Tenmile Creek (Lower)
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| | Difficulty:3B III (v3a2 III) Raps:3-8, max ↨150ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:Optional 2 min Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:Granite | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 27 Aug 2017
"Most of descent was just Rick and John, with Alwin joining us at the end of the canyon. We only found 3 useful anchors in the canyon, including a hand |
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| Best season: | June-Oct
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36.8249, -118.8817
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WaterflowIntroduction[edit]
This section of Ten Mile Creek, extends from near Highway 180 down to the Kings River. The 2 mile Yucca Point trail leads back up to the road from the river. The Boyden Cavern company leads commercial canyoneering trips in this section. I assume that they set quite a few rappels, but there are only about 2 mandatory rappels for skilled downclimbers. I was surprised by how many fairly large falls had interesting and reasonable downclimbs. I think this lower section is a little bit less interesting that the upper section from Hume to Highway 180, but certainly worth doing and very fun.
While there are not a ton of mandatory rappels, there are some optional ones that could be quite a bit more fun than climbing around. A few well placed bolts would help facilitate this, as there are surprisingly few fixed anchors from the Boyden Cave folks. Also, while the lower section proves a bit less technical than the upper part, there are more in the way of fun slides, jumps, and a cool stemming section near the bottom.
Approach[edit]
From Fresno area drive up Highway 180 through the Grants Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. Pay the entrance fee. Drive towards Kings Canyon. You will cross Ten Mile Creek at a small private resort called Kings Canyon Lodge. Continue past a few hundred yards and look for turnouts on the left above the creek. There are several to choose from, so inspect to see which descent looks most appealing.
I marked 3 entry points. The first one starts right next to the road gets you a fun little slide to jump move that is a bit bumpy, and something you have to have an eye for, and a bit of boulder hopping. The second is more of a scramble down, and comes in above a short gorge that can be jumped into, with mostly a low angle scenic bedrock section below. The 3rd comes in just above where the canyon gets optionally technical.
The Yucca Point Trailhead is 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile away depending on which turnout is used.
Descent[edit]
Just below the lower drop-in is a fun sliding rappel of ~140 feet. A good bit of boulder hopping follows until you get to ~100 foot drop into a scenic gorge that is bolted from a ledge on the right, and you made be able to disconnect 15-20 feet above the water and slide the rest of the way in.
The canyon gets steep below here and drops into a series of larger waterfalls. Most of this can be downclimbed around, or bypassed with rappels on the side. Though it would be a bit "contrived", a descent through the watercourse would be more fun, though some fresh bolts would probably be needed. There's a single bolt in there, but for some reason two rusty rapids jammed are jammed into it making it quite useless.
The final of these large falls is a sliding one that is easily bypassed down a ramp on the left. Staying to the right of the creek below here will go past a small path that exits up to the Yucca Point Trail on the right, if you feel like exiting.
Continuing down brings you to one of the more exciting sections of Lower Tenmile, a narrow gorge that leads to some stemming. There's a set of double bolts at the top of the stemming section, which could be used to descend the ~8 foot drop at the end of it, though sticking a rope in the crack is a real possibility. Unfortunately the bottom of the 8 foot drop is overall shallow and filled with boulders. A sketchy shallow jump is possible by sending someone down first on rope to carefully scout the landing.
Below here is a waterfall that can be bypassed, although rappelling into the middle and sliding down the bottom half is quite fun. A final slide waits below.
Exit[edit]
The route ends in a jumble of rocks. Exit canyon right(Middle Fork Kings river upstream) about as soon as you clear the canyon. There is a short section of rapids on the Middle Fork canyon left. You will find a use trail leading upstream above the river. If you don't find the trail, it is still fairly easy hiking along the edge of the river. At the confluence of the south and middle forks of the Kings river, you will find the bottom of the Yucca Point Trail at least 30 yards upstream of the confluence. The YP trail ends on a rock. This trail switchbacks about 2 miles up to the highway. It could be slightly overgrown with poison oak or other vegetation. At the highway it is 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to the turnouts where you started into the creek.
There is also trail access halfway down the creek. A spur trail leads from the Yucca Point trail to the creek, downstream of Ten Mile Falls. There are some signs of human travel attempts just below Ten Mile Falls(non-rappel waterfall with sizable shallowish pool). Ignore those and continue down canyon out of view until you see the trail access canyon right. This allows you to do just the upper half if you are going slow or do not want to do the whole section. Or you could hike down and just do the lower half. The Boyden Cave company divides their trips up in just this fashion.
Red tape[edit]
This creek is in Sequoia National Forest next to Kings Canyon National Park. The drive in goes through the Kings Canyon Park entrance station. You must pay a fee or have a National Parks Pass.
Beta sites[edit]
Trip reports and media[edit]
Background[edit]
Trevor Haggenson and I did this trip sometime in the late 1990's or early 2000's. We mostly downclimbed drops, but rappelled a couple times I think. We could have downclimbed one of those at least, but poison oak persuaded us to rappel. I talked to Steve Fairchild at Boyden Cave and he started commercial canyoneering trips in here the year or so later. (PM 2014)
A memorial for Luca Chiarabini has been established close to the confluence of Tenmile Creek and the Kings River. A giant Sequoia sapling has been planted DCL close to the rock wall after the last pool (36.83880, -118.87958). Luca Chiarabini passed away on August 3, 2017 while attempting to cross the King Rivers after completing a first descent of a nearby canyon, Deer Creek. If you are nearby, please water it and send pictures to Tiffanie Lin [cinnybear(at)gmail(dot)com].
