Trinity Alps Photo

Base Camp

Trinity Alps Photo

It may surprise you to learn that the Trinity Alps is the second largest wilderness in the state of California. While the east side with its towering granite spires brings the crowds, the whole west side of the map gets almost no use. You could easily spend a week exploring the countless creeks and

mountains with out ever seeing a single person. Spring is a sublime time to wander through the low elevation forests of the Trinity Alps. Flowers are just starting to bloom while crystal clear creeks seem to be poring down the mountain from all directions. You just might wake up in the morning to find hundreds of moths and butterflies fluttering around camp in the morning sun. Wildlife is also very plentiful in the Trinity Alps. With a little luck you may see black tail deer, black bear, mountain lions, and hundreds of other species that live within the Trinity Alps Wilderness. With over 515,000 acres of beautiful wilderness to explore there is no reason for everyone to go to the same place. There's plenty of room to roam through the great old growth forests of the Alps. Meanwhile, the highest peaks and and most spectacular lakes in the Trinity Alps can almost all be found in the White Trinities. With towering granite spires and glacier carved canyons these mountains are comparable to any mountain range in the world. Maybe not in size, but in their exquisite beauty. Unfortunately this beauty brings a price. Most lakes and meadows in the White Trinities are often crowded even on weekdays. On a busy weekend a popular trail like Canyon Creek or Stuart's Fork could bring as many as five hundred people. However, even Stuart's Fork has a back road. A trail that leads to the end of Deer Creek and into a red barren landscape that could remind you of Mars.

Few trees and only the heartiest plants and wild flowers call this place home. Colder and hotter than other areas in the Alps. The temperature in the sumer here can range from over one-hundred in the midday sun to near freezing in the late nigh and early morning hours. This area is also very steep. Only those is good hiking condition should attempt these hikes. Some trails in this area can rise as much as 4,500 feet in just a few miles.

Upper Trinity River Class 3

The Upper Trinity above Trinity Lake is a absolute classic. The river flows through a large flood plain with towering mountains flanking all sides. After about two mile you come to the largest though not the longest rapid. The Bear Creek rapid has two main parts a upper drop that is simple enough just don't go to far right and a long bolder field at the bottom with a few big holes.

The normal put in is ware HWY 3 leaves the river. Above this the river is far steeper with some gnarly drops.

Rope swing at Crawdad hole

The normal section is nice an scenic with continues class 2-3 rapids.

One thing to keep in mind is the river is so clear that in the spring it often looks low and rocky when it's anything but.

The river can be ran between 600-4,000cfs though it is so continuous that at the higher flows a swim would almost definitely lead to the loss of a boat. Shown below Eagle Creek rapid is the longest of the run and is about a half mile long. I think that at flows above 2,000 this run has more play waves than any thing I've been on.

Stuarts Fork Lower Class 3

Stuarts Fork of the Trinity River is one on the true forgotten gems of kayaking in Trinity County. Perhaps to short for any one other than the locals to justify. However this run is my favorite after work run. Just 15 minutes from Weaverville this run takes less than an hour and is absolutely beautiful.

The rapids are similar to the upper trinity but the better and faster. Flowing through a deep canyon on it's way out of the Trinity Alps Stuarts Fork has some of the best scenery of any run in the area.

The main section of rapids can be seen from the road past Trinity Alps Resort on a notable canyon bend. The main drop however is below this and harder to get a look at. Below the Resort rapids taper off and wood and willows become the game on the way down to the lake.

The put in is at Stuarts Fork Trail Head, one on the main trails in the Trinity Alps.

You can take out at the resort or down at Trinity Lake. The river flows when the upper trinity is over 700cfs. This run can be done quite high but it gets VERY fast and getting to the put in can be interesting.

There is also a class 4-5 run up in the wilderness from Deep Creek that's been ran quite a few times.

Browns Creek Class 2-4 (P)

Browns Creek flows out of the Chanchelulla Wilderness Area just south of Indian Creek. The upper most run has only been done a handful of times. After walking down the creek this last deer season from Dear Lick Spring I just can't see it, it's BAD. From the 20 ton bridge to the the paved bridge is a fun 3-4 run with a few portages one, right off the bat might make it worth putting in about a half mile below the bridge. Below this things are fast paced fun over lots of bedrock. The down side is the wood. Like many of the creeks on this side of the river, wood and brush can be a real hazard. Mostly do to the lack of pools and long rapids around blind corners. I only remember a few of the rapids on this section. One was a series of 2-3 ft drops into a larger boulder choked drop that was sieved out on the left. Sorry no photos of this section yet.

The lower section from the Deer Lick Springs Rd Bridge to the HWY 3 bridge is only Class 2 with perhaps four Class 3 rapids. Brush and wood can be a problem. The rapids in this section are not hard, but the creek keeps its normal demeanor of no pools, few eddies, and lots of brush.

This creek goes when Indian Creek is between 200 and 800 cfs.

Indian Creek

Indian Creek flows into the Trinity River just north of Douglas City. This is the perfect Class 4 creek. Full of super fun bed rock drops ranging from 3'-10'. A local old school boater once told me it was as far as you could push the Class 4 rating. To get to the put in take Readings Creek road off of HWY 3 just south of Douglas City. Follow this road about five miles to a Y in the road, take the left onto Indian Creek Rd. After about 3 miles you get to a bridge that crosses Indian Creek, this is the take out. From here keep following Indian Creek Rd to the next bridge that crosses the creek at Cannon Ball Flat. If flows look skimpy you might take out at the "We So Gellen" mining clam. Or find a lower (maybe illegal) take out near the valley.

