California Creekin'
Dinkey Creek, North Fork of the Kings River Drainage: Dinkey Creek is a little-known granite gorge in the southern Sierras. This piece of whitewater has been described as "problem-solving while making your way through a granite taco." It is perhaps the least known and least respected adventurous kayak run in the Sierras.
Dinkey is only six miles in length, but the handful of successful descents have all taken as long as two or three days. It is the combination of serious portages, some requiring ropes and rappelling, as well as the need to gawk and enjoy the amazing scenery of this gorge, that makes it take so long for paddlers to get through. It is indeed a very remote and committing gorge to explore, and it demands respect and cautiousness because performing rescues is very difficult. The river is low volume and contains quality drops and waterfalls, as well as gigantic drops and falls. Throw in a few massive boulders creating ugly sieves and squeeze it between two sheer granite walls and you've got Dinkey Creek. It ain't that dinkey!
Access: You've got to want this one. Right from the car, hike in a good mile along an old dirt road, then drop more than 2,000 feet of bushwhack through poison oak bushes and vines. Finally at the river's edge, you'll find it hard, but not impossible, to locate flatland for camping. An overnight is recommended. The take-out is at a small paved bridge just above the confluence with the North Fork of the Kings River.
Other whitewater in the area: Lower Dinkey Creek (a one-mile sampler run of Class IV-V), North Fork of the Kings River (Class IV), and the Main Kings River (Class III).
Bald Rock, Middle Fork of the Feather River Drainage: Bald Rock is another sheer-walled, granite-adventure section on the Middle Fork of the Feather River, flowing out of the northern Sierras. Beautiful clean drops and slides and a bit of portaging best describe this high-quality classic whose play-to-work ratio is high on the play side.
This eight-mile section can be done as a long day trip or an enjoyable overnight self-support. On some rare occasions, water levels work out to be combined with a three-day upper run on the Middle Fork. It is a shame to rush through such a dramatic landscape, as the scenery of the canyon is surpassed only by the quality of the whitewater. Clean slides, a clean no-brainer 30-footer, Curtain Falls, and challenging route-finding characterize this section. A couple of "creative" portages might be required around Atom Bomb Falls.
Access: A bouncy dirt road leads to a put-in bridge. Shortly after putting in, paddlers begin dropping into the canyon. The river eventually dumps into the backwaters of Lake Oroville. Other whitewater in the area: Devil's Canyon (Class IV-V).
Dunbar Hardy is co-owner of and lead instructor for Tarkio Kayak Adventures. He is also a freelance photographer and writer.
This article first ran in Whitewater Paddling, an annual magazine published by Canoe & Kayak. To purchase a copy of Whitewater Paddling, call (800) MY-CANOE, ext. 114.
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