East Fork Kaweah

Got a chance to get on one of my favorite runs this week at pretty much the perfect level. It was Rebecca's first time down and she nailed pretty much every line; Jason, another Kernvillian, joined in for his maiden voyage and did super as well. We shared the river with a crew from up North, Nocetti et al., many thanks to them for hanging out in a few spots to make sure we made it through! If you guys want me to e-mail the pics and vids I have of you guys, drop me a line. As always, click on photos to enlarge them and click on the videos to start them. Enjoy

For those who have not been, the East Fork of the Kaweah is a classic Sierra one day run; only about 4 miles long, but stacked with lots of drops including some epic drops if you really want to go big. It starts out with some fun read and run drops, some of which are shown below Then you get to Sky Hook, which is an inescapable gorge that terminates in a burly drop that slams boaters against the river left wall. It is best summed up by a kiwi I spoke with that ran it last year: "I don't recommend it bro". The portage is long with a healthy poison oak forrest, but a fun cliff jump at the end.

After that, there is a dicey seal launch - not pictured since I was busy face planting on the landing. Then things get real fun...

This section culminates in Dead Man's Alley; a pretty intimidating triple-drop with a super sweet boof into a boiling cauldron at the start. I fired it up (video from Jason pending) while Jason and Rebecca took a more leasurely approach

After that we found some river booty; a boat that had been pinned in a drop above Dead Man's about a week earlier had finally washed out into a more accessable pin. Here is Jarred with his new trophy After that, it was back to more action



With all of the great whitewater, sometimes it is hard to soak in the amazing scenery on this trip Even though it is only 4 miles, the East Fork is a long and difficult day on the river, especially on your first time down. When you finally get to the confluence of the East Fork and Middle Fork, it is all smiles. What a great day on the river!

Now the video