Middle Kings: As Good as it Gets

There's been so much written about this river (including 2 other posts on this blog alone - http://thenexthorizonline.blogspot.com/2013/07/drinking-from-fire-hose-in-california.html and http://thenexthorizonline.blogspot.com/2010/08/middle-fork-kings.html), that I'm going to keep this one as more or less a photo drop.  We had low flows this year (900 at rogers crossing) as a cold snap dropped the river through the ideal flow range in about 1 day.  This makes the big drops on the river much more accessible as they aren't running together, but the price is that the in between rapids entail quite a bit more boat abuse.  Regardless, this is probably my favorite river trip in the world.  5 days of world class kayaking in the grandest of settings with a beautiful and brutal hike as the price of admission.  It just can't be beat!

The beautiful hike in.  Photo: TJ

 

 JJ somewhere in the switchbacks down to Leconte Canyon.  Photo: TJ

 The Kings Canyon fish hatchery.  Photo; TJ

 Jordy on one of the first good rapids.  Photo: JJ

 Jordy finishing off the waterfall gorge.  Photo: TJ

 Ari blasting out of the Willie Kern Meltdown drop.  Photo: TJ

 And blasting through the bottom half of a burly boulder drop shortly downstream.  Photo: TJ

Small waterfall below Raw Dog Falls.  Photo: TJ

Final move of the sweet gorge above Simpson Meadow.  Photo: TJ

 The splendid Tehipite Dome.  Photo: TJ

That's all folks.

Mistakes We Knew We Were Making

After getting off the North Kings late, Tom and I rally to Shaver Lake for some pizza before finding Dave Farkas for some camping. We spend the next morning resupplying for our next mission: the North Fork of the San Joaquin. We rally up the endless dirt roads to the trailhead for Sheep's Crossing so that Tom and Dave can run down and check the level. The looks on their faces upon returning are not promising, as the run is quite a bit lower than Dave's “perfect flow” from the year before. Darin Mcquoid was planning to join us and shows up just a bit later. We head back to a nice campsite and discuss options. The plan is to get cell service in the morning to see if the day's 95 degree high has water levels coming up.

The next morning is a lazy one before we finally check gauges. Nothing is budging from the hot weather so we decide even though the lower gorges will be high the Devils Postpile run (Middle Fork San Joaquin) is the way to go and hopefully the hot weather will bring the North Fork back in. The trouble is Dave can't swing the time to complete the Postpile (3 days is fast but 4 days is the normal pace). He decides on going climbing in Yosemite and does us a huge favor and agrees to drop of us at the put in, which is only 6 hours from the take out. Huge thanks Dave! So, we drop Tom and Darin's vehicles off at Mammoth Pool reservoir (actually 1 mile up the road since the reservoir doesn't open until June 15^th) before embarking on the epic shuttle. En route we find out that Thomas Moore and Chris Madden will be joining us by putting on at dawn the next day

After a quick bite in Mammoth, we headed out to Devil's Postpile National Monument. Dave hiked into lower falls with us before heading back to his truck and Yosemite. We decided to just start the portage from lower falls rather than the typical paddling around the corner to avoid getting wet since it was nearly dark. This was a mistake which ended up getting us lost on a myriad of game trails. Patience was wearing thin as we charged through a thick boggy area in the dark. So much for those dry socks. We camped at the next flat ground we found and went to sleep laughing as Darin enjoyed the modern amenity of riverside 3G.

The next morning we continued the portage for another hour or so down to the double drop. We laze around waiting for a while before boredom overcomes us and we gear up. Tom and Darin drop in with beautiful boofs while I shoot photos and video. I'm up next and drop in with beautiful oof, going deep next to the wall but not making contact. I walk my boat back up to the top pissed off and slap my skirt on. I take a slightly different entrance line and catch a little too much rock, again resulting in no boof. After two failures I decide to leave good enough alone and start portaging the next sievey mini-gorge just as Chris and Thomas show up. It's noon now so we quickly head downstream to the head of the first gorge where the run really gets started. No one likes the first windy one so we portage on the right to the pothole drop. It's a rowdy entrance into a rolling boof over a big hole. Chris steps up and deals through the lead in before stomping a nice one over the final hole. I like it and follow with more dealing in the entrance but a sweet launch clearing the bottom. Thomas and Darin follow, both greasing the entrance but mistiming their launches resulting in short battles in the pothole, but no real carnage. Next is the portage around Tommy's Pothole to seal launch slide. Some not so pure lines follow but everyone makes it to the bottom and finishes out the walled in gorge to a quick portage around a sieve, where we break for lunch and Darin again enjoys the 3G service.

