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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 13, 2012 - 01:07pm PT
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Anyone here ever kayaked it? I have kayaked it twice and rafted it once. All three times from Lyons Camp to Filmore. I want to go back this spring and try it again but this time with my Alpacka Raft and take more tome to explore. All previous trips I have done I was so concentrated on getting down the river without dying that I feel I missed out on what the canyon really has to offer. Any other pack rafters here who might be interested?
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curt wohlgemuth
Social climber
Bay Area, California
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Dec 13, 2012 - 01:38pm PT
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These are cool photos -- thanks for posting! I love that area...
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10b4me
Boulder climber
Somewhere on 395
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Dec 13, 2012 - 02:56pm PT
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Batrock, you got me interested in the Alpacka rafts. I don't have one yet, but thinking about it.
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John M
climber
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Dec 13, 2012 - 03:12pm PT
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There use to be a warm spring in there. Anyone been to it? Its been years for me. It never really got hot, but it still felt good.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2012 - 03:55pm PT
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A few more pictures of the Sespe.
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otisdog
Big Wall climber
Sierra Madre & McGee Creek, Ca.
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Dec 13, 2012 - 04:08pm PT
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I might be up for it. What size raft did you use?
Last time I was there we walked into a pool of oil during the night.
large trout.
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Sredni Vashtar
Social climber
The coastal redwoods
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Dec 13, 2012 - 04:27pm PT
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your dad helo'd in to bring you kfc??
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
California
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Dec 13, 2012 - 04:52pm PT
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huh, you must be the 4th person in CA who owns an Alpaca.
I've got one, always looking for PR partners.
holla
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guyman
Social climber
Moorpark, CA.
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Dec 13, 2012 - 05:02pm PT
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Bat.... yes large boulders are everywhere....
One needs to be very carefull when accessing the river at the start by Fillmore.
A person who is not at all friendly, says he owns the river....
you must call his bluff about calling the sherrif...
as long as you stay in the river, your legal.
say hi to the condors.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2012 - 05:08pm PT
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Guyman,
I never had to deal with the property owner in Filmore, put in 35 miles upstream and and take out at the 126 bridge in Filmore. I am familiar with the property issues there and we stay on the water until the bridge. Piru Creek has some similar property issues that I have dealt with, the local LEO has always sided with the kayakers and are pretty cool about it all.
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pyro
Big Wall climber
Calabasas
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Dec 13, 2012 - 05:29pm PT
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nice thread!
great classic historical archived pic's.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2012 - 05:34pm PT
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Otisdog,
We used a 10 foot self bailer last time I was in there. Way to big and heavy to portage around some of the nasty drops encountered. The pack raft seems perfect for a trip like this, lightweight, easy to portage with and can easily carry a few days of gear. I used my pack raft for a 6 day self supported trip on the Green River 2 years ago and it handled the gear with no problem.
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John M
climber
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Dec 13, 2012 - 05:42pm PT
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One needs to be very carefull when accessing the river at the start by Fillmore.
A person who is not at all friendly, says he owns the river....
LOL, yep.. I ran into him a few times. I had access through the oil fields. Can't remember his name. Anyone remember it?
Does anyone know if a suspension foot bridge over the river on this mans property was completed. A friend of mine was building it many years ago. I helped him string the cables.
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Dec 13, 2012 - 05:45pm PT
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Sespe = one of So CA's best spots. We hiked Filmore to Lyon's, also encountered the agro property owner but got through by being polite and agreeing that we ought to call the Sheriff to clear things up. He told us we weren't worth it and that was it.
Some killer cliffs for jumping back there. Most quiet and best night skies I've found in non-desert So CA.
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John M
climber
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Dec 13, 2012 - 05:51pm PT
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He use to let people go through no problem, then sometime in the late 60s or 70s the "hippies" started trashing the place and he got tired of cleaning up the mess and became an angry old man. It was more like "white trash" trashing the place, but I threw in the hippies comment to get Blue going. haha..
Yep.. great rocks for jumping and some incredible waterfalls when it rains.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Dec 13, 2012 - 06:18pm PT
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looks like a blue Dancer,
that can be a hardcore run at high water,
the red boat looks like an old hydra but not sure,
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matty
Trad climber
under the sea
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Dec 13, 2012 - 06:25pm PT
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For anyone going back there please be respectful of the place. Pack out trash if you see it. It was recently decided that tar creek should be closed because people have trashed it...luckly the sespe has no trails and a protective land owner at the end of the river...but if the closure of tar creek drives more people to go up the sespe from fillmore and start trashing the place it too could be shut down to protect the frogs and condors and keep the trash and stupid humans out. I love the sespe wild and its secret nature part of which is a lack of information because it is so rarely traveled or talked about and i hope it stays that way. That said I'd be game for a raft trip.
EDITED: because I wrote in haste and wanted to correct and clarify.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2012 - 07:23pm PT
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Matty, you sound like you would be a great big ball of buzz kill to have along. Just kidding, kind of. I agree that it is a special place but its innaccesability alone keeps most of the yahoos out. I have seen a drop off in use in that area over the years not an increase. I know part of that is due to campground closures in the upper reaches near Lyons Camp and Rose Valley. A thread like this on a forum like this poses very little threat to the area or I would not have posted a request for partners. Sespe is well known in the kayaking community but rarely run, most disregard it because of its proximity to So Cal. Those that have run it understand that it ranks right up there with just about any multi day run in the Sierra Nevada. If you want to blame someone for bringing attention to the place you should blame Chouinard, it was a picture of him kayaking Sespe back in the early 80's that drew me to explore the area. He had shots of his trip hanging on the wall at Real Cheap.
Upper Piru is another great little river to kayak, Frenchman Flat to Lake Piru is one of my favorite all day kayak runs. Like Sespe, once you leave the put in there are no trails along or into the river and you have 15 miles of class 3-4 water between Frenchman and Lake Piru. Above Pyramid Lake are some fun sections but there is much more impact in the way of mines and roads along the river. Still a great area to boat.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Dec 13, 2012 - 08:15pm PT
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i picked up local legends charles foster and keith dinger after a failed attempt at the upper kern, water was too high, anyway, they were hitch hiking down from the forks of the kern, and they told me about sespe creek, here is their trip report:
http://www.ptone.com/Kayak/sespe/
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 13, 2012 - 09:01pm PT
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Drspock,
Foster and Dinger were guys that was in contact with during the early days of creeking in Southern California. Others were Glen Tronnis and Gary Valle. Early on the interweb was not available to check on local creeks, when it rained we would load the boats up and drive into the mountains. Big Tujunga Narrows was a popular run and pretty sketchy when running it for the first time, there were a few drops that were blind and once you entered the narrows there was no turning back, a high commitment level run. Arroyo Secco from Switzer Falls to JPL is another great run with lots of cool waterfalls and slides to run. There were and still are very few kayakers who run any of the creeks south of the Kern River.
To those whom I may have offended by talking about Sespe I am sorry. The intent was to try and find people of like interest who might be interested in running this amazing river. I am as aware of the uniqueness of the Sespe as anyone and would never intentionally do something to bring harm to it.
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