Upper NF San Joaquin

After 2 long weeks of kayak teaching and a 12 hr drive south from the Cal Salmon, I finally made it to Oakhurst, the gateway to the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin.  I was suppose to meet the Team consisting of Josh Nielson, Tyler Fox, Adrian Kiernan, Riley Best, and Jamie Garrod.  When I rolled into Oakhurst, it was midnight.  The map showed single lane roads heading east towards the mountains and we were to meet at a campground somewhere up there....

I drove for hours and I mean hours and I finally made it to camp as I was about to give up the hunt.  A light sprinkle with snow in the high country meant cool temps.  Waking up in the morning, classic Sierra landscape pervailed.

Awesome Cali camping

We had an early breakfast and then set out to the trailhead to organize and get going.

Adrian psyched for the mission ahead

From our camp spot, it was a short drive on a dirt road to get to the Isberg Trailhead.  Interestingly enough, the two trail heads are only 1 mile apart which gave us an easy shuttle.  Dropping off the rigs, we got to Isberg and began the prep work.

The Team looking at the trail map

The hike is somewhere around 16 kilometres and the hike out around 4.5 kilometres so it was going to be a mission no matter what.  We had no guage, no one had been down before, it had only been run twice, and the hike in was long.  Sooooo...we went for it in the best of styles...too much fooling around at the trialhead and a late start.  Perfect!!!

Sorting out the stuff

Time was running out and it was late.  We knew the hike was burly and long so we got on with it.  There's something to be said about lugging a 45kg kayak for 16 km.  It feels oh so good to get it off your back.

Haggard (photo: Kiernan)

After hours of lugging the boats uphill, we made it to the overlook.  It's an amazing place that looks over of the entire NF San Joaquin valley.  We could see where we were headed and where we needed to take out.  Whew...it was a long way down there!

Somewhere down there lies the San Joaquin

A much needed break

We left the lookout and headed uphill.  Always uphill and with little light remaining and no chance of getting to the putin, we decided to camp for the night at the top of the climb.  We knew the next day was all downhill to the put in so we found a sweet camp spot in between snow drifts and settled in for the night.

I love Cali overnights!!!!

 

Getting up in the morning, spirits were high and an hour and a half later we were at the put in.

Tyler Fox lifestylin it (p. Garrod)

A pretty spectacular place with some put in drops, a sweet bridge and a killer campground.  We rested for 2 hrs before heading out and paddling downstream.  The run was 6 miles and we were trying to get past a drainage that came in from the east.  That was our marker.

Josh Nielson - Put In 20'

Continuous Goods!! (p.Nielson)

Getting ready to launch (p. Garrod)

There was 2 miles of continuous, runnable, amazing whitewater to camp.

Josh loving the triple

One of my favorite High Sierra camps ever.  (p. Garrod)

Day one was epic.  I wonder how day 2 was going to be?  With a mini-gorge to start the day and then more amazing whitewater, the Upper NF did not disappoint.  I was super psyched with our Team because we worked really well together.  No run goes without it's mishaps and ours did for sure, but there was anything really to worry about.  No major hiccups in a stellar descent.  Paddling for a few more hours brought us to the big one...the 60 footer we had heard and seen pics of.  I'm going to leave this one for you to figure out.  Here's a few pics to wet your appetite.

Tyler Fox in good style

After the 60' there was miles of awesome continuous whitewater all the way to the take out bridge.

The Team drying out gear

After we dried out our stuff, we ate lunch, packed up and headed uphill for the long 4.5 kilometre hike out.  Wow...did those PBR's taste good at the top!!!

The Upper NF San Joaquin is definitely a run that I will do again.  It's one of the best High Sierra runs I've done.  It's not Upper Cherry, it's totally different.  What Cherry has in smooth granite and drops, this run has in boulder gardens, steep long sections, and complex problems.  It also has a burly hike in and out and no gauge which keeps the masses out.