 

Darin with a nice line on the double drop. Photo:JJ

Thomas with another nice line.  Photo: TJ

 

Darin on the rowdy pothole drop.  Photo: TJ

This seal launch isn't too bad with friends to help.  Photo: TJ

The reward for the seal launch.  Photo: TJ

Below here, the boys started routing and we didn't stop much. It was Darin's and Thomas's fifth trip, Tom's third trip (one only to Cassidy), my second trip (first only to Cassidy), and Chris's first trip, so there was a lot of experience. The next section consisted of a few open slides and a few bony boulder gardens down to a long slide that leads into the next gorge. A quick portage around a waterfall that lands on rock and a few ledges led to the double waterfall rapid. Here two side creeks cascade into the gorge over large falls while in between the Middle San Joaquin pulses down a rowdy bedrock entrance into a big hole. The rest of the boys snuck left in the entrance before grinding over the hole on the left wall. I decided to meat it in the center, fortunately timing a big boof over the bottom hole. Below this drop, a few slides lead to the final rolling exit 20 footer. Beautiful boating in a beautiful surrounding!

Darin on the double waterfall drop.  Photo: TJ

We continue at a high pace through some cruisy boulder gardens down to where we hiked over to Fish Creek in 2009 at about the point where the Boofamatic Gorge gets serious (http://gorgedout.blogspot.ca/2009/07/devils-postpile-cheat-codes-now.html). More routing ensues down through boulder gardens and a few slides, some quality and some ugly, before we get out to portage a big slot deep in the gorge. Putting in we ran a few more boulder gardens before a walled out cascading slide and more boulder gardens to the lip of Boofamatic, a mandatory 25 foot slide into a 10 foot kicker. I decide to scout and take photos while the others bomb off with good lines. I get back into the walled out eddy, then fly down the slide before crushing to big a boof to a slightly painful flat landing. Below Boofamatic are only a few exit drops to the end of the gorge, but they are burly and difficult to scout or portage. The first one features a boof over a pocket against the right wall before careening through holes between narrowing gorge walls and into a big pool. The drop exiting the pool has an entrance ledge which falls to the left immediately above a 10 footer into a pothole best run off the right wall. We all made it through with varying degrees of finesse before continuing through the runout slides to a nice campsite on river right. It was about 4 pm and we had only spent 4 hours on the water so we camped and enjoyed the great weather and scenery.

 

JJ dropping into Boofamatic.  Photo: TJ

 

And stomping it.  Photo: TJ

The next morning the routing continued at about 9 am. The first time I ran this section, Fish Creek to Cassidy Crossing took a full day. This time it only took about 3 hours. There were several times that we got to the bottom of a rapid and I realized we had scouted or portaged on my previous decent. The high water mark gorge (aka class IV gorge) features a good bit of class V which we bombed. One rapid featured a plug into a big hole down the middle that pushed into a sieve on the left and exited through a big hole on the right. Thomas, Darin, and Chris bombed in, fighting to get right above the sieve. Tom and I remembered a smear boof on the left into an eddy and a controlled ferry in front of the sieve. Much less spicey until we dropped into the bottom hole and a log was chocked in it vertically. We all came through this drop and the rest of the gorge without incident, continuing down to Cassidy Crossing where we stopped for lunch before committing to the crucible.

After a long California lunch we geared back up and headed into the gorges downstream. The whitewater in this section largely occurs underneath the rocks and portaging is the name of the game. After a few somewhat technical portages we get out for the longest portage of the trip which is high on slab river right. After about 30 minutes we put back in above a rapid we cant scout leading into a walled out section. It goes well and soon we are all making the final portage into the crucible. We all run the lead in boulder garden finishing down the left wall through some rowdy diagonal holes. The Broken Arrow Falls is next and we all slide right down the middle. The moment is upon us. We are now walled out above (maybe) the most notorious rapid in California. We decide to take the left driving middle to middle slot line. My four partners commit and boof off the far right side of the left channel. Now it's just me. Time to commit. I drive right, but make sure not to take any rock. The landing is a bunch of spray but I emerge heading for the middle slot where a late grind on the right edge delivers me to the pool. Now only the pothole drop separates us from Shangri-la, where Granite Creek falls 200 feet into the slot canyon. One by one we drop in and battle our way out. It's over now, and it went quickly. We're now through the part of the trip we'd been thinking about since we put on. It's only 3 pm, but we decide to camp and enjoy the spectacular surroundings.

