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"

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Story/Notes
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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.