Arroyo Seco

 

                                             BETA

                                   Class IV.  2.5 mile hike, 3 miles of paddling. 

Stream: The hike in is about 2.5 miles long, and mostly on a gated road with a gentle grade.  Views of the creek allow you to get a feel for water levels, but the crux of the run is not easily visible.

There is a spot along the hike where a game trail leads down from a pull out to a view of Big Cajones.  This is not a necessary side excursion.  36.225020303697065, -121.49795711544319

At high flows, paddlers sometimes but in at the bridge over Santa Monica Creek to avoid "The Recirculator" just upstream.

At the end of the good part of the road, this sign marks where to head down the trail to the put in.  The vehicles in the photo were Forest Service employees with a key to the gate.

The put in, when we were there the footbridge had collapsed.

Things start off easy, with one or two small rapids but mostly class II.

The first notable rapid is "The Recirculator".  It looks like a nice boof, but can develop a nasty hole at high flows, and non-precise lines can end with contact with the left wall.  When we were there, the tannins in the water were creating lots of foam.  The deep recycle from this ledge kept the foam from moving downstream, and the depth was such that even if we had landed the ledge upright we wouldn't be able to breath while paddling through the foam.  Then we thought about how hard it would be to rescue someone if they swam, so Priscilla and I both portaged.

Just downstream Santa Maria Creek enters on the right in a small boulder garden, then come the flume rapids.  At our flow we were able to easily scout them on the left, this may be tricky at high flows.

The line through was center left through the main flow for all three.  The third it is worth noting had two channels, we went center-left in the right channel.  This photo shows the first a second flume.

Shortly downstream is Little Cajones.  A fast ramp with a rock on the bottom left leads quickly into a shoulder boof to avoid some rocks on the right.

Next up is Mucho Cajones, the tallest drop of the run.  There is a hole along the landing on the right, that is next to a slightly undercut right wall, so be sure to boof out and away to the left, which is fairly straight forward to line up.  The higher the water level, the further left you can be and the easier the line.  

Just below the water exits through a narrow cleft in the rock, which has reportedly been swum through, but it is nice to be in your boat for.  There is a pocket on the left at the top of the cleft that would be dangerous at higher water, and is worth noting that gear has been pushed into it in the past and made for a tricky retrieval.  At our flow it was trivial.

Below Mucho Cajones the bedrock is left behind and there is a good bit of rock dodging class II and III, with at least one small surprise ledge.

After this waterfall can be seen entering on the left, be ready for a blind boulder jumble. 

 It would be possible to shore scout the boulder jumble, but the line is hard to see.  If you look in the following photo you will note the large rock at the bottom of the rapid, this is a good marker.  Priscilla is running the only good line I am aware of in the rapid.

Below here it's all breezy down to the take out at the bridge and day use area.

  
Flows:  The level we had felt ideal for a first-time run.  It was the first large rain of the fall, so the water was rather murky and the tannins created lots of foam, which created hazards in some areas.  We were particularly worried that the slot below Mucho Cajones would fill in with foamand be unpassable but fortunately, it was not.  I have read 100-500 cfs is the range people shoot for.  I have seen photos of people running the creek at levels lower than what we had, as well as higher.

Arroyo Seco NR Greenfield CA - 11151870

Access:  There is a $10 day use fee to paddle this run, or do what we did and pay about $40 to camp there.  If you camp at the Arroyo Seco Campground, it is possible to hike to the put in.  Then, at the end of the trip, walk from the takeout back to your camp.

Access points as related to the following map

Take Out:  Arroyo Seco Recreation Site (36.23572656637525, -121.47815919446326)

Trailhead: Gorge Parking (36.23376860146424, -121.48745736046857)

Put In:  Marble Peak Trail footbridge (36.218931277872464, -121.50201161871438)

The Campground is adjacent to "The Lakes"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story/Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Arroyo Seco had not had water for many months, we just happened to be driving through when the first storm of the season hit, and took advantage.

