San Joaquin

Excellent flow with 2400 cfs and nice warm day. We scouted Study Rapid, Little Dog and Big Dog. At Study Rapid, the center route was still good, while the left line was still shallow. The right side line looked weird, as usual.

At Two Holes Hiding, the center chute had plenty of water making the move to the right around the big hole much easier.

Long and Shallow was great.

Big Dog let us through without too much damage. No swims.

Wahoo earned its name again. Biggest waves of the day.

Both Constriction and Powerhouse Hole delivered big hits, but let us through without flips or swims.

All concurred that this is a beautiful section of river.

Edison will provide a scheduled release between 1,600 cfs and 2,500 cfs, on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 - 22, 2022. Flows will ramp down gradually starting Monday morning.

The snowpack is not big enough to produce a spill this year (2016) and there is not going to be a scheduled recreational release either.

This is the 3rd rapid below Big Dog as viewed from the scout at Constriction Rapid. It is a pushy but relatively clean rapid.

It is easy to scout Powerhouse Hole from either side. A man made channel is visible in the background on river right. This affords an easy sneak route but there are bushes to go through at the very bottom.

The hole fills most of the main channel at this flow. A lot of people managed to get through it, but a few got cartwheeled for awhile.

Rolund McNutt is exactly on the correct right side line to sneak past Powerhouse Hole. He is exactly on top of a thin tongue that feeds through. He did not slow down at all or get submerged. Boaters who were a little bit further out, generally made it through but after getting stalled a bit. Boaters who dropped into the center got stopped and cartwheeled.

Running the left side of this rapid is generally the most dependable and safest route.

Down the left at Constriction Rapid.

Jean Luke makes it through Constriction despite dropping sideways into the left center. .

The tree that was wedged on the left side of Big Dog in 2009 is no longer there, thankfully.

At 3,500 cfs, right, center and left routes were all fine.

I just did an evening run on the Horseshoe Bend section of the San Joaquin River on 7/26/06 at 2400 cfs. I ran it with Dan and Evan, and I have to say they did a great job showing me the lines. I must also say I was quite nervous. I was happy to discover that all the holes that I encountered, or watched those guys try to punch through and then get flipped, were all washing out. There were a few really large and nasty holes, but they were easy to see and avoid as you paddled down the rapids. The bottoms of most of the rapids were made up of these crazy lateral waves that were bouncing off the sides of the canyon, along with some very strong boils. This all helped add to my excitement and nervousness. Once I got over my fears, I was able to enjoy this incredibly scenic river that included some beautiful granite gorge walls. We also saw three large owls near the put-in, a first for me, after living in the area for seven years. I uploaded pictures and videos for your enjoyment, and I hope it encourages you all to take a trip down this section of river.

Dan walking under the huge pipe at the parking lot/put-in for the Horseshoe Bend run.
Dan found another place to put-in instead of Willow Creek. And his seal launch that followed.
Evan getting ready in Willow Creek, the put-in for Horseshoe Bend run.
Evan pushing his way around a tree in Willow Creek.
Dan showing us how to run Big Dog. Followed by Daniel, except for this rock, that just came out of nowhere!
An overview video of Class V Rapid: BIG DOG
Notice the bad under-cut rocks on river right (bottom of the screne)!
This quage is located on river right about 25 yards downstream of where Willow Creek joins the San Joaquin. However, that day the link from Edison said the river level was 2400 cfs, while this quage shows about 1800 cfs ???
The Huge Pipe as seen with Evan paddling by, downstream of the put-in and Willow Creek.
Dan running Study Rapid.
Dan below a rapid in the Scenic Corridor.
Evan in the Scenic Corridor.
Below one of the rapids? Maybe Four Holes?
Looking upstream at Little Dog, just above Big Dog.
The under cut rocks as seen from above at Big Dog Rapid that are on river right.
Dan and Evan scouting Big Dog, the big Class V rapid on the run.
Evan below one of the drops, fighting his way through the boils and crazy water.
A look at Powerhouse Rapid, ran it on river left, it flushed us right out with the current.
Dan and Evan fighting their way across the 3600 extra cfs the powerhouse was adding to the river. Lots of crazy currents, strong eddies, and funny boils.
At the takeout under the bridge at Kerchoff Reservior at dusk.

This is the first big drop in the Horseshoe Bend section of the San Joaquin. At 1,000 cfs, rafts must portage over the rocks in the middle, but kayaks can push and scrape through the narrow slot. This is the worst spot on the river for low flows, but 1,000 cfs is a low flow for the whole section.

This rapid becomes runnable at about 1,500 to 1,600 cfs.
At 1,600 cfs everyone was willing to run this rapid. The slot is still tight for all the rafts, even for this small 12 footer.

Kayaks could run this route or a route on the right side. At higher flows, the line on the left opens up.
All of the rafts hung up momentarily and and tipped up at this slot, but even the 14 footers made it through fine.

At lower flows rafts will have to be dragged over the rock at this same spot.
Tim Schiller swimming the right side route for the second time on his inflatable river mat (hypalon).
Little Dog is a technical rapid that immediately preceedes Big Dog. There is little space and fast current in between, so set safety to rescue anyone who swims in Little Dog, so they do not flush into Big Dog.

Dale (rowing the raft)complained that 1,600 cfs was only marginal for rafts and that 1,800 to 2,000 cfs is a much better flow, particularly at Big Dog.
This scene is typical of the many sections of flat water with small horizon lines. The drops may be small, but they often have sharp horizon lines so you can't see the line through the drop untill you are on top of it or even in it.

Granite cliffs line much of the section. This picture is about 1/3 of the way into the run, approaching a particularly beautiful area.

A breath taking river....

Dan's 'Funny Move,' he's moving back upstream, backwards, from a strong eddie and crazy boil.

The farthest upstream of several
alternate reservoirs proposals. This
one could store 1.4 million acre/feet
of water, but would bury all of
horseshoe bend and most of
Patterson Bend.