 

The crucible.  Photo: TJ

 

Shangri-la camp driftwood carvings.  Photo: TJ

Nice ambiance at camp.  Photo: TJ

 

Stars over the moonlit crucible.  Photo: TJ

Morning comes early. Chris and Thomas have there shuttle driver coming that evening and Darin, Tom, and I are planning to finish or camp on the lake depending on how tired we are. The water has come up about 6 inches since the previous evening due to the hot weather. We make our way down to the next gorge and immediately portage around the river right dome. After we launch back in we are soon routing through huge rapids on verbal from Darin and Thomas. Thomas gets out to scout and quickly returns with instructions: “Down the right charging a little back to the left through a big wave hole. Catch an eddy on the left but if you miss it run the right slot cutting back to the center.”

Thomas gets back in and leads the charge, with Darin only about 10 ft. back and Chris only another 10 ft. back. I hesitate for a second to give them a little space before peeling out. I drop into a maelstrom which requires an over the head brace to remain upright. As my eyes clear I see Chris is the only one in the eddy. I decide to go direct and not risk missing the eddy. I head right and prepare to drop back to the center. As I'm dropping into the slot I catch a glimpse of the stern of Thomas's boat under water, looking like a swamped boat after a swim. After coming clear of the rapid I start scanning for Thomas but nothing appears. I eddy out on the right to wait as Tom comes through behind me. Darin is already below us and has Thomas's paddle. Then, after a disturbing amount of time (maybe 15 seconds?), Thomas pops up. Darin and Tom grab him immediately and I wait in the eddy for his boat. Only a few seconds later Tom is yelling for me to come down. Tom is holding Thomas next to set of rocks against the right gorge wall. Darin and I get out quickly and drag Thomas up onto the rock. Tom lets us know that Thomas had said he couldn't feel his legs, but once out of the water, it's obvious that Thomas's left leg is badly broken and displaced. (You can read Thomas's account of what happened here: http://crossfiteastsac.com/workout/functional-fitness-its-a-life-and-death-kind-of-thing/)

We quickly stabilize Thomas on the flatest rock of the three we can reach. After a quick look at the gorge walls surrounding us the SPOT devices are fired to alert emergency personnel, as we know we won't be able to evacuate Thomas on our own. Tom is a nurse and leads the evaluation. Both of Thomas's legs are badly damaged, although the left seems worse than the right. No blood is evident so the fractures don't seem to be compound. Thomas self administers the best pain killers we have while the rest of us go about finding the best splinting materials we have. We settle on several sleeping pads, pieces of a breakdown and a sam splint. We use the ridge rest and breakdown pieces on the left leg with some duck tape to hold it all together. We then use the sam splint on the left leg with additional ridge rest and duck tape. We use a standard thermarest to elevate his legs while we place a neoair under his back to increase comfort. After splinting him we cover Thomas in a sleeping bag to keep him warm. We decide the left leg isn't well enough supported and straighten it slightly so we can tighten our splint. Chris heads over to rocks on river left to make sure the SPOT signal gets out. Then we wait.

It seems to go on forever. We keep chatting with Thomas to make sure he stays aware and to try to keep his mind off the pain. We can still see the Shangri-la waterfall where we camped the previous night. It seems a world away. As the time passes we trick ourselves into thinking that we're hearing rotor wash, but no choppers appear.

Then, at about 1 pm, about 4 hours after we pulled Thomas onto the rock, it happens. A faint drone, just like the ones we'd been tricking ourselves with, grows to a roar. The chopper appears over the gorge wall and drops a man on the rim. He shouts down to us to find out the situation and asks about options for moving Thomas. We tell him there are none. The chopper picks him back up and stays put for a minute.

Then it rises again before moving towards us and hovering directly overhead. The man begins lowering out of the chopper on the cable, spinning his way from the sky down to the rock. I comment to Tom that if the chopper gets loose towards the wall I'm diving under the rocks. Once he disengages the cable the chopper quickly retreats and lands. Only Darin is on the rock talking to him. He assesses Thomas and takes a quick history of what happened and the treatment we provided. He radios back to the chopper.