The South Fork of Diamond Creek

All photos by Priscilla Macy

BETA
3 mi, 200 fpm

Stream: This was the third year in a row we had made an attempt to paddle the SF of Diamond Creek.  The first year we had been stopped 3 miles short by snow in the Spring.  Last year levels weren't there when we met at 6am in Gasquet, so headed to the SF Chetco instead.  This year, flows again looked low as we met in Cave Junction.  However Yann was in touch with a friend and got a visual update that the pipe gauge was at a runnable flow (~11.5) for Diamond around 8am.  Given this was our third attempt, we decided even if it was low we wanted to check it out.

Where as in years past we had planned to continue through Diamond and into the NF Smith for a long day, this time we were going to take out where most people put in for Diamond Creek.  We figured this would reduce stress and increase our chances of success.  Since we would pass by the put in first, we decided to drop boats off.  The spur had a gnarly little entrance, it took some digging and Barrett gritting his teeth and channeling some optimism to get his F150 up and over.

After dropping the boats off, we started the long drive down the notoriously rough road.  Eventually we realized we could hike as fast as we were driving, so decided to leave the cars a mile or so from the take out and walk back up to them at the end to save daylight for paddling.

We weren't too worried about traffic, so set up Yann's changing tent in the middle of the road.

We left the truck, packed into Yann's vehicle and crawled back up the road.  We walked the spur road this time, and upon reaching our boats headed cross country down to the creek.  The walking was straight forward for the Siskiyous, we had good visibility and followed a ridge down to the creek with minimal bush-whacking.

Planning out our route.

What had looked like a good flow from the top of the ridge, turned out to be a paltry flow once we reached the creek.  Enough to float though, so on we went.

 Low, but enough water to check it out.

It's both hard and easy to describe some of these small Siskiyou Creeks.  They tend to be fairly uniform, ledges and boulders, boulders and ledges.  Nothing stands out a whole lot, but they tent to be consistently entertaining and engaging.  Nearly everything was read-and-run on this one, though we did scout a few times.  

The only downside to the creek, were there were stretches that had dense brush that we imagined could get sketchy at high flows.  Other than the brush, it was 3 miles of quality class IV whitewater with no boring sections.  If it were closer to home I'd run it regularly.  

An example of the brush.  While it was manageable at low flows, I'd be apprehensive about it at high water.

There was one quick portage near the end at a bedrock pinch.  There was a wire across the creek here, and the log broached in the pinch was hard to see from above.

Our take out was obvious enough, where the road extends down to the creek just above the confluence with the NF of Diamond Creek. 

 We walked our boats up to a landing, and Ben and Barrett each took a lap down Diamond Falls on the NF.  Boaters continuing through the regular Diamond run would have this option as well.

Two from the group walked back up for the truck, while the other three waited.  The road only got rowdier down here.  We all reasoned if we ever ran the main Diamond run into the NF Smith, we would put on either the SF of Diamond again or the last couple miles of the NF of Diamond to avoid the road.


You might even save time putting in on a tributary if you are running your own shuttle, given how slow that road goes, not to mention the wear and tear and stress.

And of course you'd get more whitewater too.

  
Flows:  I don't know the Smith drainage all that well flow-wise so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.  From my experience in the area, I'd imagine 10,000 in the Smith @ Jedediah is minimum. Or 12' on the NF Smith pipe gauge.  15,000-20,000 might be a good range to shoot for, or 13-14' on the pipe with some wiggle room.   High water would be oh-so-fun, but the brush would worry me.

Our flow

Access:  The road is gnarly, don't even bother trying with a Subaru.  Get a truck with clearance and preferably 4wd too.  Most people would choose to hire Bearfoot Brad (707-457-3365) out of Gasquet to run your shuttle and continue down through the mainsteam of Diamond and NF Smith back to Gasquet for almost 20 miles of boating.  The hike and SF of Diamond took under 3 hours for us, we spent am similar amount of time driving on the Diamond road.  So if you go the SF route, it will probably only take 2 hours longer than if you drove to the NF/SF Diamond confluence with the added benefit of additional whitewater.

Do some mapwork before heading in there, and cache the map to your phone.  The spur road leading to the hike starts here:  41.996418, -123.865714

Good directions to the NF/SF Diamond confluence we used as a take out are here.  The left turn onto the spur is 2.6 miles after turning off 4402 onto what he describes as a "very small and shitty looking road", called Wimer Road on most maps. 

