DESTINATION Generic 134 Photosets
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| Little Woodward Creek (West Fork), WA | | -
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| | Little Woodward Creek (West Fork), WA | | | |
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Little Woodward Creek (West Fork), WA
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| Canyoneering | 5.00 Miles |
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| | Canyoneering | 5.00 Miles | 5 Hrs 54 Mns | | 0.85 mph |
| | 36 LBS Pack | | |
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| | Intermediate Canyoneering - Difficult or dangerous; Tech Climb; rope reqd; descent anchor; exit technical; | | C - Strong current; wading/swimming; waterfalls; possible wet/dry suit | | III - Normally requires most of a day |
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| no partners | | After last weeks amazing trip to Duncan Creek I was dying to get back out and explore another canyon. I ended up choosing Little Woodward Creek which is just up the road from Duncan Creek. However, despite their close proximity- both trips were completely different experiences. Duncan is much wetter canyon and involves a lot of swimming, it has deep pools and much steeper waterfalls. In contrast, West Woodward is much drier. And although West Woodward has its fair share of interesting high angle waterfall rappels, many of the rappels are on low angle cascades that could likely be down climbed without a rope if necessary.
The skies were partly cloudy and the temps were in the upper 60s/low 70s when I left my truck parked in a small dirt pullout adjacent to blackberry bushes along Woodward Creek around 2pm and set out on the long hike up the road to my drop in point. My pack was down to 36lbs this time around, I was able to save a little bit of weight by ditching the wet suit and I left behind some carabiners and assorted hardware I didn't think was necessary. But I was still carrying 2 ropes (120' and 200') along with a 200' pull cord.
An hour and a half later I finally reached the upper fork of the creek where I was set to drop in. After putting on my harness and stowing my valuables in dry bags, I set off through the thick shrubbery that guarded the creek bed. I have done my fair share of bushwhacking and let me tell you- those first couple hundred yards of creek travel were some of the worst I have ever dealt with. I felt like the forest was actively trying to stop me as forced my way through bushes, stumbled over boulders, and crawled over and under downed trees. It was BRUTAL. I think the worst sections of Duncan Creek were still better than the easiest sections of Woodward!
The initial push along the creek to reach the first rappel probably takes a solid 20 to 30 minutes, but after much cursing I finally arrived. A webbing anchor and quick link had already been left behind by a previous visitor, so after a brief inspection to make sure the gear was solid, I set off down the canyon.
Everything went smoothly. All rappels have very solid anchor options, its almost too easy. I think there were a couple of times where I got waist deep in the water, but it was nothing like last weeks adventure I would like to return when this canyon has a better flow, I bet it gets wild! I also should have left a bit earlier- stumbling up to my truck at 2000 was probably as late as I would like to push it for canyoneering trips. I still had a solid hour of daylight left, but that's cutting it a bit too close for adventures like this. I picked blackberries in the turnaround and changed clothes before making the drive back to Portland.
Unfortunately my GPS battery died when I reached the drop in point, so I don't have the full track for this, just the route for the hike in.  |
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