|
| | | |
| |
|
| Canyoneering | |
|
| | Canyoneering | | 6 Hrs 30 Mns | | 0.00 mph |
| | | |
| | |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | | Doesn't seem to be a lot of beta out there on this so I'll describe our experience. Parked at the bottom of the switchbacks on 89a. Dropped directly into the canyon & started bushwhacking towards the fish hatchery. Realized later, this is completely unecessary & a waste of time. At the far western end of the last switchback on 89a you can drop into the canyon at the end of the guard rail and skip all that. That drops you in slightly upcanyon from the fish hatchery & saves you time, effort & meaningless bushwhacking. Proceed up the raw/rugged Sterling Canyon. This takes some time & effort & there are sketchy sections including one strange spot where the canyon just seems to come to an abrupt end. Figure out a way to proceed up & left here & the canyon will resume. At this point you have already passed the point where Crack Addict joins Sterling on your left but you probably didn't notice it. Keep going until the canyon peters out then hike up generally south through a burnt out forest. Aim to crest the highest hill to your south. Once you top out you should hit roads to follow over to the start of the Crack Addict drainage. It starts as a very shallow drainage but just keep flowing downhill as if you were water & in a while you will get to a rap and know you are on track. The raps were generally awkward & not much fun in my opinion. The next to last one landed us in freezing cold, knee-deep, murky water. The last one landed me (5'11") exactly balls deep in freezing cold, murky water. So do not count on this canyon being dry! Now you're back in Sterling retracing your steps back down to 89a at the bottom of the switchbacks. Don't forget to jump out onto the road at the earliest opportunity & skip 20 extra minutes of bushwhacking. We decided to do the route this way: 1) to avoid a car shuttle between the top of crack addict & the base of the 89a switchbacks 2) to avoid driving up to the start of crack addict & just doing a loop from there. The down side is this makes the route longer & harder. 6.5 hours with no navigation errors. We did not track distance. So that's how it works if you just want to park one car at 89a. Overall, we kind of enjoyed ourselves in a type II fun way but both decided we would not ever do that again or recommend it to anyone else. Just a hard slog of a day without much aesthetic value. |
| _____________________
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
