Canyoneer Jump Trip (Lower), California

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Located in the Sierras and more formally known as the North Fork of Kings River, Lower Jump Trip provides an arduous, beautiful, fun adventure for experienced canyoneers, but has been the site of many serious injuries for those who were not extremely careful. Jump is NOT for beginners. If you don't have much Class C experience, go do the Seven Teacups or do Jump Trip (Upper) first to gain experience. And DEFINITELY try to hook up with someone that has done this canyon to go with you, it may well save you a trip to the hospital and months of rehab. Some of the things to watch out for: Several persons broke their back on high jumps, on the 52' initial and and under-40' Black Hole, and they were very experienced canyoneers. A person jumped from 6' into pool of water, and hit knee on edge of unseen rock 2-3' below surface. Snapped ligaments in back of his knee. A person attempted to swim through the waterfall into the Rainbow Room, panicked in the water and sunk 10' below surface after forgetting how to swim. A person rappelled straight down the big waterfall (without using rebelay), had trouble getting off rope at bottom, his pack had no bouancy, started gasping and dropped pack to bottom of pool losing all pack and all contents. A person fell off a cliff while rappeling when the rope broke (severed by a friction point), luckily landed into water Several persons have plummeted tens of feet off a cliff after slipping while attempting a traverse Several persons broke legs, ribs, ankles and knees while doing some of the slides Several people twisted or dislocated ankles and fingers while walking in the stream Approach The drive to Jump Trip is often long (5-6 hours from both Los Angeles and the Bay Area), and the additional necessity of setting a long car shuttle can make for challenging logistics. Drive to campground Note that cell service is poor in the entire Jump Trip area. The nearest reliable cell service is at a turnout atop a hill on Trimmer Springs Rd at 36°53'01.3"N 119°12'58.0"W, marked with a sign as "Cell Site". Black Rock campground Black Rock campground is currently open, with no fee for camping until further notice. Do note that there is no water at the campground at this time and it offers limited shade. Black Rock campground is vehicle campsite located near the trail head of Upper Jump Trip and the Black Rock Reservoir. It is cooler at 4300 ft elevation with shade from many pine trees, but insects are often a problem. Drive to Balch Camp; this is roughly 1.5 hours from civilization outside the mountains and cell reception is very poor over most of this entire distance. At Balch Camp, take two vehicles up the road on the right (LDC of the east fork of the river) leading to the power house and park one vehicle in the large dirt area on the river side of the road just before the gate and fences of the power house. Return to Balch Camp in the second vehicle and take the next turn on the right to cross just one bridge and start heading up the mountain. After a few switchbacks, the road will parallel the entire Jump Trip route (Lower and Upper) as you ascend with the mountain on your left. The set of two penstocks (not the single one) indicates the end of Lower Jump Trip. If this is your first trip, and especially if you are arriving after dark, be very careful on the section of road following the first scary bridge, particularly on a sharp left turn. Ten miles and ~30 minutes after the bridge in Balch Camp, take the right fork onto a dirt road. 1.2 miles later, you will arrive at Black Rock campground. There are sites to the left and to the right of the road you drove in on; see the Forest Service web site for details (or just search for Black Rock campground if that link is broken). Kirch Flat campground Kirch Flat campground is a free alternative to Black Rock. It is approximately 40 minutes closer to civilization than Black Rock making for a shorter drive in, but a longer drive up to begin either Upper or Lower Jump Trip in the morning. Also, it is at 1300 ft making it much warmer than Black Rock. Partial shade at many of the sites and proximity to the river somewhat mitigates the heat, however. The campground is first-come and may fill up on weekends. Hike In the morning, drive 2.4 miles from Black Rock (or 13.6 miles from Kirch Flat) to the wide dirt parking area with a gated dirt road on its southeast side. Hike 0.8 miles (-540 ft elevation) to the cliffs above the water -- this is the exit of Upper Jump Trip and the start of Lower Jump Trip. DescentFirst section The first 0.8 miles of Lower Jump Trip contains many of the best parts of the entire trip. Any time there is a jump, all but one member of your group can easily avoid it by having one member meat