East Fork Kaweah River (Oak Grove)
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| | Raps:1 + jumps, max ↨60ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 20 min Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Best season: | June to November
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36.4543, -118.8091
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Introduction[edit]
The East Fork of the Kaweah from the Oak Grove bridge makes for a fun canyoneering route. Only one rappel seems to be necessary, but there are lots of cool narrows. The gorge below Oak Grove is not as deep as the lower gorge below, and doesn't have as great of water slides, but it is much longer and narrower, has fun climbing, two rappels, and connects with the East Fork Kaweah River (Lower) section for a great full day trip, with enough swimming to leave your arms exhausted.
Please note the best part is the last 2/3 of the descent shown on the map, below a questionable Private Access where a well developed trail starts at the river and ascends up the side of the hill towards the road. We were not sure where the trail would intersects the road, it may be private or open to public, but we know for sure there's not much worth of interest above this point.
Also, if you're looking for some additional excitement and potentially a bit of a challenge, this could be combined easily with the lower section of East Fork Kaweah River (Lookout Point) (access may be on private property), or with the full route if you want an excessively long day.
On hot days in the summer, wet suits aren't entirely necessary on the East Fork of the Kaweah River.
Approach[edit]
Leave one car at a roadside parking spot near Pumpkin Hollow bridge on Generals Highway just down from the Sequoia NP entrance. Drive a second car down Generals Highway, then turn left up towards Mineral King, and drive up for a while til you get to the high bridge over the East Fork.
If you wanted, you could do this top section without doing the lower by scrambling up the cow trails in between the gorges, but I doubt anyone would ever want to do that.
Descent[edit]
Climb and swim down the canyon. After a while you'll come to a very gorged in, fairly narrow section that ends in a 4 foot drop that pours out into a big pool. There's a big rock in the splash zone, so if you jump, jump way out to the side where you can easily spot the water from up above.
More narrows follow, some neat rabbit holes, pools, lots of swimming. Eventually you get to a drop that can be fairly obviously jumped. Below is another drop which from above looks like it might be a good slide. That is the rappel. There aren't terrific anchor options here, but there are some chock stones up on the right. Might want to scope it out before you commit everyone in your group to the jump. At the rappel, the waterfall goes down a slide and slams into a sieved out undercut pocket that looks dangerous. Rappel around it on the right.
A ways down there is an obvious cave filled with drift wood on the right. Below here is a triple drop which can be descended by a downclimb, a bumpy slide, and a down climb. A handline hangs from the left if you want an easy bypass.
Somewhere down from there the canyon opens up to some boulder hopping. It turns left and gorges back up at a big slide in a slot. Walk around it on the right and find somewhere to climb down and jump back then. After this, keep an eye out on the right for an old trail up above. If you climb up to that, it will take you on the fast track down to the lower gorge. When the old trail starts to cut obviously way uphill to the right, take the cow paths down to the left, staying on the right shore until your forced back into the water just above the lower gorge.
Exit[edit]
Descend the lower gorge to the bridge, find somewhere to climb up and return to your car. http://ropewiki.com/East_Fork_Kaweah_River_(Lower)
Red tape[edit]
Parking can be difficult towards the bottom, pay attention to the no parking signs. Also you're likely trespassing for the minute you spend climbing up to the bridge.
Beta sites[edit]
SummitPost.org : Kaweah River Canyons