The cross-country portion of the hike starts here: 41.990895, -123.863165.  Put in is here 41.983462, -123.861375

Click on map to increase resolution.

The hike was pretty straight forward, at the end of the spur road it forks.  We went right, then took the path of least resistance headed downstream towards the canyon rim.  Once we got to the point where we could see into the canyon, the route down a nose of land was obvious.  

A trip to the Siskiyous doesn't feel complete without some Darlingtonia Californica.  The South Fork of Diamond's river-right canyon rim is in the background.

Notes:  While there is fun whitewater on this run, it is not for everyone who would be paddling Diamond Creek. There is a lot of class IV whitewater on this creek, at high water expect a class V experience.  And really at any flow class V competence is probably needed.  The hike in is not bad, but it does descent about 650' and might be daunting for boaters who are not accustomed to hiking with their boat.  While the regular Diamond run through the NF Smith is pretty splash and giggle, the SF of Diamond is a more serious run.  The creek bed is small and there is brush and wood in the channel, requiring good decision making and group cohesion.  Large groups are a bad idea.  While I would personally never drive down to put in at the normal Diamond put in, with the argument that the tributaries give you more whitewater for less driving, there are no doubt others would would not enjoy the extra challenges the tributaries deliver.  Make the choice that is right for you.

       -jacob

SF Tuolumne: Ascension Gorge

BETA

Stream: We ran this stream because we were looking for an adventure on our way south to Granite Creek.   The stream starts out flowing slowly past the put in at Carlon Station.  Class II with some wood to dodge makes up the first mile and a half of easy floating.  At the end of this stretch the river turns left and enters a small class III bedrock rapid.  This leads to a gentle 10' slide, and signals the beginning of the adventure.  The gorge downstream gets stout quick, but everything can be scouted and portaged at the levels we ran the river.  

The first big rapid we portaged right, it was a compelling rapid that I have mixed feelings about not running.  The second big rapid looks like it's going to be a great drop, but lands on boulders and may be the only mandatory portage on the run.  We walked around on the left.

A large pool separates this drop from the beginning of a stout 1/4th of a mile of hard class V bouldery rapids (with some bedrock mixed in) that we portaged with some effort at river level. 

 We started portaging on the left, before moving back right after running this ledge. 

From there we portaged another boulder rapid down to another bedrock ledge.  Below this bedrock ledge was another tenth of a mile of bouldery rapids.  Some we walked, the easier stuff we paddled.  This section ended in a ten foot falls that would have only been accessible from the right bank (we were on the left at that point).  The left side went into a backed up hole so we portaged again, which would have been tricky with more water.   Just around the corner was a beautiful set of class IV bedrock ramps, the last of which was our favorite rapid of the day.

After a short return to boulders, was a large rapid that we scouted right.  I gave it a go, while Priscilla walked on the right.

Downstream the stoutness faded.  There were a couple scouts for wood, but mostly numerous read and run class IV rapids, some bedrock and mostly boulders.  One bear. 

Eventually the stream eases into class II-III, with views of Ascension Mountain off to the right.  Near the end the stream makes a left bend, sending the Mountain into the rear-view mirror and a final flat stretch with some wood marks the home stretch to the Hwy 120 take out bridge.  We walked past the log-pile visible from the take out bridge along the left bank right up to the road. 




There is good camping further down along the South Fork, so after biking shuttle we set up shop and got ready to head further south the next day.

  
Flows:  We paddled the SF Tuolumne June 25, 2019

DREAMFLOWS GAUGE

CDEC GAUGE

Access:  About 14 miles East of Groveland on Hwy 120, you will cross over the SF Tuolumne at Rainbow Falls.  This is the take out for a different section of the SF Tuolumne described here.  To get to the take out for this upper run, continue East on Hwy 120 to a bridge 6.2 miles past Rainbow Falls.  37.820810, -119.918863  The creek is flat and woody here, but is not indicative of what you will find upstream.


