Conditions:Wallace River Canyon-20240920233015

Latest:	20 Sep 2024 (7 mos ago)

Reported by:	Coops (113 reports), Kirbside (87 reports), AdamOtter (49 reports)
Quality:	Amazing
Waterflow:	Moderate
Wetsuit:	Full wetsuit
Water temperature:
Difficulty:	Normal
Time:	6 hours

Team: 6 people with experience level Intermediate to Advanced

Trip report URL:

Comments: (20cfs) Amazing day in Wallace. 6 weeks ago the wet line wasn't an option due to flow. We came back with a slightly different crew to run the wet line on the main falls. It was well worth it!

Time includes the lower section (the last 3 ~60ft drops). Someone should bolt the last drop at some point as the wet line is quite fun but rapping and pulling off the dead tree is not.

Time also includes climbing up R4ish as the person manning the station left his bag at the top (and didn't realize until after the pull).

Overall an awesome day in a fantastic canyon.

All condition reports

Date	Quality	Waterflow	Wetsuit	Difficulty	Time	Team	Reported by
20 Sep 2024	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	6 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coops (113 reports),Kirbside (87 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: (20cfs) Amazing day in Wallace. 6 weeks ago the wet line wasn't an option due to flow. We came back with a slightly different crew to run the wet line on the main falls. It was well worth it! Time includes the lower section (the last 3 ~60ft drops). Someone should bolt the last drop at some point as the wet line is quite fun but rapping and pulling off the dead tree is not. Time also includes climbing up R4ish as the person manning the station left his bag at the top (and didn't realize until after the pull). Overall an awesome day in a fantastic canyon.
16 Aug 2024	Amazing	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Coops (113 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: (17cfs) Wet line in great condition. R14 has been dismantled, and will be bolted in the future. Bottom section is definitely worth doing. R13 is sadly not a jump.
1 Aug 2024	Great	High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	6 hours	3 people Advanced	Kirbside (87 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: (37cfs) didn't expect the high flow but was still pleasant. Took the dry raps down the main falls as wet was too pushy.
19 Jul 2024	Great	Moderate	Full wetsuit	Special challenges		4 people Brand new to Advanced	Reiternick (32 reports)
Comment: (24cfs) Had a great day, we did the wet rap lines, and it was fantastic. All anchors are good. When you’re looking for wet rap seven anchor, it’s maybe 40 to 50 feet from rap six station, so just keep an eye out a little earlier than 70 feet in my opinion. When looking for rap 8 anchor station: Stay on rappel until you have a small free hanging portion starting At ~150feet of your rappel, touching down at around 170 feet, then continue down a slippy low angle slope rappelers left another 15 feet in order to see the single bolt that’s somewhat hidden under the undercut boulder.
19 Jul 2024	Great	Moderate	Thin wetsuit	Special challenges	10 hours	4 people Brand new to Advanced	Katiepearl20 (3 reports)
Comment: This is the same trip as Reiternick's on July 19. I wanted to also mention that we coreshot 2 canyon prime ropes (one on a sharp lip about 60 ft down from the anchor on R7 (DCR in the flow option) during the last rappeller, and one on R9). We were not creeping the rope or using other rope abrasion management techniques, so highly recommended to do so. Amazing canyon - I've never seen so many rainbows!
12 Jul 2024	Amazing	High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	7 hours	3 people Advanced	Coops (113 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: (43cfs) A cleanup trip to improve the state of the anchors. Flow was higher than Wallace usually gets run at, but new anchor stations remove the crux at R2. R1 DCR was kicking a fun big rooster tail. The main (middle) falls were too high for the wet-line, so we retreated to the dry-line, which on the third stage of was very not-dry. Great day out overall. Always an incredibly fun canyon. Exited after the 40’ jump, which goes cleanly.
15 Sep 2023	Great	Moderate Low	Full wetsuit	Normal	7 hours	4 people Intermediate to Advanced	Korey (62 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: Flow was perfect for all the wet lines, and the jumps went!
19 Aug 2023	Amazing	Moderate Low	Thick wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	6 people Beginner to Advanced	Canderson (15 reports),AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: Today's flow levels were perfect for using the low-flow anchors RDC. They're mostly out of sight from spectators and allowed us to rappel the beautiful 170 ft'er. Make sure you take time on your rappel to enjoy that one. It's one of the best raps I can remember. The rest of the day was fun with lots of jumps and repeat jumps - pools were very deep in most places. I wore 8mm of wetsuit in the core areas and was comfortable all day.
