Kings

After a leisurely two mile walk down the Yucca Point trail, the clear waters of the river will be enticing.   It is a nice place to swim with a modest sized eddy, a small gravel beach and a big smooth flattish bedrock to lay out on.   If the flow is low you can swim further out and about.   About one third to half way down the trail, there is a short side trail to swimming holes on Ten Mile Creek.   I emphasize swimming here because unintentional swimming further downstream in Kings Canyon could be much less pleasant!    There are some wonderful huge pools through out the section though, that are worth exploring if you take the time.

Ten Mile Creek gets kayaked in the early spring at the inflow to Hume Lake and a bit upstream.  Below Hume Lake to the Kings River, Ten Mile Creek is a beautiful but relatively moderate canyoneering trip.   Ropes are not absolutely mandatory for strong climbers, but rappels in a few spots allow people to stay in the creek bed and avoid nasty thrashing in the brush and poison oak on the hillsides.  This creek is very steep and one should have good rock climbing skills before exploring very far up or downstream.

The put in pool allows paddlers a warm up while waiting.   An easy rapid gets the arms working.   Within a few hundred yards though, at the confluence with Ten Mile Creek, the river bends right and drops over several junky ledges, creating a class 4 rapid.   The biggest hole is on the left, but smaller holes will keep paddlers busy.

The river is pinched between cliffs on the left and a debris field of large boulders on the right.    Look for avalanche signs and chutes on the river right hillsides to get an inkling of where the debris came from.

The rapid starts off with a steep chute aimed at the left wall.   Jog to the right and then run the main drop in the center.  There is a big eddy on the right above the main drop which puts you in a good position and allows you to see the rest of the run fairly well.  The second half of the rapid consists of a bunch of hole dodging.   Running to the left of most of them seems to work fairly well.

At high flows the route is just to fight through huge nasty holes for a hundred yards or so.   Sneak routes may open up on the far right.

Scout on either side.   Portage is probably easier on the right.

After 2 miles of low gradient floating the first of a series of big class 5 rapids start.   Looking downstream from above, the channel is filled with large boulders.   A distinct cliff face is visible ahead indicating where the river turns to the right.  The rapid ends at the base of the cliff; a long ways down there.   The route in the upper half of the rapid tends to be on the left side, so left side scouting gives a better view than from the right.     The biggest drops await at the bottom of the rapid.

The rapid starts off as a long moderate class 3 - 4 lead in, then suddenly drops away.    At low flows the ugly undercut boulders at the base of the main drop encourage a portage.   At higher flows it cleans up but can form a huge ugly hole or holes.    There can be a crash and bash sneak route to the right, which feeds back into the main flow just below the main ugly drop.

Cacreeks calls this Kodiak, and others might have different names.   Grizzly is pretty good though as this is the ugliest of the drops in this immediate vicinity.

Boulders fill up the left side of the canyon and constrict the river against the right wall which is a large and beautiful cliff.   The main channel runs against this wall.   Boulders guard the entrance creating several steep chutes leading into the main chute.  Strong diagonal waves on the left try to push boats into the wall which is slightly undercut in spots.   Paddlers must punch two large ledges halfway through the chute.    The run out splits around some large boulders and contains further though lesser difficulties.

Kayakers can enter on the far right at the top putting them in proper orientation to punch the diagonal and then run the ledges on the left.     Rafts have a bit tougher time.

Huge boulders dam the river and form a nice long pool.    The spillway between the boulders is a big ramp and accelerates boaters to almost 2 times light speed, hence the name.   Scout from either side, but the left side is probably better for setting safety.     The base of the spillway can develop a sticky hole or boaters can flush through with minimal carnage.    The large boulder immediately downstream on the right which makes for a good vantage point is completely undercut.   It seems to be smooth enough that the few boaters I have seen go under have flushed right on out the other side.

Warp 2 is impressive in itself but it is only the entrance drop of a long and serious class 5 section, which ends with Cassady Falls.

More and more people seem to be running this drop.    At higher flows, kayaks can also sneak down the left edge.    These falls are the exit of a big class 5 section.   Warp 2 forms the entrance.   At higher flows it is just one long monster rapid.

A relatively short but steep rapid ends in a river wide ledge hole that can be very sticky.    The left bank is a cliff.  You can scout on that side but you can't portage or set safety.  The right bank is boulders.   Set safety, scout or portage on the right.    Note that the right side boulder is undercut and a strong eddy feeds under it and then into the hole.

The beautiful Rough Creek Falls drop about a hundred feet into a pool at the base of this rapid.    Boulders occupy the left side of the canyon and constrict the river against the right side cliff.    Boulders also block the entrance, forming a couple narrow chutes and restricting one's view until committed to the drop.    At low to moderate flows, kayakers can enter on the far right and paddle back towards the left, fighting through a couple holes.     Scout, set safety or portage on river left.

Take time to enjoy the pool here and perhaps explore the weird geologic formation downstream of the falls.     The next quarter mile is one long class 5.     If you need to portage this section it will be over monster boulders on the left, then over boulders on the right.

This rapid is at the base of Garlic Creek Falls.      Large boulders create a variety of channel and drops.  This rapid has usually felt to be one of the easier class 5 rapids on this  section.  The key is figuring out which routes are good and which are dead ends.   Scout or portage on the left.      This rapid marks the end of the class 5 rapids till Little Hand of God, two miles downstream.

This can be a serious rapid.   At lower flows kayakers have pinned in here and flushed under a boulder at the end.    Scout or portage on river right.

The last of the class 5 rapids on this section.    Paddle through shallows towards the right.  Don't go to the far right though as nasty seives and pins await.   As the river drops away, cut back into the main center channel.   Deal with a series of holes and junky drops.  Scout or portage on left.

This is the longest and most interesting rapid in the last 3 miles, though several other drops are also very fun and interesting.    Converse Creek enters on the left just upstream of this rapid.   The rapid itself has a series of ledges and chutes.

At the headwaters of Converse Creek is Converse Basin and its large grove of Sequoia Gigantea redwoods. This was the second largest grove of giant redwoods till some 6,000 trees were logged between 1892 and 1918, by the Hume Bennet Lumber Company.