From this upper bridge, continue yet further on Hwy 120, for 3.1 more miles before turning left onto Evergreen Rd towards Carlon Falls.  1 mile down this road is a bridge over the SF Tuolumne, we parked at the day use area on the downstream river-left side of the bridge.   37.814590, -119.862915

Click on the map to increase resolution.

Notes From an Oregonian: California (May 23 - June 1, 2019)

Tick check along the Trinity headwaters.

***Here are some notes from a recent trip to California.***

Sacramento (Box Canyon)

May 25

This is a great run, and maximally convenient when heading to the Sierra's from Oregon.  I am pretty certain this is the only shuttle I have run along I5.  It had many class IV rapids and some ledges in a beautiful section of stream.  We did the full run down to Dunsmuir at what I gathered from the Box Canyon Facebook Group was a level of around 5.5'.  This flow felt medium.  I would choose doing the full run every time.  Paddling under Mossebrae Falls was pretty cool and there were plenty of enjoyable rapids on the lower part of the run.

Campsite: Steve's house in Los Molinos (530) 519-1040

Food:  Camp food

aWETSTATE

Darin Mcquoid

Mill Creek

May 26

We camped at Steve's house, who is the go-to guy for running shuttles on Mill Creek.  He is a generous guy, with plenty of space to throw down a number of tents.  There were a cacophony of sounds that night likely exacerbated by a storm rolling through, including a cow mourning a lost calf, the thunderstorm itself, wind blowing metal structures repetitiously, and mid-night bass practice at a nearby party made for a long night.  This would all be fixed with ear plugs, which I'll be bringing on any future rural-residential camping trips.  The overnight rain brought the creek up to over 4,000 cfs which was higher than we wanted to run it, so we drove south to Pauley Creek.  Priscilla and I would return one month later to paddle Mill Creek.  Be sure to get your gas in Red Bluff or Chico, Los Molinos does not have gas.

aWETSTATE

Darin Mcquoid

Oregonkayaking

Pauley Creek

May 26

This is a fantastic little creek, and probably cracks my top ten repeatable runs list.  It felt like it belonged in Oregon, except that the rapids were more sustained than is typical for where I'm from.  The ratio of fun:stress was extremely favorable.  We split into two groups for the run as we had a lot of boaters.  There was one hickup when two from the "let's route it" group pinned on a log.  They were able to get out ok, but I was happy to have elected to be in the second group who were scouting blind corners.  I really liked the town of Downieville along the NF Yuba near Pauley Creek, and I would be happy as a clam spending a whole week there, boating and mountain biking. 

Picking up the pieces on Pauley Creek.

Campsite: Rocky Rest Campsite, it is a pay site 39.513368, -120.977775

Food:  We ate at the bike shop in Downieville.  They had kayaker friendly pricing, and WIFI.

aWETSTATE

Darin Mcquoid

SBMF Feather 
May 27

This was a cool place, I did not boat the run, but others did.  I think I figured out a gauge more relevant than the Milsap gauge for this one.  After gathering data and consulting with some California experts, we determined Spanish Creek nr Quincy is indeed a reasonable correlation to use in most years as a starting point for guessing flows, though a final a visual check is still required to ascertain levels.  From what we gathered from 15-20 data points the following is a starting point for guessing flows:

Low 150 -250

Med:250 - 350

High: 350 - 450

 The run takes a long time for most groups, and even with someone who knew the run it took over 8 hours for the group who did the run at what they called a high flow a day after heavy rain.  Reportedly, the ferry above 199 problems is the crux at high flows and genuinely frightening.  They paddled the creek the next day as well and it was a more favorable med-high flow and the ferry above 199 was not scary.

Working on reducing the length of the hike out.

Campsite: Pinchard Creek, the last small tributary crossed on the way to the South Branch put in.  Free, plenty of room.  39.713635, -121.174839

Food: Camp food, this is a long way from any food you can pay for.

aWETSTATE

Darin Mcquoid

NF Feather (Tobin + Lobin)

 May 28/29

A staple of the California boating scene.  Priscilla and I had been there a few years ago for the festival and were scare-mongered from putting on the river on that trip.  It was nice to return and see that the run was just as manageable as it had looked from the road. The flow was 1200-1300 which seemed good.  Lobin was filled in compared to what we had seen during the festival.  Some of the boofs were covered, and there were a couple long pushy rapids that I hadn't remembered at low flows that were as good as anything on Tobin.

