Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

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BlueMan
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Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by BlueMan »

Hello all, I'm new here. I decided to get an because this seems like a fantastic community full of info =)

I'm considering doing a trip into Tehipite starting on August 25th for about five days. I'm an experienced backpacker (500 miles worth), a rock climber, and a sometimes canyoneer. Do I have any hope of crossing Crown Creek at this time? (with the unusually high runoff from our crazy snow year) And if my odds of doing that are decent what about crossing the Middle Fork of the Kings? I'd be perfectly happy to just get down into Tehipite Valley without being able to cross the Kings . . .

Any info/opinions would be helpful and appreciated. I'd especially love trip/waterflow data from comparable snow years at about the same time of year.

Thanks!

Blue
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TehipiteTom
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by TehipiteTom »

BlueMan wrote:Hello all, I'm new here. I decided to get an because this seems like a fantastic community full of info =)
You are clearly a man of great discernment and taste. ;)
I'm considering doing a trip into Tehipite starting on August 25th for about five days. I'm an experienced backpacker (500 miles worth), a rock climber, and a sometimes canyoneer. Do I have any hope of crossing Crown Creek at this time? (with the unusually high runoff from our crazy snow year) And if my odds of doing that are decent what about crossing the Middle Fork of the Kings? I'd be perfectly happy to just get down into Tehipite Valley without being able to cross the Kings . . .

Any info/opinions would be helpful and appreciated. I'd especially love trip/waterflow data from comparable snow years at about the same time of year.

Thanks!

Blue
I would say your odds of crossing Crown Creek are very good. For what it's worth, I crossed around July 4 of a slightly sub-normal year, and IIRC it was thigh-high but not fast. Looking at the watershed, there's nothing over 11,000' and it's mostly south-facing, so I would expect flows to be at a manageable level by then. The Middle Fork, on the other hand, draws from lots of high-elevation basins, so it could be difficult-to-impossible well into late season.
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maverick
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by maverick »

Hi BlueMan

Welcome to HST!
As TT wrote, you have good taste!
Have visited TV twice, once in July, and once in August.
The crossings in August were fine, but in July neither Crown Creek and especially
MFK were not easy, and with the big snow fall this year August both could be
dicey, and as TT mentioned the Middle Fork may be dangerous even into the late
season with all the snow in the basins above it.
There are just to many variances that can influence the heights of the run-off
and we can only guess so far in advance.
You will probably have to make the call when you get there, unless someone visits
TV before your trip in August, and writes up a TR.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

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TehipiteTom
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by TehipiteTom »

maverick wrote:Hi BlueMan

Welcome to HST!
As TT wrote, you have good taste!
Have visited TV twice, once in July, and once in August.
The crossings in August were fine, but in July neither Crown Creek and especially
MFK were not easy, and with the big snow fall this year August both could be
dicey, and as TT mentioned the Middle Fork may be dangerous even into the late
season with all the snow in the basins above it.
There are just to many variances that can influence the heights of the run-off
and we can only guess so far in advance.
You will probably have to make the call when you get there, unless someone visits
TV before your trip in August, and writes up a TR.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Crown Creek will be reasonably crossable in late August, even in a year like this. There just isn't anything above that's going to hold a lot of snow that late in the season, and without a lot of snowmelt the flow is manageable.

Blue Canyon Creek is different--it's got a pretty extensive high basin at its head, and I'd expect it to be hard to cross well into late season. But if I had to guess about Crown, I'd say it'll be doable then.
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BlueMan
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by BlueMan »

Thanks for the welcome guys! =)

Well, I expected something like this. No one being quite sure and differing opinions. I gotta figure if it's worth gambling going out there for nothing (aka not getting into the valley). My thought and hope was similar to Tehipite Tom's. When I've done Tenaya canyon for the past two years it's always been in late July. Every time I've watched water flow tables with concern and have noticed a remarkable drop in water flow in July. I'm hoping the same will be true of Crown creek and the other creeks baring entrance into Tehipite. I don't know . . . maybe I'm nuts. Are the flows on these creeks monitored? Any idea at what CFS the crossings become doable? I tried to find flow data and failed.
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by lambertiana »

I have only been there once, mid-August in a dry year (2007). Crown Creek was easy, and Blue Canyon Creek was even easier. This year will definitely be higher, but I don't think there will be any problem with Crown Creek at the end of August.

That year, even the Middle Fork would not have been a problem at Tehipite, although I didn't cross it until I got to Simpson Meadow, where I found an easy knee-deep crossing.
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by TehipiteTom »

BlueMan wrote:Thanks for the welcome guys! =)

Well, I expected something like this. No one being quite sure and differing opinions. I gotta figure if it's worth gambling going out there for nothing (aka not getting into the valley).
Well, not exactly nothing. There is a good chunk of the valley west of Crown Creek, so even in the very unlikely event that Crown is uncrossable you'll still be in Tehipite Valley. You'd miss the petroglyphs, and you wouldn't be able to explore upstream, but you would still have a spectacular trip. And if Crown Creek is that high, Silver Spray Falls will be amazing.

But I really don't think it'll come to that. I just don't see how any appreciable amount of snow hangs on in a mostly south-facing basin with the very highest slopes around 11,000'.
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by maverick »

100% agree with TT, even if you cannot get past Crown Creek, again this is a big if, it is still well worth visiting TV!
When visiting in the 90's (August) it was a very big snow year with a cooler summer that must have made for just the right conditions to still cause Crown, and MFK to be at higher levels than it normally is by August, so as you see there have to be optimal conditions for this to occur.
Most likely you will be able to cross these water ways, just wanted to give you a heads up on the possibility that things could be out of the norm, though this year the heavier snow levels occurred from the central to northern sierra areas, so just go, and have fun.
Last edited by maverick on Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: added text
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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BlueMan
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by BlueMan »

So, I sliped up when I said late August. I meant late July. I and some friends went out two weeks ago, made it to the valley and crossed crown no problem. Easy peasy. The snow in that area must have melted fast. It doesn't sound like this was entirely normal--but for us the crossing was entirely managable.
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TehipiteTom
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Re: Tehipite Valley in late August--Stream crossing info

Post by TehipiteTom »

BlueMan wrote:So, I sliped up when I said late August. I meant late July. I and some friends went out two weeks ago, made it to the valley and crossed crown no problem. Easy peasy. The snow in that area must have melted fast. It doesn't sound like this was entirely normal--but for us the crossing was entirely managable.
So what did you think? And, got any pix?
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