Another minute passes before the chopper is back lowering a basket on the cable. After the basket is released the chopper disappears again. He asks Tom and I to come help load Thomas onto the basket. We open up the red body bag. It isn't easy or fun to lift Thomas into the basket, as it raises his pain level through the roof, but it has to be done. Once we have Thomas positioned, we work at cinching down the straps, trapping Thomas. Like a tight mummy bag, only the center of his face is exposed. Once Thomas is secured, the chopper is summoned once again. A few minutes later the cable is lowered and we attach the basket, give a final check, and the basket is winched up into the sky with a small tag line to prevent spinning. I comment that it must be terrifying to be in the basket and he responds that he's terrified of heights and it's scary enough just to be clipped into the cable. The chopper disappears for a minute and returns to pick him up. Then, they're gone.

It's about 2 pm. We still have a lot of ground to cover. We eat a little and decide to try to push through and get out today. We boat and portage our way down to the South Fork confluence with only a minor undercut incident. We eat a little more and continue. The portaging and kayaking continue. The boating is better than I thought it would be and there are less portages, but we're only concerned with getting out of the gorges. Finally we make the Mammoth Pool bathtub ring. It should end soon. The boating and portaging continue. The reservoir is low, really low. Finally we reach the pool.

It's late, but Tom and I decide we're not camping out, so we start the crankfest. Tom remembers it being about 9 miles. The wind is bad at times. We crank on. A little over an hour in, we take a break and eat and drink. Tom thinks we're about half way. We round the corner and start seeing roads to the dam. Tom remembers that the boat ramp is not near the damn and we head to the right side of the lake after spotting a person. It turns out it's Drew, Chris and Thomas's shuttle driver. We hike up the hill a mile to the cars. We made it.

The Devil's Postpile section of the Middle San Joaquin is enormously dangerous and committing. Going in, everyone must be prepared to run several unpleasant sieved out rapids without scouting and with no (reasonable) option to portage. This hardened mentality is only required for a few sections of the river, but it is easy to let it cross over to the rest of the run where scouting and portaging options exist, greatly increasing exposure. Our team made this mistake and I and I'd guess other team members knew it while we were on the river. Our sport is usually very forgiving, until it's not, and it's only in these rare occasion where having all the cards stacked with you is important.

Middle Kaweah

As my brother eluded to in the previous post, we spent a lot of time at the Kaweahs thanks to stellar hosting by Darin Mcquoid and Shanamar Dewey.  We arrived in Three Rivers hot off a quick run on the Dinkey Creek Waterfalls just before the run dropped out.  The next day we decided to explore the Upper East Kaweah from Lookout Point to the Lower East Kaweah put in, which, while a tad low with the Kaweah gauge at 800 was super high quality with a few walled in sections to keep us on our toes.  After the Upper East Fork, the remainder of our river time was spent on the Middle Kaweah.

Rolf above one we should have run on the Upper East Kaweah.  Photo: TJ.

JJ on a rowdy one on the Upper East Kaweah.  Photo: TJ

While the Middle Kaweah is incredibly high quality, the primary reason we didn't explore elsewhere in the Kaweah drainage was low water (low snowpack led to a long low water season for the Kaweahs), and the Middle Fork handles low water better than the other forks.  We started the first day with a run from Buckeye Flats (just above hospital rock) to Potwisha (the standard Hospital Rock take out), followed it up with a run from Moro Creek to Potwisha, and eventually built to a run from Panther Creek to Potwisha.  While the Hospital Rock run has long been known as a classic, this whole section is classic kayaking and comes together for one of the best days of paddling anywhere.

The first descent of the Upper Middle Kaweah (above Moro Creek) was documented in SLP's Burning Time 2 and started in the Cliff Creek drainage before continuing down the Middle Kaweah.  Since that descent, 2 additional descents have occurred, both starting at Panther Creek due to reports from the first descent party that Panther Creek to Moro Creek was the highest quality section and putting in there cuts the shuttle and hiking significantly.  Therefore, our plan was to head up to the trailhead early for a one day descent, hiking into Panther Creek with light, unloaded boats.

So, when the day arrived, we rumbled up to the trailhead just as the sun was rising, grabbing Kiwi Jordy Searle on the way to add to the group of Darin, multisport hardman Jared Johnson, Tom, and I.  The hike took a little longer than expected, but soon enough we were down climbing the slabs adjacent to Panther Creek down into the gorge just as the California heat was getting going.  Since no previous groups had completed the run in a day, we quickly geared up and were instantly greeted by walled out goodness.  Nothing too hard, but it was nice to have Darin's previous experience with us to ease the tension as we were in it to win it from the beginning.