anchor a rappel in that location instead. Before jumping, it is a very good idea to have a member of your team check the depth of the pool below. Drop in: Rappel from two bolts to the pool below. (Bolts appeared around 1999 or 2000?) Alternately, find a spot RDC, slightly up canyon of the bolts and jump 52' into the pool. The entry for such a large jump must be excellent to avoid injury. The original jump was into the small pothole on the right side of the waterfall, 15' - 20'. It is a narrow landing zone made narrower by a boulder hidden in the waterfall froth. However, a recent variation is to edge around to the right till you are facing the waterfall. Then it is a clean drop just by stepping off, 20'. First jump: 260ft down canyon of the drop in, jump approximately 24' from the far right side of a waterfall. You must jump far enough horizontally to clear the rocks. (I think we usually jump from the left as it is an easier jump on that side.) Split falls: AKA "Jungle Ride". On the other side of the pool from the first jump, there is a 25' jump that is from between two cascades under normal flow conditions. This is where the banner picture from this page was taken. Climb around: Climb around the next waterfall LDC Left turn: The canyon makes an appreciable left turn Play jumps: Depending on the route taken, you may need to jump back into the water. You can jump from either side and climb back up to do it again. Dead tree anchor - bolted as of 9/3/2017: Go to the end of the big pool and exit RDC just before the waterfall. Climb directly to the right of the water course to ledge. Using double bolt station, rappel down the slippery RDC side of the waterfall to the large pool below. The distance from the bolts to the water is around 110'. Pool slide: After having someone check the depth, slide off a 5' ledge just left of center into the pool below Bumpy slide:Shortly down canyon, slide down the RDC cascade, but be prepared for a bumpy descent and be very careful not to injure your right ankle by getting it caught during the descent -- this has likely been the site of two injuries.Do not slide the obvious long slide on RDC, instead opt for a shorter slide on LDC, or simply walk down the slabs in the center. Black hole: A few pools later, observe the chain anchor up the rock LDC of the pour over. You can rappel from this anchor, or jump 33' from the LDC ledge closest to the pool into the pool below. Rebelay rappel:'"Station has been rebolted on 9/3/2017 by Dominik and Itaru'" There is limited room on the rock at the far side of the black hole pool; be sure to sequence wisely. From the bolted anchor out of the water LDC, rappel roughly 130' to the large pool below. In moderate flows, rappel in the watercourse as it is excellent fun. Remember swift water techniques and lower your head to create a pocket of breathable air while immersed in the waterfall. Be sure to avoid any pendulum movement as a number of groups have experienced core shots while rappelling in the flow; it may be wiser to use the rebelay station to reduce the chance of a core shot. In high flows, rappel the first 30' then look on the ledge LDC for a rebelay station. Consider swimming the pull side out and far away from the rappel before LAPAR rappels to reduce pull difficulties. Narrows jump: After a few more small jumps or slides, enter the narrows and avoid a difficult descent through a pinch by following a rock bench RDC. At the end of the bench, jump approximately 20' into the narrows water course. No-jump pothole: After the canyon turns left, there is a sequence of potholes to navigate. One of them looks like an appealing jump, but has a rock that can be dangerously concealed just below the surface. Make sure to check depths. Big Kahuna: Do not approach the waterfall just after the potholes directly; instead, follow the rock bench RDC up to a narrow cliff overlooking the pool below. The canyon register is in this area if you can find it. Using bolts RDC, rappel 80ft to the pool below. Slick Jump: Locate a ledge system on LDC, traverse out to the center of ledge, and jump 20' into the LDC side of the pothole below. The approach to the ledge slopes downward toward the pool and can be extremely slippery -- multiple people have fallen at this spot. There may be a bolt LDC in a small alcove near the ground that can be used for rappel, or to belay out to the edge of the jump. Big Jump: Jump 36' to the pool below from the RDC side of the cliffs, or downclimb to the pool LDC. Exit the pool on its RDC side, or cross the waterfall below the pool if you downclimbed. Rainbow Room: From two bolts on horizontal rock tucked just down canyon of a rock wall, rappel into the Rainbow Room. The approach to these bolts can be tricky and a belay may be warranted. Be careful of rope pull issues when retrieving the