Descending Jump Canyon in the California Sierras has become a yearly tradition for us. It is my favorite canyon, and many of our group’s favorite canyon as well. I often tell people it’s like an extreme natural water-park that never ends, though it certainly has its dangers. Arriving at the Black Rock Reservoir August 7th, 2019, we weren’t able to gauge the reservoir’s level because of the darkness, so we waited for morning light to make the call. The following morning we found the water to be only 7 feet from the top of the dam, which was surprising considering it was 30 feet below the previous week during the first descent of the season. PG&E won’t release water from the dam into Jump Canyon until the water is right near the top, so we were good to go, but it is scary that they are still releasing this late into the season.
It was officially releasing at 12CFS, but local canyoneers claim it was closer to 20-30CFS, though I disagree. either way, it was at a higher flow than we had experienced before. As we made our way through the canyon, we found that the high-flows did not complicate the route and actually opened up new big water-slides. The only features that could not be done in that high flow were the 120 waterfall direct rappel (which had to be redirected), and the rainbow room, which could not be safely accessed. The 80-foot rappel called “The Big Kahuna” can be jumped, and every time we have gone someone has said they will jump it… at least until they see how high it is and back out. This trip was different, we had Enoch Hardin with us and he went straight for the 80 foot jump and pulled it off flawlessly, making for a great video.
In the long boulder-hoping sections that follow the main gorge, my wife Olivia slipped on moss and caught herself with outstretched hand breaking her left fourth metacarpal. She was in a lot of pain without a lot of down-climbing to go, but she managed to make it through the rest of the canyon with some assistance. Broken bones are unfortunately quite common in Jump Canyon, and we joke that it’s more dangerous than the X-rated canyons that we do. This cut our California Canyoneering trip short and we headed home while the rest of the group continued on to Yosemite to descend Tenaya Creek and enjoy the biggest natural water-slides anywhere in the U.S. Olivia’s hand luckily did not require surgery to repair, but she will definitely be out of the canyons for a while. Moss was not present during the last two of our descents of Jump Canyon. However, due to a wet winter the dam was releasing extreme flows up until August, which is unusual and leaves large amounts of moss on the granite. If anyone is heading out to Jump Canyon soon, i’d be cautious of the moss which makes for great slides, but can cut a trip short as Olivia knows.
Enoch did the 80-foot jump without his harness or helmet on because both items had hurt him on the 50 foot entry exam jump earlier that day.