Soon enough we were at the first major rapid, which consisted of a sievy entrance into an awkward off-vertical 12 footer into a boily cauldron and a walled out corridor (the only way rapids finish on this run).  Jordy and I probed it with reasonable lines and the others followed.  A few more rapids led to the crux of the run: Rusty's Rampage.  Fortunately, Rusty's is easily scoutable on river left, but portaging or setting safety for the first boater is not possible.  A slide to boof into a bunch of spray, followed by a fast moving pool into a rowdy left banking slide directly into a wall.  The good news is the wall isn't undercut.  The bad news is that the current splits at the wall between a walled out eddy on the left and freedom on the right.  And guess what, that left banking slide wants to send you into the eddy.  Darin and Jordy decided to probe while the rest of us watched and provided moral support.  Darin came through the lead in smooth but was shot left on the slide and surfed the pillow into room on the left.  While Darin waited (it's actually calm back there), Jordy came in hot, getting pummeled in the pillow, but managing to claw his way to freedom.  It took Darin about 5 tries to ferry out of the eddy, with a few good beatings on the pillow, but eventually he made it right.  The rest of us came through with 2 out of 3 ending up in the eddy and more battling but eventually everyone made it out.

 Tom dropping into Rusty's.  Photo: Jordy Searle

The same looking downstream. 

 Tom trying unsuccessfully to battle out of the eddy.

The run out of Rusty's is a walled in double pothole drop.  A nice shoulder boof on the left center delivers you into the boxed in second drop.  We all came through, although there was a little bit of battling in the bottom hole.  The walled out corridor is simply stunning, a waterfall cascaded in on the left as polished walls surrounded us.  Just around the corner is the final truly walled in section.  We scouted high on the right and found a 20 ft. low angle slide with a kicker into a pool on the right followed by a sieved out mess with a sneak on the left into a walled out sloping ledge.  Jared, Jordy, and Tom went first, with a surprise shallow landing at the left side sneak but no major problems.  Darin and I came next and the shallow landing turned out to be a 10 ft. drop onto a rock, but the rest of the rapid went well.  From there out, the run was slightly more open but still some good drops and unfortunately a few portages (although Jordy gave a long look at one that might have been another Kiwi in a pocket).  We ended up arriving at Moro Creek a little before 2 so a few of us decided to continue down through the next section down to Buckeye Flats campground.

 The author in the double drop below Rusty's.  Photo: TJ.

 Darin and Jordy in paradise.

 The author below the left side sneak.  Photo: TJ.

The author boofing the walled out sloper. Photo: TJ.

 Tom in a nice walled out drop.

JJ on a waterfall in the runout.

Just above the confluence with Moro Creek is a short portage around a nasty slot, but from there down to Buckeye Flats there are no portages and some great bedrock rapids.  First is a slide run charging right to avoid an undercut wall on the left, then an rolling ledge into a hole followed by a pinch into a sweet kicker boof.  A little boogie takes you to a rapid that looks a little dirty but boats great with several smearing boofs.  Then there's the crazy folding flume drop that feels very out of control but always ends with smiles.  A little more boogie takes you to the 15 ft. to 10 ft. double drop right above Buckeye Flats.  Finally, we arrived in the pool above Chuck's Slide.  We almost routed right off of it, but judgement got the best of us and we decided to call it a day.

A week later, we put in at Panther Creek again and rallied all the way down to Potwisha.  Needless to say, we were a little spent on the second half of the run, resulting in some interesting lines, like my epic surf in Chuck's Slide.  The rest of the run from Chuck's slide down is top notch with only one mandatory portage just above Hospital Rock.  I won't say too much about this section as it's well documented, but it packs some premium rapids in a short distance.


Beating at Chuck's Slide from Jim Janney on Vimeo.

Eventually, our time in Kaweah land came to an end.  A warming trend in mid-May sent the high sierra season into action and we were ready to get after it, which is another story for another day.

 
The Next Horizon Line: Upper Middle Kaweah from Tom Janney on Vimeo.

Drinking from the Fire Hose in California

Last year, I had been set on going to California for at least a week of kayaking.  Unfortunately, a weak snow pack and scheduling issues killed my plans and I missed out on a great Middle Kings trip.  This year despite the low snow pack, I was going to make it happen.  So despite the hearsay of no California season, I convinced my favorite boating partner and brother Tom that we were going.  In late April we decided that the snow pack looked nearly identical to the previous year, so I booked a plane ticket and Tom got off work for the second week in June.  All there was left to do was hope for the best.

