Southern Sierra Outdoors: hospital rock

After a long winter with no boating, some nice weather and a hunk of time on our hands convinced us that a trip to the Kaweah was warranted. Normally I am a high water junkie; my personal low run on this section before was over 600 cfs at Three Rivers, but reports of successful runs down in the 400's made us think that a flow of 380 cfs might be doable, if not enjoyable. After two low water runs (one at about 380 and another at about 400 - corresponding to about 120-140 cfs on the stretch), I can definately say that this run is a good time, with or without water.

Rebecca looking up at a scenic Angel Wing rock formation

The first day we ran from the Hospital Rock parking lot down to zero-to-sixty. At that point the 60 cfs diversion made the river extremely non-enticing, so we hiked up to the roadside and jogged the shuttle from there. The second day we decided to walk on up to Buckeye campground and put in there.

Rebecca on Buckeye rapid

Gino takes his turn

When we got down to the "normal" Hospital Rock put-in, we discoverd the scary reality that is the Hospital Rock rapid - Check out the massive, tree clogged sieve on river right. At this flow there is no water going around the sieve...

Rebeeca doesn't like the line on this one

From there it looked pretty chunky down to Baby Niagra, so we decided to shoulder back to Baby Niagra and put-in there. Most of the rapids from there down had the same lines as normal water with smaller holes and a lot less push.

Rebeeca on the roadside drop

The only exception really was 420 rapid where the water starts to go subterranian. The first day we carried around the entry sieve and ran the rest, the second day we just called it and walked around the whole thing.

Reba's 87th photo on 420 gorge

That funky drop with the pinball finish

Gino on Table Rock

Again, I was blown away by how much fun this run was at these low flows. Maybe it was not being in a boat for 4 or 5 months, but I would certainly go do this again on a nice February day!

The author getting his Februboof on

Yep, another day on the Kaweahs - East Fork one day, Hospital Rock the next; Doesn't get much better for back-to-back day trips. There's lots of info out there on the East Fork, so I won't bore you with the details; just wanted to put up some pics of a really fun couple of days with Rebecca, Jason, Trevor and Geno. There are a few shots that are definately worth looking through, including a nice sequence of Trevor's eventful run through triple drop. The rest are a hodgepodge of shots while we scrambled for cameras between drops. Enjoy!

For those who might be interested in getting on this run this year, or at a later date, the flow peaked at 850 cfs at Three Rivers the day these photos were taken. If you are doing this run earlier in the year you might want higher flows at Three Rivers (due to the fact that the North and Sout Forks are contributing more water in the Spring). On the downside of the spring melt, you are looking for peak flows in Three Rivers anywhere between 650 and 1000.

Disclaimer: This is my subjective opinion having never run the East Fork at low flows. I have, however, put on at 1100 on the downside of peak flows and I can attest that it gets pretty burly - especially if it might be your first time down. FYI, the double secret probation gauge above the put-in bridge apparently read a fairly constant flow (no big diurnal) of aroung 165 cfs. For those who know, this corresponded to the water level being solidly in the notch, lapping 2-4 inches higher. Note: Summer of 09 was not a typical high Sierra year with cold weather and copious thunderstorms in May/June. Hope that helps... All information garnered in this blog may or may not be appicable to said unavigable waterway.

Let the boofs begin - Trevor catches air

The dicey seal-launch

The drop right below the dicey seal launch - which looms in the crack just up and to the right

Then back to the fun stuff...

Rebecca enters the sweet double drop

from below

Eric in the sweet Double Drop

Tim easily gets right

Rebecca also gets right

Eric entering Triple Drop

Landing...

Fighting left through the boil

Finding the Slot on the Left

Lining up the third drop for...

One last face shot...

Happy Ending...

Trevor Enters Triple Drop

Landing?

not where you really want to be...

entering drop 2...

some action...

Then out of drop 2...

Not done yet...

The finale

All in all, a very stout run through T-drop. Not sure I would have pulled it off without a good bootie beer...

A quick stop for lunch where we had a scaley friend to keep us company

Now I always loose focus when people write stuff on their blogs; unless I really know them, all I really want to see are the rad pictures. You might think I'm shallow and unintersting (and I am), but mainly I just have a very short attention span. Anyway, I'm going to interupt the shiney, colorful kayak porn for a second here to interject how much I really really like this run. If you take a second to look past the whitewater in each of these pictures, you'll see a really, really beautiful canyon; not only that, but those of us who have had to hike out know it is "effectively" remote as well. That said, the East Fork has something for everyone; if you want to go big there is Triple Drop, Deadwood, Baby Hook and Skyhook - If you don't, there are lots of great class V drops and a few poison Oak infested portages. Serious Sierra Goodness if you ask my opinion - which you didn't, but your at my blog...

And back to the action:

Jason lays it down old-school