Jump Trip (Upper)

Shorter and smaller than its down stream brother Lower Jump Trip, Upper Jump Trip is still a trip to be taken seriously. Some technical obstacles may be more difficult than those in Lower Jump Trip depending on conditions.

Drop a shuttle vehicle at the exit parking lot. This parking lot can be harder to identify in person than it might seem from Google Earth; ensure that you have located the correct area by making sure there is a green gate blocking a dirt road to the south of the paved road. There will be another dirt road on the north side of the paved road. (If Black Rock campground is full, this other dirt road goes back 1/2 mile to a nice private camping area). After leaving the takeout vehicle, drive back up the paved road 1 mile and take the exit for Blackrock campground. About 1/4 mile before the campground there is a spur road steeply descending to the right (south), along with a wooden signbox. Park here and hike down the spur road 200 yards to large flat areas on the right and left. Just below the flat area on the right is another dirt road leading off to the right. Hike down this road for 5 minutes to some large flat granite slabs at the river and put wetsuits on here.

Proceed down stream. One person in the group should verify water depth before each jump as conditions can change drastically. In many cases, it may be difficult to construct an anchor for the last person. But, if the last person is able to jump, they can meat anchor the rest of the group. The number of rappels and longest rappel length are based on an average group jumping often. It is possible to do the entire trip without rope if no pools are checked for depth, but this is not advised. If unwilling to make large jumps, these requirements may vary substantially. Under typical conditions, these are some of the obstacles that will be encountered: Safe water flow is 12 cfs or less. Expert groups have descended the Upper Jump Trip as high as 13-14 cfs, but experienced considerable difficulty. Gauge readings from the sensor in between Upper Jump Trip and Lower Jump Trip may be found at Dreamflows. See Red Tape below for more detailed information on the flows.