As the trip approached, our group began to round out and then bloat as I recruited Knoxville up and comer Ben Warf and Tom recruited every class V kayaker in Colorado.  The week before the trip was a mess of logistics and arguing about water levels, as the things we had are eyes on (Middle Kings and Upper Cherry) were still too high and a heat wave followed by a cold snap were expected for our chosen week.  For better or for worse the Colorado contingent steered the group to heading straight for the Middle Kings upon arrival.

As usual, my flights out of the Southeast were delayed and I didn't arrive in Sacramento until midnight.  Ben picked me up, and the drive began, destination South Lakes trail head.  By the time we rolled into Bishop the dawn was just starting to wake and was in full affect by the time we reached the trail head.  The Colorado boys (minus a couple stragglers - JJ, Oliver, and Rolf) were all asleep so we grabbed a few hours of less than satisfying rest.  As the sun hit they decided they were taking off, but the stragglers and shuttle drivers still hadn't showed so we rested a little longer.  The shuttle drivers rolled in but the stragglers still hadn't.  At 10:30 we decided we better go if we wanted to make it to Leconte Canyon that day.  It turns out the stragglers showed up just after we left and the shuttle logistics all got sorted.

Things were going well on the hike early despite it being extremely hot.  Then, shortly after paddling across Long Lake I felt a twinge in my quad.  It had been years since I had cramped up but I knew it was coming.  I tried to drink as much water as I could to rehydrate, but by the time I was at the base of the switchbacks up Bishop Pass, I was laying on my back with legs spasming.  There was nothing else to do but fight through it.  JJ and the stragglers caught us at the top of the pass, and he threw some Cliff Bloks my way.  We stopped at the top of the pass to eat lunch and enjoy the epic views.  I was struggling bad and forced some food and a lot of water down despite having no appetite.  Apparently trying to hike a kayak over a 12000' pass with no sleep or altitude acclimatization is a bad idea.

Ben Warf Cruising Across Long Lake with Bishop Pass Waiting

Sean Over Bishop Pass and Heading Down into Dusy Basin

Ben and I were the last to leave the pass.  As we proceeded, he was struggling and I was starting to recover.  About 30 minutes down the pass I was feeling back to my normal self (thank for the Bloks JJ).  Soon, Ben started to get his second wind too and we were cruising across the magnificent Dusy Basin.  Soon, however, we caught up to Tom and Sean who had left over 2 hours in front of us and were not feeling great.  As we kept moving across the basin to the brink, the struggle just got worse for the boys.

Ben Taking in Leconte Canyon From the Brink

We took a nice long break to enjoy the huge rock walls igniting in the evening light before it was go time.  I was still enjoying my second wind, but the 2 Colorado boys were not, and I stayed back with them, along with Ben.  We were about half way down the brink with darkness approaching and stumbled into a nice campsite.  Sean and Tom were stumbling pretty badly at this point so I convinced them not to continue into the darkness.  Ben had blown through and finished the hike down to Leconte Canyon and the rest of the group.  I forced myself to eat a huge steak I had carried in but Sean and Tom could barely stomach anything.  Then we passed out.

The next morning we finished off the rest of the switchbacks down to the river.  The morning wasn't too bad, but overall it was the hardest hike in I had ever done.  It was beautiful, but I was glad to have it done with.

Half of the boys were already geared up when we made it to the river.  They decided they were gonna do the run in 4 days of paddling and the rest of us decided we were on the 5 day plan.  That was the last we saw of Brad, Jason, Oliver, Rolf, and Tyson.  So that was that, our group was down to Ben, JJ, Joel, Sean, Tom, and I.

After lazing around for a bit more we geared up and hit the river.  I was prepared for quite a bit of mank the first day, but after a short while we were through it and the quality really picked up.  Somewhere early on Joel sublexed his shoulder and made what must be one of the toughest decisions ever, he shouldered his boat right back to the trail head, where no shuttle vehicles were waiting since they had all been taken to the take out.  I still haven't asked him how the hike was or how he got home, but I know he made it.

