Seven Teacups, Springville, CA | canyoneering - 7 rappels
Southern California is apparently a huge canyoneering destination! Many of the canyons are dry and the Seven Teacups is a unique feature and one of the few wet canyons. Prior to heading out, we spent some time studying the canyon on ropewiki and a couple of great blog posts.
Many of the blogs recommend hiking to the exit of the canyon first to assess flow.
After scoping, we decided that the flow was medium-low and made the decision to proceed! The next step was the swim across the river to get to the hike to the top of the teacups.
The swim was great! In August 2024 - no wet suit needed and very mellow flow. A helpful tip for me was to use the dry bags with a little bit of extra air as a floatation device.
Now the hike… two thumbs down in 90 degree heat! But straight forward enough with a bit of bush wacking.
We pulled our wetsuits on and started the stroll down the creek and into the first tea cup. The first teacup has an arch that is usually used to indicate the flow of the teacups (when the arch is completely submerged, the canyon is in high water conditions). Unfortunately, we misjudged the flow and the arch was completely submerged.
Justin rapped into the second teacup and swam over the edge to check out the “Corkscrew”. This is the first high consequence area of the canyon. We decided flow was too high and we decided we didn’t have the whitewater rescue experience necessary to venture down the rest of the way. Justin ascended back to the first teacup and we made our way back to the car by foot.
We met a great group of canyoneers at the bottom that sent it all the way down. They told tales of getting stuck and nearly drowning, but also tales of how they’ve done it in much higher flow. We made the right choice for ourselves today. Not every day is a success!