This creek start of with a bang, literally, At lower flows you'll be banging you boat on MANKY, MANKY rocks. At higher flows you won't even notice the first few hundred yards. After this first bit things get better as you get into some fun bed rock.

A little further and you arrive at Redskin Bend. On a sharp right bend you'll go over three or four drops before the turn which has a one or two boat eddy. In the photo below you can see the last few drops. These drops range from 3'-5'.

It never really slows down as the creek moves you fast down stream over class 2-3 rapids. After a sharp right bend there is a small innocent looking drop. There is a rock dead center that can easily flip you. The key is to go far left if you have enough water or boof towards the right shore if it's on the low side. Below here is a junky sieve, that should be portaged at low flows. With enough water you can boof over a fan rock on the right.

Now the fun stuff comes. Shown below Scalpers is in my mind, the hardest rapid on the run.

After the first 5' drop you punch a funny hole that moves you to the right, which is just where you need to be for the final drop. It's not that hard, it just looks bad, and 50ft below is We So Gellen.

This is the Funniest drop a super clean 8fter. We So Gellen. A trail lead to this drop from the mining claim so it makes a good park and huck.

Below here is a few more good drops before the valley. One of these is a sweet fish ladder that could be dangerous. Once in the valley the creek flattens out and dries up into the old tailing piles. This makes the last bit to the bridge a real pain at lower flows.

This creek is very sensitive to flow and the wood is always moving around, though the creek look runable at flows over 200 there are almost no eddies and new wood could be a real problem.

A few photos at 300

Gellen

Scalpers

East Branch of the North Fork

This is the best Class 3 creek around. Full of fun bedrock and long boulder bars this creek has every thing a Class 3+ boater could ask for. Fun challenging rapids and very little flat water. The tragedy however is the flow, it never goes! You need rain... a lot of rain, for just a few days of good boating. However, spring showers on a good snow pack can bring this creek to life for a few weeks.

To get to the take out, follow the NF Trinity past the historical town of Helena to the first bridge, crossing the North Fork of the Trinity River. After crossing the bridge, turn left and go down to the confluence of the North Fork and the East Branch of the NF. To get to the put in continue up East Branch Road to the next bridge. If there is enough water Class 3 boaters may want to start at a campground about a mile past the bridge. This includes a few good +3 drops including the two shown below.

Above the campground is a great Class 4 run. Just drive to the end of the road. You can also access the Upper Upper (+4 I'm told) by taking Hobo Gulch Road. About a mile before the pass leading into to North Fork you'll see a road leading down to the East Branch at China Springs (get your map out).

After the bridge comes the first Class 3 rapid, Pinch Me. The lead in has a few 2'-3' ledges followed by this fast turn. This is followed by a few more easy ledges.

Fun rapids continue through out the entire run.

Things start to pick up as you approach, The Corner. The lead in involves dodging boulders as you go over a fun group of 2'-4' ledge drops in quick succession. There is a nice chill spot in the eddy at the bottom of the rapid pictured below.

With good flows a surprisingly large diagonal forms.

After the bend, fun rapids continue for another bend or two before things mellow out for a bit.

One of the last rapids on the run is Annie's Slide. This is probably the most difficult rapid on the run at all flows. After a long section of fun drops, you have to paddle hard right to avoid a pin rock near the bottom. I was standing over the pin when I took this photo. You can see some of it on the bottom left.

You can see this nasty rock formation on the bottom left of the rapid.

At good flows there are some sweet boofs,

and some big holes.

Pigeon Point Class 3

Pigeon Point is a local blessing. When nothing is running you can always rely on the Trinity River to have some water. The run starts out with a few class 2 rapids and long stretches of flat water through a scenic canyon. About half way down the run you come to the first class 3 rapid, z-drop.

This is ware I put in for a quick after work run. After another long flat you get to the tidy bolls, class -3. One of these is known as left go right and has a fast left to right fairy above a large bolder. Kayaks can just stay left if desired.

After the Tidy Bools comes the infamous Hell Hole.

This 3+ drop is the cleanest nasty thing I've ever seen. You can run it down the meat.

Or over the boof rock or around the boof rock.

But chances are you'll just be doing roll practice.

If you want to be upright at the bottom then get some left momentum like you're trying to hit the wall at the bottom. The hydraulic that would try to flip you on the other lines will push you off the wall in control... kinda,

The next rapid is slayers bar, class 3. One of the funniest rapids you run through some big waves and laterals and finally off a 3ft drop. I once ran this one upside down, there's a big hard rock at the bottom.

Triple drop or pinball is the next rapid. On the left you have triple drop one 3ft ledge then two smaller rapids. On the right is pinball. Not as fun as the triple drop side but still fun.

The point saves its best for last. Fish Tail class 3 is full of fun lines. The usual line is right on the first drop then a right to left to right to left move at the bottom. This is a great rapid to take you time on, play around catching the hard eddies and you can make fun class 4 moves with no consequences.