The Author Taking in Leconte Canyon from the River (Photo TJ)

Ben Dropping into an Early One (Photo TJ)

Down to 5, we continued on as the quality increased.  We walked a couple but ran a whole lot of great whitewater in the most magnificent surroundings in the Sierra.  Money drop was the highlight of the day, and the high water made it downright rowdy.  JJ went first and was lucky to end up in one piece, barrel rolling off the right hand side.  I decided to run the meat of the lead in, getting a little lost and going deeper than anticipated.  Fortunately it came together out of the right eddy and I was able to send a huge boof and not get my deck wet on the final off vert plunge.  The stoke was high and the boys followed quickly pretty solid lines, although we had to patch Sean's lip up after he caught it with his paddle.  The rest of the day was a barrage of beautiful high water slides with huge holes.  We decided to camp high on left just above a little waterfall before the ledge gardens.

Sean Plunging into the Money

That night we all rested hard, waking ready for battle with some of the toughest on the Kings.  Unfortunately the water hadn't dropped, but there was nothing to do press on.  After the 12 footer at camp and a few hundred yards of fast class IV we were at the lead in to the ledge garden.  After a quick scout, Tom and I proceeded while the others started their portage.  We took a good look at the ledge garden and the following Werner Paddles drop.  Both looked huge and good, but the holes and consequences were just saying no, so the portaging amongst house side boulders began.  We put back in for the lead in to the huge slide.  What is normally class III was a class V scramble for an eddy, and the slide didn't look any better.  The diagonals that normally take a boater safely to the left were blowing through and the next two holes downstream had terminal tendencies.  We walked again, moral falling fast.

Once the boulder gardens picked up, Ben and Sean hit the trail.  JJ, Tom and I boated down to the top of the waterfall gorge.  It was one of the most beautiful, tempting, and terrifying pieces of whitewater I'd ever seen.  Every drop had at least one pocket that could swim you and they were all flushing straight into the next.  The kicker was the waterfall had become completely crucial anything but the purest of lines would lead to a first d of the awful boxed in drop just downstream.  It started raining and we started walking.

We kept going, eating lunch above Raw Dawg Falls in a grove of huge trees.  Huge bear scat was everywhere.  I almost stepped on a Rattlesnake.  We were defeated.

After a good scout of the Vallecito-esque Gorge (I know you Californians love it when your whitewater gets compared to Colorado), we decided to leave our boats and camp at the bottom, hopeful for the stoke of lower water and empty boats in the morning.

Our great camp was so nice that a bear even decided to wander in and check us out in the morning.  Fortunately, it had also served to rejuvenate us from the despair of the previous day.  The sun was shining and the stoke had returned to high.  After some high quality warm up, we committed to the gorge.  One quick portage around a sieve and some great boofs and we were at the exit with spirits soaring.  It's amazing how it can turn around in an instant.

We ate lunch in Simpson Meadow, basking in the sunshine, before making our way down to Tehipite.  The boulder gardens were great with the extra water.  The Big Bad Beaver looked much better than I had imagined, but it was still easy to walk on by.  After what ended up being a pretty long day, we arrived a Tehipite, settling in early in preparation for big next day in the bottom nine.

Our predicted early start didn't pan out.  Tom was feeling nauseous so we took our time getting ready.  Despite still feeling like he was going to vomit, he finally decided it was time to put on a little after 10.  It gradually built as we left Tehipite.  At some point it was on and it didn't let up.  We ran a lot of great whitewater and walked quite a bit too.  We all had good lines and bad lines as we battled downstream.  As long as the focus remains, it's one of the best days of paddling anywhere.  After about 7 miles our collective concentration and energy was waning, so we camped at a nice spot on the right just below a big slide into a hole backed up by a huge undercut on the left, relaxing and fishing as a scrawny bear came down to visit.

Tom in a Nice Bottom 9 Rapid

The Crew Chilling above an Unusually Flat Section

The next morning, it was immediately back into the action.  I ran a slot backwards in the second drop of the day, breaking my back band and requiring a 20 minute repair break.  We had a swim shortly thereafter but we cleaned it up well considering the possibilities thanks to a little luck.  After a much longer morning than expected, we reached the confluence.  The bottom 9 is a fantastic stretch of whitewater, as long as you stay present in the moment.

After a quick lunch above the start of the Garlic Falls rapids, we were set to finish this one off.  Most of the crew was beat down and portaged and picked their way down, but for those who still have the fire, this section is most excellent.  The big launch into the fluff at Cassidy Falls is one of the best moves of the whole trip, and the rest isn't bad either.  After Garlic Falls and Rough Creek Falls the rapids start to taper off, and the mad dash through the paddle out was on.  Going from the spires of Bishop Pass to the dust at the end of the road in the Valley leaves one with a serious sense of accomplishment.

