Yankee Doodle

8 swims to pit deep on a 6' guy. First two stemmable, but why bother.

90 minutes car to car.

Anchors in good condition. Chest to neck deep water, very cold, thin layers of ice on top. Wet suits a must.

waist deep water.

Anchors were fine. Water levels were pretty low and very muddy, nothing over waist deep. Very hot.

Took us 3 hrs with group of 8 (3 kids ages 4-7).

Pretty dry as of this date - only one pothole requiring that you get wet. Anchors in place and secure.

Went this morning and it was pretty full, not the fullest I've seen it but pretty close. I'm 5'9'' and had to swim across at least a couple holes. Water was moderately cold but wouldn't waste my time with a wetsuit this time of year.

Always a pleasure to run through this canyon. Low water conditions, most pools are stemmable. One pothole near the end required a MacGuiver'd potshot type situation with a backpack to create a handline. Once the first person got over the lip we just subsequently put our weight on it to get the rest of our party out. Nothing unmanageable, but gave us a great opportunity to practice some creative escape techniques. Set a single line rappel to drop into the canyon and left the rope to be retrieved on the exit. Did the rest of the canyon without ropes, brought webbing for handlines and only used it to extend an existing handling to drop into the aforementioned pothole. Last time I did this canyon was in 2012, and it is totally changed from the 2015 flooding. Paired with Boltergeist, you get a good day of some good rappels and fun stemming/downclimbing.

This canyon is charming, pretty, fun, and incredibly easy. The pothole had the only water, 1 foot deep. There was a snake resting on a log in the pothole so we scooped him carefully out with a long stick and placed him in a more reasonable location for his safety and the safety of future passers by.

Only 2 waders - hip deep and not even cold. Thought the previous night's storm would have filled it up, but doesn't look like it got anything.

There is a tire floating in the pothole from the access on the south. It has the rim attached so it's not going to sink. We weren't rigged to get it out, but someone with an extra rope could attach to it and pull it out when they're back on top.

The road was dry. Mandatory swims were encountered. Water was frigid with floating ice in a few pools. A little ice on the ground too. We were glad the swims were short. No ice on exit slab.

Water neck deep that is unavoidable in at least one spot - the pothole. Pothole can touch on bottom near edge so I don't think it could ever be considered a keeper. I have read conflicting reports on this canyon so I did it solo to see if it was something my kids could do. With the down climbs (no bolts on a few) and fairly difficult move on the exit (wear stealth rubber sole shoes) I would not recommend this canyon for kids or anyone under the age of about 14.

Did the South Fork of YD and the "keeper" was about 4ft from the lip. The only rappel we did was that one. The rest were downclimbed. The muddy pools was stagnant and reeking like sulfur. The water was chest deep in the deepest. A wetsuit wasn't needed. Came across one live snake (not sure what kind) at one down-climb and a dead bird and dead mouse in a pool (keep your mouth shut on that one!). Took 3 of us 1 1/2 hrs from truck to truck. The only ones in there that afternoon! Nice. Anchors in good condition.

A huge rain storm the prior week filled all the potholes and collection basins to almost full capacity and washed away much of the stagnant water that we encountered 4 weeks ago. Awesome time to do this great little canyon, especially for younger canyoneers who can be exposed to some short swims w/out the intimidation that comes from long, dark swims.

As a note at the parking space tells you, a rattler has taken up more or less permanent residence soon after the main rappel. Been there since mid-June according to the note. Still there. Just keep your eyes open for it; it's possible to pass a few feet away. Sweet little canyon. Fun downclimbing and stemming. A fair amount of water, with two unavoidable neck-deep areas. Most other water can be avoided while stemming, if so desired. A great way to spend a relatively hot afternoon. With 90 degrees outside, canyon was perfect temp without wetsuits.

Yankee Doodle was fantastic. A lot more that I expected.

Met a group coming out and they advised us to wear wetsuits. That was good advice as there were 2 neck deep pools (I'm 6') and 4 or 5 waist deep ones and all very cold.

The Doodle!! 3 Swimmers and 4 waste waders. I have never seen this much water in the Doodle. Water is cold. Glad I had a dry suit.

Good trip for a warm day. All of the narrow corridors are nearly filled. Some only knee-deep, but about 3 mandatory swims - one very cold. Didn't take wetsuits. Those blessed with insulation (like me) will be fine, but one in our party was chilled for the rest of the night. Roads in good shape. Two hours beginning to end, but there was a large group ahead of us.

really great canyon for anyone just getting into canyoneering. road in was in good condition. two easy but fun rappels. no major obstacles to worry about, water was pretty cold (wet suit recommended unless it's really warm) but you can get out to the sun pretty quick. plenty of spots you need to stem to avoid water but 2 or 3 guaranteed swims. the biggest downside is the exit is pretty hard to find if you've never done this canyon before. it is shortly after the last swim and before the fork in the canyon. The cairn to mark the exit was probably washed away in a storm a few days earlier so we hiked passed it by a mile or so before returning and finding it. I'll do that one again.

Road out is in great condition from previous storm. No significant water until after the big drop. Then the canyon gets super fun! Tons of water sections with lots of stemming to avoid the water in the corridors. Able to use existing bolts for set up of 2 zip lines for further water avoidiance. After the big eye bolt rap, the water which was 6ft deep...You will encounter 2+ swims, and several waist deep wades. As we exited, we broke ice in the last pool to exit. The super cold water just ups the thrill factor in the cyn. In my estimation the Yankee is in "dandy mode" conditions right now. Yes a wetsuit is well advised!

Got to the TH and bailed on descending it. The road had been recently graded and was nice...until the snow hit. 4" of snow that morning. Extremely muddy. Got stuck in 4x4 for an hour. Would not recommend taking this road until it drys out a bit. As we passed YD, there were a handful waterfalls pouring into it. Expect a lot of COLD water currently and snow on the exit climb.