Horse Creek (East Fork Kaweah Tributary)
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| | Raps:12-15 + jumps, max ↨100ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Required 25 min Vehicle:Passenger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 25 Jul 2021
"Ok, so this is an ok canyon for a rather extreme amount of effort. 7mi approach, then a 1000 descent down steep, loose, and/or bushwhacking terrain, |
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| Best season: | July-Sept
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36.4113, -118.6858
36.4644, -118.6672
36.4344, -118.7383
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Introduction[edit]
Horse Creek drains from Hockett Meadows down to the East Fork of the Kaweah. The best technical section seems to start at the Horse Creek Sequoia Grove at around 6500 ft but still makes for a very long day of canyoneering, starting at or before dawn is highly recommended. An overnight would not be uncalled for (though a permit would be required). Also, as this drains from way up, the water is rather chilly.
The canyon contains a large number of rappels, slides and jumps, with plenty of boulder hopping and down climbing in between. Giant Sequoia trees on the side at the start, and giant logs in the canyon further down add a unique character.
Approach[edit]
Leave a shuttle vehicle here: 36.434365,-118.738287 and drive 7 miles up to the Atwell Mill campground. If you're not camping there, there is a hiker parking to use.
Starting at Atwell Mill Campground, take the Atwell/Hockett trail for about 6-7 miles, down to the East Fork of the Kaweah, and up the other side. When we rounded the corner above Horse Creek at 7400 feet (36.419038,-118.681784) we took off down the gully to the creek. This was somewhat difficult, and I suspect that going a bit further and staying out of the gully may be easier, but I'm not sure. Either way the nearly 1000ft of elevation down to the creek is very steep.
Descent[edit]
The canyon starts off non-technical for a ways, but has 3 high quality slides before you get to any rappels. A few rappels follow as you continue down and past Cahoon Creek which comes out of a neat canyon on the left. Rappels remain spaced out below here until another drainage comes in from the left. From there down, the canyon becomes steeper and more consistently technical, until it straightens out approaching the East Fork.
Once you arrive at the East Fork, turn left and go down a short gorge with a couple fun short jumps. Continue down the East Fork a little less than a mile.
Exit[edit]
So...
There is an okay (steep!) fishing access trail to get up to the car on here: 36.431358,-118.737780
It likely hits the river around here: 36.429995,-118.737156
The deer trail further up the canyon on the north side of the river does not connect (easily) to that trail, and you should ignore it. I mistook it on satellite images for the bottom of the fishing trail, and we thrashed through brush for longer than we needed to.
Red tape[edit]
Permits if you go overnight.