While a trip down the Middle Fork of the Kings often marks the end of a California season, we had thoughts of adding a Cherry on top.  After a few phone calls on the way back into Fresno, we had confirmation that Upper Cherry would be somewhere between medium and low and certainly not too low.  Sean and JJ had other obligations, but Ben, Tom, and I had 3 more days to make it happen.  While a rest day would have been nice, water levels and plane tickets dictated that we would be hiking in the following day.  So, after a big meal and a night in the sketchiest Motel 6 around, we were headed off to Groveland.

A slow start and a long packing session had us heading up the Kibbie Ridge Trail just before 1.  Somehow we had convinced ourselves that after the Kings hike, the Cherry hike in would be easy.  It's easier, but 10.5 miles with a kayak on your back is brutal anyway you slice it.  Again, Ben charged ahead while I stayed back with Tom.  He hadn't been feeling well the whole trip and this hike was no exception.  Still he sucked it up and made it happen.  We rolled into lord meadow just after dark, crashing directly into our sleeping bags.

We awoke to several crews of paddlers getting ready for the day.  We ended up teaming up with Evan and Wes before heading down for the put in slide and into Disneyland.  It quickly became apparent that the water was lower than Tom and my first time down, but it was still enough to have some fun.  With the low flows, we made good time down the moonscape to the entrance gorge to Cherry Bomb.  We had a little pow wow and convinced the first timers that it was low enough that we should press into Cherry Bomb without a scouting hike.

TJ with a beautiful line at the Put In Slide

The Author Applying a Little More than the Desired Boof (Photo: TJ)

The lead in gorge was relatively uneventful, although one of the drops get sketchy at low water, and we quickly found ourselves at the portage down to Cherry Bomb Falls.  As we approached the falls it became evident it wasn't going tot be a quick trip through the gorge, as a huge group had just started their runs.  Not wanting to disturb their flow, we spectated while they slowly dropped in.  I won't go into too much detail, but they nearly had a huge debacle right in front of us.  Most of them had good lines but one got potholed and swam.  His boat got beat in the weir hole until someone was able to get a rope on it.  Then when they were pulling it free they lost control of it and it floated downstream.  In the process, another boat got kicked in the water and things were getting exciting.  Fortunately, things stabilized there and the water was low enough that recovery from that point was relatively uneventful.

A Nice Line From the Group In Front

The Clean Up from the Mess in Process

Having enough of the spectating, we dropped in with 5 solid lines.  After a quick regroup to make sure everyone knew the lines, we routed the rest of the gorge as the first group finished cleaning up their mess.  Coming out of the confines, we bid Evan and Wes good day before routing down the Jedi Slide and Teacups.  Too much fun, so we hiked back up for another quick lap before continuing down to Double Pothole where we enjoyed a great camp under the stars.

Wes About to Take Flight in the Cherry Bomb Gorge

The Scary but Oh So Smooth Cali Groove Tube (Photo: TJ)

TJ Droppin' Perfect 20 while Ben Watches from the Cave

The Author Leading the Charge Off Double Pothole (Photo: Ben Warf)

Double Pothole Under the Stars

Needing to get moving to catch my flight, we were at it early and into the Waterfall Alley.  Even with low flows it's perfect.  Feeling the stoke, I decided to give Kiwi a good look and liked what I saw.  The cave looked quite a bit less threatening at low water, but fortunately I didn't have to find out as the perfect reconnect on the right sent me sailing downstream.  The seal launch at Dead Bear didn't look appealing so I portaged over the sieves and down to the bottom.  From there on out, the run was fun but quite abusive in spots as the low water didn't fill the boulders quite so well.  As we approached the lake, Upper Cherry made its final stand in the Nozzle Gorge.  Just like the the last time, the Nozzle stomped me, although at least this time I was upright and forward before getting back endered into a nice little pocket beat down.  A few more drops and we walked around the log jam to the lake for our flat water workout, followed by our final bit of California kayak carrying in the blazing sun.  Fortunately, there was a nice German kayaker who took pity on us and drove our shuttle and gave us a beer when we really needed one.  Thanks!

The Author Starting Day 2 in the Waterfall Alley (Photo: TJ)

Coming in Hot to Kiwi in a Pocket (Photo: TJ)

And Exiting Just as Planned (Photo: TJ)

And then all that was left was a quick drive to the Sacramento Airport, where a red eye flight to get me home in time for work Monday morning awaited.  And that was it, as much California adventure kayaking as I'd ever want to try to squeeze into 1 week.