caught it before pulling. On R4 the closure drawstring of the 2nd rope bag also broke somehow even tho we took it down attached to our harness? All in all still a fun endeavor, but these "special challenges" resulted in this taking a lot longer than anticipated. Right now all of the tree rappels have solid webbing and also appear to be backed up with cordalette. The webbing on the R4 bolts is tied somewhat strangely and should probably be replaced with a standard looped/redundant configuration; but, we left as is since we were racing sunset. There was definitely some evidence of flashing left from the tropical storm rains in Sept, but nothing that significantly changed the canyon/rappels. If you want to run Vivian and Monkeyface on the same day, we liked running Vivian 2nd since the approach is on a trail which makes it easier to climb when tired. We were able to keep our wetsuits half on for the approach without feeling too hot.
12 Oct 2025	Great	Deep pools	None	Normal	3 hours	3 people Intermediate to Advanced	TMag (3 reports)
Comment: There’s no shade on the 1 hour approach so bring a hat or sunblock. The canyon is normally dry with a slight spring trickle in some areas, creating pools that will get your feet wet. However, it rained heavily earlier in the week so there was some debris build up in some spots, and also a number of pools (sandy potholes?) at some rappels. Not bypass-able and deep enough to jump. Most of the dirt road and camp area are in good shape but there is a 1/4 mile of road with very deep sand now. Our 4WD track made it easily, our 2WD van got stuck, easily.
12 Oct 2025	Good	Very Low	None	Normal	3 hours	5 people Beginner to Advanced	Canyoncowboy (28 reports)
Comment: Fun day in Rattlesnake, nice bite-sized desert canyon. Took our time, enjoyed working through the anchor stations and unique technical challenges that LA canyoneers might not be used to seeing. Light rain earlier in the week had freshened the water, but some algae was still present. Hoping to catch this one flowing in the winter! Most of the team chose not to wear wetsuits, and enjoyed trying to move through the canyon without getting wet. The cold averse teammate in a wetsuit provided optimal backup from within the soup
12 Oct 2025	Great	Very Low	None	Special challenges	5 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	Lwd05 (5 reports)
Comment: Ran Cassidy Arch yesterday with my buddy. A storm had rolled through the day before and early morning of. The storm led to the scenic drive leading to Grand Wash to be closed. We parked near the Cohab canyon trailhead and hiked the frying pan trail. Canyon was amazing with only a few small puddles that were all easily avoidable. We hiked the scenic drive road back towards Cohab.
12 Oct 2025	Good	Very Low	None	Normal	10 hours	2 people Beginner to Intermediate	Bearett (9 reports)
Comment: A lot of walking for what is it, but the good stuff is very good! The slot is tight and the alcove area is very unique and presents an amazing technical spin to a Mee canyon alcove-esc watercourse.
12 Oct 2025	Good	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	4 people Beginner to Expert	Alexmotyka (30 reports)
Comment: Great day out
12 Oct 2025	Good	Moderate Low	Thick wetsuit	Normal	3 hours	3 people Advanced	Korey (83 reports),AdamOtter (75 reports)
Comment: Started while it was snowing!! A new drop in should be found, the early drop in point on the map was used but the main canyon section didn't start until 47.366, -121.121. 3 good rappels and a handful of fun slides. Would probably be worth linking up with a nearby canyon. The technical section would take most groups an hour.
11 Oct 2025	Amazing		Thin wetsuit		6 hours	2 people Advanced	RFontaine (315 reports)
Comment: Beautiful but short slot up top and a top notch rap make this a must do. We took the super sneak route. First two raps in approach drainage are easily ghosted. Super sneak approach drainage bush isnt that bad, mostly friendly by AZ standards. Beautiful fall colors! 1hr to get to main canyon R1 where wetsuits are donned. Beautiful slot that is over quick, savor it! 4/3 wetsuits were perfect, a few swims, water not as cold as nearby Illusions. Able to create some fun flow by clearing debris at pothole edges, big rap had a nice waterfall by the time we got to it! Rope pro carpet still in place and in good shape. This big drop is always top notch! Super sneak exit drainage is definitely a bit tougher and longer than Illusions sneak exit drainage but well worth cutting down the time it takes to hike over to Illusions exit and do the car shuttle, making for a much quicker day.exit from last rap took us 1.5hr. Not too bryshy if the right lines are taken. Very fun day!
11 Oct 2025	Amazing	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Mason746 (13 reports)
Comment: All anchors in The Slot and on The Wall are good. Gauge at 250, and The Slot was straightforward.

...additional reports

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