San Joaquin

Telephoto view of Binocular rapid and the two following rapids.

Telephoto image taken from the take out road. Flow was fluctuating between 1000 and 1500 cfs approximately.

Binocular Rapid at 6800 cfs. Telephoto view from the take out road.

I remember joining Paul on Patterson Bend in the mid-1990's. Ours may have been one of the earliest trips after the first descent by the Holbeck and Stanley crew years prior. We attempted to portage Binocular through the boulders and poison oak on the left, wearing drysuits in the horrible heat. 'Ugh' as Paul puts it in the river description. So we ran the second two-thirds or half of the rapid, not because we wanted to, but because the alternative was heat stroke.

Richard

Timeline:
1:30 PM We arrived at Kerchoff Reservoir.
1:50 PM Floating down river towards the dam and pass bridge remains
2:20 Portaging around dam.
2:35 At base of dam getting ready to launch
3:20 1/4 to 1/3 of the way into the run.
4:06 Scouting the big Class 4 rapid
5:02 Finishing the second portage
5:46 Halfway through the Binocular portage
6:10 Finished the portage and about to run the Binocular exit.
6:54 Walking up the road from the powerhouse.

Looking towards the west down the San Joaquin valley. Millerton Reservoir, Kerkoff Reservoir (FERC P-96), Redinger Reservoir (FERC P-2017) are visible in the photo. This area of the San Joaquin is presently under study for several potential large dam and reservoir sites.

This was typical of some of the steeper drops, though a number were more congested. We successfully crashed down through this and most others. Such low water boating can be fun if you get used to it and you don't mind pinning and broaching and such. At spill flows, this becomes a delightful class 4 rapid.

Kerchoff is a small but scenic reservoir on the San Joaquin river near Auberry. It acts as a forebay for the two Kerchoff powerhouses owned by PG&E. It is a nice spot for touring kayaks, but tends to attract a few jet skis on summer weekends. The distance to the dam from convenient launching areas is about 1 3/4 miles.
Downstream view from the trail over the dam. What you see here was pretty typical of the first six miles at this low 'fish' flow; long pools seperated by rocky shallows. We were able to squeeze through all of these spots on this date.
Nice view from the pool at the base of the dam. During spill, some of these gates would be open and water would pour over the top of this dam. A stairway leads down close to this pool, but rock scrambling and a little bit of poison oak dodging is required for the final 30 or 40 feet.
I don't know what kind of rock these cliffs are made of, but there is quite a bit of it along the first 3 or 4 miles of the run. It looks like it has layers in it, so I think it is a metamorphic rock of some sort. The streambed for most of the reach is granite, but in this first section, this rock sort of alternated with the granite. Sometimes this stuff was on both sides of the river, sometimes granite was on the left and this stuff was on the right. If I find out what it is, i will update this description.
Pool just upstream of the gauging station.
This brushy island is around mile 2. The left side was obstructed at this low flow. I don't recall any problems with it at normal boating flows >1,000 cfs.
This right side of the island channel was narrow enough to put our 52 cfs to good use.
This is looking upstream from the bottom of a portage. I think it is the 3rd class 5 rapid. Fifty cfs just goes underneath the boulders, so we carried over the tops. This was the least awkward of these three portages, by a small margin.
I think this photo is just below the 3rd class 5, looking upstream. The next photo is looking downstream at, I think, the same spot. Patrick looks happy in this picture, but he knew I suckered him into this trip and that he was probably going to be late for work.
This is the prettiest part of the river with this cliff rising on the left. There are some impressive domes and cliffs on the right in this section as well. A moderate rapid waits at the end of this pool, then you arrive at Binocular Rapid.
We had a final short boulder portage around this spot in the rapid just below Binocular Rapid. At spill flows this would be a 4+ or class 5- rapid

A look at the last big section of the Patterson Bend Run. The rapid at the top is Binocular (Class V).

From the road into Squaw Leap Park, we hiked in along a dirt road to paddle the last mile or so of the Patterson Bend section of the San Joaquin River. After a mile of hiking, you come to a fence marking the start of private property. From there you can follow the fence line downhill across country to the river. Can't really recommend it. We thought we had some small spill, but we did not have time to drive to Kerchoff Reservoir. Turns out the flow was only slightly higher than base / fish flow, so we barely scraped through.
Paul and Evan climbing down this loose rock section.
What we came down to get to the river.
Evan starting this fun little rapid.
Paul taking some photos at our put-in.
Evan running the first rapid we came upon.
Paul showing us how much rapid #35 will make you smile.
Paul and the Rocks he loves.
This is the last rapid before the landscape changes and the river starts flowing into a beautiful gorge.
The gorge, where Patterson Bend ends and the Squaw Leap section begins. Paul and Evan posing next to the mossy rocks. Where you can see water seeping through the cracks.
Evan laughing out loud.
Evan having fun dropping down the 'The Shoot'.
Paul making the squeeze move.

A look of some of the last rapids/rocks on the Patterson Bend Run taken off the road to Squaw Leap park.
A little bit better look at some of the last rapids/rocks on the Patterson Bend Run taken off the road to Squaw Leap park.

This small drop is about a half mile before the Kerchoff #1 powerhouse. Flow was only 45 cfs but we managed to scrape and scratch our way through most drops. Any lower would have required much more effort. Patterson had been spilling early in the morning, so we thought the flow would be higher than it was.

This telephoto view of the biggest rapid in Patterson Bend is available from the take-out road. Flow in this picture is only 45 cfs, but you can clearly see the size of the boulders which form the rapid. They also make portaging difficult.

One of several alternate proposed
reservoirs on the San Joaquin river.
This one floods both Patterson and
Horseshoe Bend sections.

Another busy rapid that is probably class 3 at higher flows. Patrick broached near the top and dropped his paddle. He righted himself and squished through the rest of the way using his hands, which may have been easier than using the paddle. I fetched the paddle from where it hung up about halfway through.