rope; consider swimming or throwing the pull side out and far away from the rappel before LAPAR rappels. Swim through the narrow channel under a waterfall and out the other side. Alternately, downclimb LDC to skip this rappel. Alternatively, jump 55', but the landing is very narrow. Matrix jump: After exiting the Rainbow Room, jump into the next pool from the RDC side of the waterfall being careful to avoid the submerged rock. Middle section The canyon opens up at this point and there are nearly 2 miles of hiking, creek hopping, downclimbing and very long pools to swim. Save some energy for this lower section and enjoy the beauty that is there. The following descriptions are only for a few of the most distinctive difficulties or locations. Dry Slide: Downclimb in a crack RDC of a diagonally sloping slab of smooth granite on the right side of a narrow cascade. Some people also used to scoot out on the dry slope, run down it and then fling themselves into the deep water as it got too steep. The swim following is about 60 yards. Long Pool: This pool is about 200 yards which seems like a really long ways to swim with packs and boots. The Water Gardens: A place to stop and marvel at how the water has cut intersecting and parallel channels. Second Pool: AKA 20th or 30th pool! This swim is about 130 yards long. The entrance is interesting. A thick rib of dark rock sticks out from the left. The water spirals around the right through 3 potholes. Each is deep enough to drop into, but check first. There is also a jump of 20' from the rib to the bottom pool, but the only deep landing zone is tiny and invisible from above. MiniGorge: The canyon starts to close up again but the walking is easy on bedrock. Pass a giant pothole to the side of the stream. In 2010 or 2011, a large rockslide clogged the end of this section with sharp edged boulders. Tricky Downclimb: Where the rockslide ends, the stream tumbles down into a small pool cluttered with rocks. Some giant boulders block the downcanyon view, but there are passages underneath them. There are plenty of rocks and horns to anchor a short 15 foot rappel LDC, or there is a moderately difficult crack to downclimb from a ledge on RDC. Rocks have fallen from the hillside and filled in part of the canyon beneath the downclimb. The crack is no longer needed as you can do an easy downclimb on RDC due to the new debris. Big pool: Either take a running jump to clear a small tree with rocks directly below, or climb slightly LDC and slide into the pool Lateral Downclimb: Downclimb a fairly long and very exposed slab on RDC, typically by climbing up the slab about 40' RDC, traversing across, and back down. Good spot to set a handline or a belay. Jump into the narrow, hanging pool, then jump into the large pool a feet feet below (after checking depth for both). Toboggan Warm Up: The hiking changes from rock hopping to bedrock with very easy walking on the RDC shoulder above some very pretty pools. The slabs make for easy walking, but if you have time and energy left, stay in the water course for some great jumps and beautiful swims. Last section Toboggan: As the canyon opens up, there is a large boulder RDC. Follow the edge of this boulder around to either side to find a long slide the drops into a pool. The right most slide drops cleanly. After checking the depth, slide down into the pool -- this is one of the most fun features of the canyon. Big Waterfall: This cascade is about 300 feet long. There is potential to stay in the watercourse or to do rappels to either side. If rappelling in the watercourse, find a single bolt at the top and rappel 135' into the hanging pool. The bolt is tucked in an upstream crease of rock inches above the water just RDC of the main watercourse. In July 2018, the bolt was just a stud missing its hanger and nut, about the size of a standard quick link, so likely a 10mm stainless steel Petzl nut. There should be good opportunities for a rock chock anchor far RDC that deposit the canyoneer on the slabs just above the hanging pool. Or possibly a bush anchor. LDC of the main water course, there is a small trickle of water that flows over the cliff edge. Farther LDC of this trickle is a large indentation with cracks that present a good opportunity for a knot chock. The fall line of the rope from this anchor meets the trickle of water at the cliff edge and descends to the LDC corner of the hanging pool, a few feet up canyon of the bolt for the second stage. Once in the hanging pool (which is out of sight from above, except from far RDC), exit the pool and rappel from a second single bolt on the LDC lip of the pool 125' to the water below. It is ok for the rope to be 5-15' short as the last part of the rappel is a slide. As of July 2018, this bolt appeared to be pulled out of the rock by approximately 3mm. Single