Campsite: The big spot where everyone camps for FeatherFest, it's free. 

Food: Camp food supplemented with some fish.  Then Sierra Nevada Brewing on the way out.  Fairly priced, but not cheap.

aWETSTATE

American Whitewater

Tangle Blue Creek

May 30

A run I had heard about from Bryanna Lyons, who said it was full of 5-ish foot ledges.  It was.  Zach, Ben and I had a good time working our way down this obscure class IV creek in the headwaters of the Trinity River drainage.  1,000-1,500 cfs in the Trinity above Coffee Ck seems like the sweet spot.

Campsite: Just far enough from the highway that the river drowns out the noise of any passing vehicles, and made for a nice take out for Tangle Blue Creek. 41.222966, -122.646949. 

Food: Camp food.

TRIP REPORT

Trinity (Headwaters)

May 30

After getting off Tangle Blue Creek, we ate lunch and headed up to paddle the Trinity back to camp.  We scouted out the headwaters and were pretty excited by what we saw.  We decided to paddle a short section to get a feel for the run before returning to do the whole thing the next day.  Priscilla hurt her shoulder in the third rapid so she and I hiked off while Zach and Ben continued downstream through bouldery rapids.  The section from Cedar Creek to Picayune Creek has the most bedrock and has class V.  The stretch downstream of the Little Trinity to the confluence with Blu Tangle was open class IV.  The rest was bouldery and tough on boats.  Walking on the banks was easy.  1,000-1,500 cfs in the Trinity above Coffee Ck seems like the sweet spot.

Campsite: Another spot along the Trinity 41.183782, -122.656579

Food: Camp food. 

Kidder Creek

May 31

Ben had raved about Kidder Creek, and this was one of our "must do's" of the trip.  Flows were a fair bit lower than his last trip, so we only did one lap but even at ELF flows it was a good time.   The Scott gauge was around 1200, but that's only a rough indicator of what you will see in Kidder.



Food: We ate at Dotty's in Etna, a nice burgers and shakes place.

aWETSTATE
Darin Mcquoid

Shackleford

May 31

After Kidder Creek, we ate lunch and Zach investigated what else we could do in the area.  Patterson was very low and the road was gated so he directed us to Shackleford Falls, which ended up being a fun park and huck at the low flow.  There was still a pocket on the left to be avoided, so we were studious about safety, but it proved easy to stay safe at this flow.

Campsite: A roadside spot along the Scott River that doubled as a nice put-in.  41.634000, -123.093322

Scott

June 1

I had done this run once a number of years ago.  An overnight rainstorm led to many of us waking up in puddles, and high water.  A few of us decided to paddle while many decided to head home (it was our last day of that trip).  We put in below the landslide rapid, Joni Randall and I and followed Lucas Glick as he read-and-ran the river, I think the hole in White House is still the largest hydraulic iv'e ever seen in a rapid I was running.

This time around things were at medium-low flows of 1,000 cfs on the Scott Gauge, which was enjoyable.  We got the shuttle situation all boggled up but after 2 hours returned from what ended up being a 6 mile shuttle (we had driven over 40 miles) to a worried Ben and Priscilla.  The take out for the short section we had been looking for is at Townsend Gulch (41.688529, -123.083061).

The landslide rapid ended up being not too hard, but blind.  I scouted from a brushy island to the right twice and gave verbal beta.  Ben and Zach ran down the main flow, Priscilla and I took a line with a couple boofs on the right at the crux.

The next 6 miles were classic, mostly IV with a couple IV+ or V- rapids.  We scouted White House as a group, and one other time Priscilla hopped out to give us the line.  We all really enjoyed the run. 


Campsite: We made the drive home to Salem, after a pit stop at OTT's 50 year anniversary party in Grants Pass.

Food: Five Mary's Burgerhouse in Fort Jones.  I'd go back, meals were in the $15 range.  This seems like the hot spot as far as date night goes in Fort Jones. 

aWETSTATE

Darin Mcquoid