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| Canyoneering | 5.64 Miles |
5,023 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 5.64 Miles | 3 Hrs 48 Mns | | 1.56 mph |
| 5,023 ft AEG | 11 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | Other sites refer to this as Box Canyon.
Only "Emergency Parking" is permitted at the point where the trail takes off from the 260 and heads to the creek. Parking is available at the turn off about 0.3 mi. before then, followed by an initial walk along the edge of the road (a pathway on the outside of the guardrail has been tramped out).
Just after turning off the 260, there is a gated fence to keep the cows in.
From there it's a short walk before the relatively gentle descent to the creek begins. (BTW, although the description labels this as canyoneering, no equipment is needed to access/enjoy the top couple of pools).
There was a family enjoying the first pool on my arrival, but no one else around, I headed downstream to the next big pool, which I had to myself. Great spot for swimming and cliff jumping. I considered going down to the next pool, but didn't see a reliable way to climb back up, so decided against it.
Shortly thereafter, a solo canyoneer came by and indicated that he had done the canyoneering route last week and was back for another go. The exit route goes back to the parking area where I had parked, so I decided to walk back and then explore the creek from the bottom.
That side had more visitation and includes a great rock climbing area, with several groups enjoying a day on the rocks.
The access to the creek from that side involves a slightly more challenging approach, with some up and down (I initially got sucked into wandering up a side drainage, not realizing that I needed to go up and over another ridge before hitting the creek proper).
Once at the creek, I watched a family who were tackling a 100 ft cliff. The little kiddos were fearless.
Just upstream was a nice swimming hole and waterfall, which marked the final rappel for the canyoneering route. As luck would have it, the solo canyoneer I had met at the top end was just finishing his route, and we exchanged a few more notes.
A lovely area and new to me. I'll be back with my gear next time. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
There was only one other vehicle at the parking area, but no one to be seen in the canyon! I took the girls over to the log narrows first, and explored a few little falls and cascades before making our way over to the main event. We arrived at the falls with a gorgeous swim hole and private beach and inflated our floaties. Super relaxing in this pool and we really enjoyed it. This pool is also the final rappel if you’re running Christopher creek. Soon after, the girls became a bit curious what was above this pool and went climbing. They shouted down to me that it was a must see, so I quickly got right to it! And oh boy was it pretty. A steep scramble lead us to a large waterfall with another deep pool. I remembered rappelling next to that last year and it required a lot of rope, maybe 70 feet? Anyways we continued up the canyon, just to see how far we could make it by climbing around these rappelling areas. We got half way through the canyon and eventually decided to call it, as the scrambling/bushwhacking to get around the obstacles became a bit much in the heat of the day. Some of the areas were a bit tough to downclimb especially with wet shoes and I ended up jumping one of the waterfalls, which was soooo refreshing! Exiting the canyon was super simple and we were soon on our way back to the valley heat. 
I’d have preferred to camp, and definitely will do so on my next midweek escape!