bolts should generally be considered suspect and a meat anchor backup is recommended for all but LAPAR. Alternately, there is also an easy hike to bypass both stages of the big waterfall on LDC. Walk on slabs to the left. Do some butt scooting here and there. At the base of the first slab downclimb you should find the start of a trail. You can rappel 100' off a bush here into the pool below. Otherwise follow a trail on some terraces all the way around to a cliff wall on the left. Use a hand line to climb down a corner crack far LDC against a rock wall. There used to be a beautiful stand of pine trees at the base of this downclimb. Now, they are fallen logs that you have to climb over. Patterson Creek: It is easy to miss, but look for a light spray from this creek RDC across from the handline down climb. Boulder Maze: AKA The Final Slog. The Boulder Maze is only about 160 yards long, but it feels much longer and probably is with all zigzagging and dead ends. It helps to be a really good climber or fresh with lots of energy in this section, but it comes at the end of the day when you will be dog tired. This is an easy section to injure an ankle or worse. Spot and help each other. Generally, the easiest path is to go far LDC until you are past the first significant drop, then take a hard right, and stay RDC. In low flows, the second half can be followed along the water course on RDC, but in higher flows, scrambling along the right side but to the left of the flow is easiest. Running Rock: This is an alternate jump 15', RDC near the end of the Boulder Maze next to a narrow channel against the right side of the canyon. You can just jump, but running down it seemed to be the thing to do in the early days, so it got that name. Last Jump: This is a final 30' jump into the pool below. Alternatively there is a handline (chain) on LDC where people climb up to go swimming and jumping. You can use the existing rope to downclimb or rig your own rappel rope on the gigantic rebar anchors. From the pool below, climb the talus slope to a graded area. Water flow Safe water flow is approximately 12 cfs, but perhaps as high as 15 cfs for experienced and well-equipped canyoneers. Winter and spring flows are often much higher than this, and releases from the Black Rock reservoir upstream have resulted in flows in excess of 6000 cfs. 4 cfs makes for an enjoyable trip, but without many serious class C challenges. Gauge readings from the sensor in between Upper Jump Trip and Lower Jump Trip may be found at Dreamflows. ExitBypass trail From the graded area by the powerhouse head directly over to the cliff LDC. A rough path marked with a sign follows the base of the cliff steeply uphill until you can look down on the powerhouse. At the high point, the trail meets a chain link fence. After 100' of elevation gain, the trail will begin to descend and will end across the street from the dirt parking area; head downhill on the outside of the fence to the parking area. PG&E employees spray the poison oak once a year or so, but don't otherwise maintain this trail. If you have trouble finding the start of the trail, look farther up canyon where the shear rock wall meets the dirt section of the hill. Alternate Exit While at jump 6/18/15 some locals showed us how they do it. At the end we jumped the last pool and hiked down under the power station 140 yards and made another little jump 5'(be careful)and jumped back in the river and swam 160 yards along the powerhouse-when you see the water pouring out Balch PH start swimming over the shore just past the fence you'll see some old thick wire and Black Berry bushes and a piece of a downed wooded power pole next to a big brown rock-go up that trail and it will take to the road, about 40' from the cars. This route can save time and effort by eliminating the need to hike up the Balch powerhouse bypass trail. However, one should exercise caution when attempting this route, as the discharge from Balch powerhouse can potentially create strong and cold currents that make the swim more challenging. Red tape This canyon has been the site of many accidents and injuries. To avoid unwanted scrutiny and possible future restrictions, please be extra careful to avoid the need for emergency services. The water flow in this canyon is controlled by dam release from the Black Rock reservoir. If the reservoir is close to full, this canyon can be extremely dangerous as large water releases are more likely under that circumstance. This reservoir is visible from the south end of the campground and should be checked visually before beginning a descent. PG&E does not want anyone inside the fences of the power house. Use the LDC bypass trail instead of attempting to cut through the power house grounds. Source: WikiRope

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