ive been reading about the upper stretches of the s. fork san joaquin near piaute creek, florence lake and then near mono hot springs, and sounds like some decent boating, great scenery per the guidebook. just wondering if anybody has run any of these sections recently and if theyd like to pitch in their 2 cents?!
thanks, jas

For starters I'd be surprised if you can get into Mono at the moment but it might me possible. That said the section from florence to mono is awesome. It is a continuous class 4 run with one section thats a bit steeper than the rest. I don't remember any portages other than those caused by wood. The real highlight of this run is that you have a hotspring at the takeout. Very similar to something you would find in Idaho.(ie no pool drop here) The sections above florence look great but one of the steepest sections (i think marked as the "potholes" on the map) was choked full of wood as of last september. I mean BIG wood, not the kind that will likely flush anytime soon. If you are truely dedicated the bottom mile or two of Piaute creek looks good. Nothing outrages though in terms of drops. Then if you are really, truely dedicated you could hike your boat up to Evolution Valley and bag a first on Evolution creek. It's only about a half to 3/4 of a mile long section of the goods, but it looks stellar. The only problem is the last half mile down to the SFSJ is not runnable, hell it's barely hikeable for that matter. So you would have to hike around that section on the trail. Overall, I'd say it would be a cool adventure but a bit hard on the body for only a small amount of paddling. probably a 70/30 work to fun ratio. The hike in to the upper section of the SFSJ is not to bad compared to other hikes in the sierra's. You might even be able to arrange to have boats hauled up aways if you contact the Muir Trail ranch. They have a UNI MOG with a trailer that could save you atleast a few miles.(about 4 actually) I think they do mule packing as well. Hope that helps.
J.D.

There is also a boat shuttle across Florence lake if you are interested. I believe it was like $20 bucks roundtrip for a ride.

Hey JD (or anyone I guess),

Do you know of anyone ever looking into the lower SF San Joaquin below Mt. Tom? The book writes the run off as too steep. I've wondered what's downsteam though. Does the SF run into the MF upstream or downstream of the crucible gorge? I'd imagine that if it's upstream, the flow through the crucible would be too high to try to venture through around the time the SF is at a runnable level. If it's downstream though, it might be worth a check. On the topo, it looks like the steeper stuff on the MF is upstream of the confluence.

Any ideas?

-Randolph

The SF runs into the MF below the crucible. The problem with the run is it's lack of water. It's either to high (like now) or it has none. SCE has an absolute strangle hold on the whole drainage. If only they would give out a little bit of beta!!! Bottom line is that it probably only has the perfect flow for a few days and the run looks to be even more commiting than the crucible. Although for it's 21 odd miles (mono to MF confluence) it only drops some 28-2900 feet for an avg. of 140-45 ft/mile. But it looks absolutely locked in at numerous times. Then upon completion of the SF you would have to paddle out the remainder of the MF which is quite possibly the most demanding section in terms of work involved. It could be done but I would say it will require a lot of leg work. (at least before I'd drop in) Oh and probably a bolt kit. Actually you would probably have a better shot of canyoneering it before you could catch it with agua. It definately looks interesting.

Hey J.D.,

Good advice on this section. Could be quite the coup if someone can figure out how to do it. I know an old guy who hiked it before Mammoth Pool was built, so I imagine it gets hiked/swum periodically.

I have always assumed that if this section was boatable that it would have to be a relatively low water. But with the dams, any boatable water has to be during the normal peak season. Then when you get to the middle fork it will bu running huge because the MF is natural flow. Right now the MF is running say 8,000 to 10,000 cfs. You have been in there, right? Big Fun for a few seconds maybe!

The SF itself might not be too high right now. It may be too low or maybe about right for some low water exploration. Florence is not yet spilling because of the cooler weather. Downstream tributaries are probably putting some amount of water in the river though. I have not figured out how to tell how much without going and looking. I thought that Florence would be spilling by now and I assume that it will spill soon, but perhaps only if the weather warms up sufficiently. Inflow to Florence is about 1,000 cfs now, but it was about 2,700 cfs last week by my very rough estimate.


The SF runs into the MF below the crucible. The problem with the run is it's lack of water. It's either to high (like now) or it has none. SCE has an absolute strangle hold on the whole drainage. If only they would give out a little bit of beta!!! Bottom line is that it probably only has the perfect flow for a few days and the run looks to be even more commiting than the crucible. Although for is't 21 odd miles (mono to MF confluence) it only drops some 28-2900 feet for an avg. of 140-45 ft/mile. But it looks absolutely locked in at numerous times. Then upon completion of the SF you would have to paddle out the remainder of the MF which is quite possibly the most demanding section in terms of work involved. It could be done but I would say it will require a lot of leg work. (at least before I'd drop in) Oh and probably a bolt kit. Actually you would probably have a better shot of canyoneering it before you could catch it with agua. It definately looks interesting.

howdy paul, this is jason, i met you on the kaweah a month or so ago, right above suicide falls, we were paddling along with a raft, we chatted for a few minutes, then i boogied to catch up to the rest.
anyway, a few of us in three rivers were thinking about trying to go do the upper section aboce florence, kind of exploring that area a bit. probably in the next couple of weekends coming up.
taking into account the up coming weather, cool down ,etc, do you think it would be good to go after a week or two, or do you think that its gonna be over?
and any beta on this section appreciated,
thank ,jas

I did not think that Florence was spilling yet, but I was informed yesterday that it is, and probably started about a week ago when I thought it would a week ago. Very confusing!

I was in meetings with Edison for the last two days presenting proposals from the whitewater community for changes in operations on the whole San Joaquin dam system. The forrest service and US Fish & Wildlife Service both have very interesting proposals that will be very beneficial to whitewater users in the future.

Any rate Florence is spilling not sure what the flow is right now but I will take steps to find out and keep folks informed. However Kaiser Pass is still closed by snow. I will talk to forrest service and post the right phone number later.
---

That was a nice day on the Kaweah Jason. It was good to get out that was at just the right challenge level for me now.

Paul

Florence is spilling, but Kaiser Pass road is still closed. The Sierra Forrest office at 297-0706 estimates that the road might be opened in 2 weeks but that it could be longer.

I believe that Florence will continue spilling through June and into early July. The Section above Florence will be down into the 1,000 cfs range after mid July and into August, I would bet.

I believe that Mammoth Pool will also continue spilling into July.

The cool weather has dropped flows, so Horseshoe Bend has dropped into a more reasonable level; 4,000 cfs +-.

Patterson bend is kinda low but will come back up. Patterson is a very interesting run; very pretty, neat geology. The next few days might be good for this one, before the flow goes back too high. The first half of the run is classic float trip, long moderate rapids, long pools, nice geology, jumping rocks, etc. The commercial rafters would love it if they could get at it. Then the second half gets serious and spectacular. Big drops and shear cliffs.

Paul

Does anyone know whether Florence is spilling in the runnable range and whether the roads to the S. San Joaquin and upper Dinkey are open?

Thanks

road was opened as of last friday, according to forest service office. they said that chains or 4wd are advisable.