Peavine Canyon
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| | Raps:5-10, max ↨130ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 4.7km Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Argillite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | May-Sep
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39.0672, -120.6557
39.0513, -120.6669
39.0566, -120.6469
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Introduction
Pretty canyon with some nice rappels, jumps, and beautiful clear water. Exit hike is steep, strenuous, and a bit bushwhacky, but sort of more pleasant than you might expect climbing out of the canyon would be.
Culminates in a cascading 200-225ft waterfall with a nice ledge to build a new anchor on. Natural anchors were pretty easy. Had to cross the flow, so it would be difficult there at >10-15cfs or so, but you could find other routes.
This canyon contains either the best slide I have seen in the Sierra, or a very dumb way to hurt yourself. Steep slide that scoops horizontally and launches into a pool. At ~6-7cfs, it was unclear if the scoop part was clean or contained an angle. Please update if you go in here and find out!
Approach
Hike north through the forest, descend steep hill into the canyon.
Descent
A little downstream is a nice waterfall with plentiful anchor options. Nice rock hopping from there down, with a short drop that's probably best rappelled but can be jumped if you find someone to go first and scout the extremely narrow landing between boulders.
As the canyon steepens, more jumps and rappels follow.
Eventually you'll reach the big drop. 125ft from a big rock on the left will get you down to the halfway ledge, across the current, and to a big rock anchor on the right. Another 100ft (appx) will get you to the bottom.
Exit
Before Peavine Creek opens into the North Fork of the Middle American, the vegetation opens to the left allowing you to scramble out. This works fine, but if you think it's too steep, continuing to the confluence and heading up the main ridge from there seems reasonable. There's a faint game trail that follows it. It's steep, brushy at times, and has occasional poison oak to watch out for.