Dinkey Creek
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| | Raps:9-15, max ↨165ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 8 Aug 2021
"Camped at a great wide slab above a falls just before the "Kayaker Campsite". Day 2 was an easy wide creek walk (for creek walks, practically a highwa |
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| Best season: | Jul-Oct (avg for this region)
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36.9887, -119.1241
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Weather forecast
Waterflow
Introduction[edit]
This is a really scenic canyon with most sections in polished granite and some with marble. In typical late season flows, there are only minor swift water challenges, but in higher conditions, there is a serious potential for hydraulics and a dangerous sieve to form in the early part of the technical section. Canyoneers should attempt only at medium to low flows. Flow can be assessed at the bridge by the campground, and again at the top of the first rappel, which directly overlooks the narrowest section of the canyon.
This canyon was originally explored as a potential kayaking route by Paul Martzen in 1985. He made the first descent on foot (a practice now known as canyoneering) from Ross Crossing Road to Balch camp in 1988, and returned the following year to complete the kayaking first descent from Ross Creek Confluence to Balch Camp. This description describes what Paul refers to as "Dinkey Creek Cascades", a canyoneering route from Ross Crossing Road to Ross Creek Confluence, which lies above the kayaking route. This canyon can be enjoyed as a 2+ day adventure continuing down to Balch Camp, or in one long day (10~18hrs) by taking one of the 2 other exit options returning back up to Ross Crossing Road, gaining 2000' of elevation on the hike out.
The current and past water flow can be checked online at http://www.dreamflows.com/graphs/day.453.php.
Approach[edit]
Two possible approaches exist.
1) From Ross Crossing Campground Hike along the river until the walls develop and continue down canyon.
2) From Ross Crossing Campground, drive approximately 1 mile Southwest (towards Shaver Lake) on Ross Crossing Road, and park at the gate on the left side of the road. Hike down the quarry access road until you reach a boulder lined clearing. Scramble down the boulder field slopes travelling East, and follow a shallow drainage down towards the river, taking the path of least resistance. At the base of some granite slabs, traverse right before descending down a crack system, and scramble down a gulley down to the river at (36.979313, -119.122673). This approach takes less than 20 minutes and shaves off approximately 3/4 of a mile of river walking and boulder hopping.
Descent[edit]
The canyon can be divided into two sections with distinctly different character. The upper section of the canyon can be done as a long day, with a steep 2000' elevation hike out with some route finding and/or bushwhacking involved. The lower section, combined with the upper, is typically done as a 2 day adventure.
Upper Dinkey Creek[edit]
From Ross Crossing Rd to Ross Creek is approximately 2 river miles which drops 1200 feet (1.25 miles and 1000' from the granite quarry drop in). This section is very technical with numerous rappels, a few jumps and significant downclimbing. Flows above 10 cfs are likely very dangerous. This section has up to 11 rappels, a few of which can be downclimbed by the skilled. This section should take 6-7 hours.
From the drop in point, continue down canyon along the river until you reach a 20' drop with highly sculpted rock. This is a good place to change into wetsuits.
- J1: Jump from a ledge (8'), or bypass on canyon right.
- J2: Short jump form the middle of the water course.
Continue down canyon with some boulder hopping and easy downclimbing. The canyon walls start to narrow, and a long (~200') swim deposits you at the top of the first rappel.
- R1: double bolt anchor on canyon left, a straight forward sloping rappel that drops you down back into the water course. A bit of swimming and scrambling quickly leads you to the top of R2, where the fun really begins.
- R2 is a two stage drop rigged with a double bolt anchor on a large boulder on canyon left. The second half of the ~60’ drop puts you directly under the force of the water flow.
R2 is followed by a short swim through a narrow channel, which is blocked by a massive boulder. This boulder is what I will call the “Over or Under” obstacle, as it can be defeated either by going over it, or under it. Going over involves climbing a log jam, and stemming across a wide gap to traverse on top of this feature. Going under is quite entertaining, and gets you half way through, where you must climb up onto the boulder anyway. The climb was much harder for the “Under” variation, but both variations required some slings to be tossed around log jams to create steps to ascend the feature. This obstacle would become deadly in high flows, as the water runs below the boulder through some log jams, which can easily create a strainer.
- R3 is a very dramatic drop, which starts off on the top of a house sized boulder, and then descends down into the water course of a triple tier waterfall. The total drop is 150’+.
- R4 is a short (~40’) rappel rigged off of bolts. Continue on rappel down the drop for another 10’, or jump into the small but deep pothole from ledges on canyon left.