28 Sep 2022	Great	Deep pools	Full wetsuit	Normal	6 hours	2 people Intermediate to Advanced	AdamOtter (49 reports)
Comment: The new wet raps on R1, upper, and middle falls are all amazing in the low flow.
24 Sep 2021	Amazing	Moderate High	Full wetsuit	Special challenges	12 hours	2 people Intermediate	Frankmayfield (2 reports)
Comment: Ryan Lepine and I had a blast in this spectacular canyon. Flow was moderate high (1000CFS on skykomish river gauge and south fork sultan @ 22CFS. We decided against rapping from the R1 bolts as the line took us straight into a rooster tail with some power which neither of us fancied given it was the first rap of the day. We found a chockstone DCL (about 20 feet back from the lip and rapped off of webbing and a rap ring. All bolts were in good condition, however we opted for several natural anchors in order to avoid a wet disconnect in the rowdy flow. We opted to rap the entire middle falls on a 300' rope which avoided the rope cutter halfway down. The pull was tough but we got there in the end. Definitely agree that new bolt stations DCR would make for an even more memorable rappel. We bailed at the picnic shelter due to waning daylight. Will definitely be back next year!
16 Aug 2021	Great	Moderate Low		Normal	8 hours	2 people Advanced	Coops (113 reports)
Comment: Great day out, will be back in future. Ran the whole length in ~8hrs. Departed a quiet parking lot a little before 10am, back at 6pm. The rope cut issue on R7 can't be understated. We avoided rope damage but it still wore a hole through the home made protector we brought. Pretty tricky to get a smooth rap when free-hanging on stretchy rope. I echo the host of other comments about desiring more wet-lines, but still ended up getting plenty wet regardless. Will update the vaguer points in the route description especially for the final exit.
31 Jul 2021	Great	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	4 people Intermediate to Expert	Ecakiryan (12 reports)
Comment: Great conditions. We left parking lot at 8.30 and there were still quiet a bit of parking spots available. It took us 1.5 hours to get to the top. Water felt warm. We exited after R9 by taking a steep path up to the falls viewpoint and walking back on the trail for about 1.5 miles. Therefor time of 8h is not indicative of doing the whole canyon. All bolts and anchors were good. Heavy duty rope protection is required for R7 as the ledge is very sharp.
11 Sep 2020	Great	Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	9 hours	8 people Intermediate to Advanced	Mads (61 reports)
Comment: Wallace is at low flow. As noted in a previous report, at this level, canyoneers should still be comfortable navigating shorter rappels with a decent amount of flowing water. There are two wet rappels as the canyon is set up currently, each 40' tall. Anchors are all in good condition. The R7 anchor is DCL of the R6 fall line on a ledge that comfortably fits 2 people. Bring rope protection for R7 as there is a 90° edge on very sharp rock that core shot our rope even though it was being creeped. Better placement for the R7 anchor would be directly in the fall line of R6. This placement would be a straight shot from R6 and has a smoother lip that would minimize rope damage. 40' jump DCL of R11 is very fun and into a very deep pool. 200lb+ canyoneer without a pack did not touch bottom. You have to jump out a bit to clear some brush and a small ledge. Previously sketchy drops in Lower Wallace have now been bolted with webbingless anchors (thank you!)
12 Aug 2020	Good	Moderate Low	Thin wetsuit	Normal	8 hours	4 people Advanced	Blueshade (55 reports)
Comment: Replaced webbing on several of the anchors, but others should still be done. Ghosted or jumped several of the others, especially in the lower section. STILL BADLY needs to be bolted for low to moderate flow levels- as well as some drops lacking bolts or good anchors period (at least without being far back or completely out of the flow).
12 Aug 2020					8 hours	4 people
Comment: The approach and gearing up took 2 hours, the descent 5 hours, and 1 hour for changing and hiking back. Most of the anchors were set to rappel dry especially the big drop which is Middle Wallace Falls. In that sense it feels more like a Class B canyon route - you’re close to the falls but not in them. We made some efforts to get in the flow successfully. If this route is bolted to be in the flow it could be a world-class canyon route. Middle Wallace Falls potentially could be done on DCR with a 60 foot rappel to the edge of the falls, then a standing rebelay to a 200 foot freehang rappel on the edge of the shower to a standing disconnect, and a bottom rappel about 70 feet down the cascade at the bottom. Lower Wallace we did all retrievable anchors. A truly scenic route if you like hiking and getting near, but not in, lots of impressive waterfalls. There is a lot of potential here.

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