Admin’s Trip Reports

Beautiful day for a mixed climb in the PA Grand Canyon up to Double Drainage Falls. It'd been snowing all day and watching the snow fall in the north canyon made me itch for some canyoneering and ice climbing. On this trip I got to test out my new Scarpa boots and Petzl mixed climbing crampons, which worked great. I went all the way from the Pine Creek Trail (rail trail) up to the top of the canyon via mixed ice and rock climbing within the northern drainage of Double Drainage Falls. I was expecting more thick ice in the lower elevations like in January 2022, but instead I found a lot of thinner ice and lots of rocks which made cramponing difficult for the first part. Eventually the thicker ice started coming out as I ascended the steep canyon slopes. Some parts were sketchy -- lots of loose shale and rocks that had to be tested before being trusted with either my axes or crampons. Lots of smaller 3 to 4-foot tall waterfalls that made for challenging climbs due to the lack of thick ice at the top of them, despite having formed larger layers within the cascades. Still lots of warm water pouring out of the mountains that just doesn't seem to freeze despite our 7-days of ~20-degree temps. Had a blast on this climb. Made it to the top and follows the Pinafore Run Trail back down into the canyon and back to parking just in time for dark, ending 20 minutes after sunset.