Here, the canyon eases for a little bit, providing a welcome opportunity to warm back up in the sun. This is a good spot for a lunch break (N 36 58.290, W 119 07.249, 3800’). Some scrambling, downclimbing, and swimming gets you to the next rappel.
- R5: From a double bolt anchor on canyon right, rappel ~50’ down to the large pool below. A short swim leads to the top of the next rappel.
- R6: ~30’ rappel on canyon right.
From here, the canyon widens, and gently but continuously loses elevation until the Ross Creek confluence.
- J3: 8’ jump into a nice big pool, which puts you at the top of R7 (N 36 58.136, W 119 07.242, 3400’)
- R7-R10 are a series of 4 long rappels down slabs that can be down climbed by the skilled.
- R11: ~70’
Some boulder hopping, scrambling, and swimming leads to a large pool right before the Ross Creek confluence (N36 57.887, W119 07.471, 3000’). The upper technical section should take 5-7 hrs for the average group.
Lower Dinkey Creek[edit]
From Ross Creek to Balch Camp, the canyon is long but does not present as much technical challenge. There are only a couple mandatory rappels and the rest are all optional. I think all rappels are under 50 feet. Most groups will have more fun jumping some of the short drops rather than rappelling them. Jumping is also recommended at high flow, when the rappels may be too dangerous. All big rappels should have anchors options way out of the water flow or might be bypassed (with effort) if needed. This lower section from Ross Creek is commonly boated by expert kayakers, usually taking two days. This section has been canyoneered at higher flows around 50 cfs.
Exit[edit]
There are 3 choices for exit.
1) The recommended choice is to make this a two day trip and walk all the way to Balch Camp. This allows a car to car canyon trip with minimal hiking at either end. The upper section from Ross Crossing to Ross Creek will take most of the first day while the second day below Ross Creek will go pretty fast. Both the upper and lower sections are very pretty. The shuttle drive is long and tiresome. Shuttle will take 1-2 hours each way between Balch Camp and Ross Crossing.
2) Ross Creek kayakers trail. This minimizes the shuttle, makes a one day trip and shows off the most spectacular section. However, if you do not find the best trail, you will be bushwacking through the night! Some kayakers have been maintaining this trail, but scout it from the top to make sure you can find it. There are several areas where routes can diverge. The passage below describes a route that has been executed in as few as 3~4 hours, which is relatively fast compared to most trip reports (most ranging from 6~8 hrs).
- From the Ross Creek Confluence, travel upstream up Ross Creek, and then Turtle Creek, as you reach the intersection. Cross over to the right (i.e. river left) of Turtle Creek where ever convenient.
- Climb up steep slabs on climbers right (i.e. river left), making your own switch backs as needed.
- When you reach a water fall, scramble up around climber's left (river right) and keep going, following the canyon rim.
- Eventually, you will approach a ~60 degreed dark mossy rock to a short headwall. Climb this slightly dirty but featured rock to gain some vegetated ledges below a short headwall.
- Climb the headwall directly (one lower 5th class move) up a chimney, or scramble through vegetation to gain the ridge.
- From here, continue up slabs looking for a weakness in the manzanita, and cut across, traversing along the contour line until you reach Ross Creek. You should be looking over some nice teacups below.
- Follow Ross Creek on climber's left (i.e. river right) of Ross Creek, through some bushes, until you enter a lightly wooded area.
- From here, pick up a faint use trail keeping Ross Creek within earshot (but barely out of sight), which takes you back up to Ross Crossing Road. Beware of poison oak!
3) Bed Springs trail. Not Recommended. This is an old 4 wheel drive road that meets the creek on canyon left, about a mile and a half downstream of Ross Creek. There are bed springs, an old refrigerator, remains of old cars and such, marking the bottom of this route. The road is overgrown in spots, but mostly clear walking for 3.5 miles with 2000' of elevation gain. Very tiring after a long day of canyoneering.
Red tape[edit]
None.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
- Trip Report documenting the First Descent circa 1988
- A description of the Canyoneering Route written by Paul on a Kayaking Beta Page
- A Trip Report from a return trip in 2008
- Trip Report by Ihiromi from October 2013
- Trip Report of a canyoneering descent of the lower section from Ross Creek Confluence to Balch Camp
- Canyon pictures on Panoramio
- Pictures from 2008
Background[edit]
The first descent was done by Paul Martzen and Barry Chambers on August 20~21st, 1988. Paul returned the following year to complete the first kayaking descent of Ross Creek Confluence to Balch Camp, a feat only be repeated more than a decade later. 20 years later, Paul return once again, adding modern bolts to establish the canyoneering route as it now stands.
The upper section (above the drop in point on this page) has also been explored by Paul Martzen, reported here.
