High Sierra Topix

I've always been tempted to climb through the Roaring River Gorge from the lower falls at Cedar Grove to get to the Roaring River trail. Does anyone know of how cliffed-out it is? This would be a trip in mid-late Sept for fishing and then return via Avalanche Pass and Sphinx Ck and involve a lot of tennis shoe wading.

I'd be carrying a climbing rope, belay gear, etc and am proficient to use them. And of course, I've seen the signs at the lower falls/tourist trail viewpoint about deaths.

Yeah, I thought about this too some time ago. Some years ago I hiked up a fair ways back on the left (above trail side), and it did not seem too difficult, but who knows what obstacles wait beyond that? If that route held, FWIW, I think if you could get to the first little valley behind the falls and it was low water, you probably could wade and bolder-hop your way up-stream. I considered that about 5000 yards up-stream at the junction of a small stream one might make their way up to the left to get on top of the hill NE of the junction of Sugarload Creek, but that might be a dry bush nightmare (looking at Google Earth). So it may be better to keep following the river, and since the angle of descent shallows quite a bit, you may be able to keep to dry land in places. Once you got to Sugarloaf Creek, if you could get up to the top of the ridge just to the SW, the rest should be easy: just follow Ferguson Creek to the trail. Not a trip I would do solo. The canyon beyond the falls looks interesting, but I am not sure how worth it it would be. Rest a lot and take lots of pictures and post them here!

I've ridden on horseback quite always below where sugarloaf creek flows into the river two times. The first time the horses had to lunge over 4ft. high manzanita. Fishing wasn't any better than closer to RR RS. Truth of the matter is that not that many people fish the river and those that do don't fish that hard. The second time I fished way downstream was in the fall a month or so after a fire burned out the brush. Much easier access than the first time.

Mike

I heard a couple guys tried to take a shortcut and follow the river down from the Ranger station and had to be rescued. Who knows what sort of skills they had though.

LAST THURSDAY I tried going upstream from the falls where the tourists go. It went from class 1, to 2, to 3, to 4, to 5 over rounded granite slopes. It's the white area on the topo. Had to be very careful because a fall could cause a tumble over the granite slope and into the river. There's a flood plain at the bottom of a large chute with VERY large evergreen trees. It would be possible to rappel down near a very large oak tree, then ascend the rope back up to return to the parking lot. My skills are weak. When I do, the next question is what the terrain is like ABOVE those pine trees. Up South Fork Kings River from Roaring River, there are no "passes" on the topo since the "crest" rises to 10,000. Down from the junction of Roaring River and So Fork Kings River, there seems to be a doable "pass" where one could follow the 7000 and 7200 contours and eventually reach Roaring River and canyons Ferguson / Deadman / Cloud. I'm seeking a way to avoid Avalanche Pass even though I know it well it is a 3000 foot up and down. I'm seeking a way to visit Cloud Canyon on a 2-day weekend. ***

This site doesn't have any other threads on this topix. Let's search other sites and post what we find here. Today, upon searching 178 matches on HighSierraTopix for "Roaring River", I found only one related thread:

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"Anyone with Sierra topo map experience would not have attempted a route down Roaring River. Obviously that was the shortest route to the valley as the crow flies but there was a good reason no one has blasted a trail down through the steep zone. Generally foolish to descend unknown narrow granite gorges because glaciation often leaves bedrock with steep cliff-like steps and inner river gorges erode steep walled narrow sections."