The North Fork of the Trinity begins high in the Trinity Alps Wilderness and flows south, dropping 3600 feet before its confluence with the main stem of the Trinity near Pigeon Point. The section that is most frequently paddled is a fourteen mile stretch that ends just above the confluence with the main stem, at an old homestead site.
The Goods:
The North Fork starts off fast and fun with many class 4 and 4+ boulder gardens. The first rapid is maybe 100 yards downstream from the put-in and it keeps up a continuous nature for the first two miles before mellowing out a bit. The majority of drops in this section are boat scoutable, but there are a few places that have some bad wood and would be not so fun. One drop in particular is within the first mile and can be recognized as the river splits around a boulder island in the center of the channel. After the first two continuous miles, the nature changes to more pool drop rapids, and several distinct bedrock gorges. Somewhere in this section, we came to a fun looking drop with a boof flake on river left. As a routed into the drop, I noticed that the left side of the boof fed into a nasty backed up hole, complete with and undercut and sieve. Charging right, I watched as Paul Fritze fell off the left side and into the hole. I eddied out below and proceeded to watch Miguel and Orion fall into the same nasty pit. About the time Miguel went into the hole, Paul swam out, followed shortly after by Miguel. Orion, however was nowhere to be seen. About the time I started getting really worried, Orion popped out downstream of the undercut. In the process of getting beat down, Orion had pinned upside down between the left wall and undercut, and even after swimming his boat needed to be pulled out with a rope. Thankfully, everyone was fine, and we even had a breakdown to replace Orion's paddle which we found in two pieces.
*Note: Orion was heard to say in the morning before putting on that it had been a while since he had swam, and it was about time to pay his dues. This was exceptionally funny at the take-out, and even more so once the booty drinking commenced.
The best rapid on the run comes in the lower half of the stretch and is called Mister Sqiggles. The drop entails boofing off a nice ramp into a pillow, and then a short gorge that is more fun than peein' in your pants. Below Sqiggles the North Fork makes one last plunge through its final gorge above the confluence. This final gorge contains the infamous Leap of Faith. Although this ledge is not tall, the hydraulic at the bottom, especially the left pocket is notorious for causing swims. The best part: it is a must run, and the largest portage of the run is just downstream. However, there is plenty of time to recover in the pool below, as I found out after a nice free rodeo lesson. Below the portage rapid, which I believe is called Arndt's Falls, there are more fun class four rapids until the take-out.
The Goods:
The North Fork starts off fast and fun with many class 4 and 4+ boulder gardens. The first rapid is maybe 100 yards downstream from the put-in and it keeps up a continuous nature for the first two miles before mellowing out a bit. The majority of drops in this section are boat scoutable, but there are a few places that have some bad wood and would be not so fun. One drop in particular is within the first mile and can be recognized as the river splits around a boulder island in the center of the channel. After the first two continuous miles, the nature changes to more pool drop rapids, and several distinct bedrock gorges. Somewhere in this section, we came to a fun looking drop with a boof flake on river left. As a routed into the drop, I noticed that the left side of the boof fed into a nasty backed up hole, complete with and undercut and sieve. Charging right, I watched as Paul Fritze fell off the left side and into the hole. I eddied out below and proceeded to watch Miguel and Orion fall into the same nasty pit. About the time Miguel went into the hole, Paul swam out, followed shortly after by Miguel. Orion, however was nowhere to be seen. About the time I started getting really worried, Orion popped out downstream of the undercut. In the process of getting beat down, Orion had pinned upside down between the left wall and undercut, and even after swimming his boat needed to be pulled out with a rope. Thankfully, everyone was fine, and we even had a breakdown to replace Orion's paddle which we found in two pieces.
*Note: Orion was heard to say in the morning before putting on that it had been a while since he had swam, and it was about time to pay his dues. This was exceptionally funny at the take-out, and even more so once the booty drinking commenced.
The best rapid on the run comes in the lower half of the stretch and is called Mister Sqiggles. The drop entails boofing off a nice ramp into a pillow, and then a short gorge that is more fun than peein' in your pants. Below Sqiggles the North Fork makes one last plunge through its final gorge above the confluence. This final gorge contains the infamous Leap of Faith. Although this ledge is not tall, the hydraulic at the bottom, especially the left pocket is notorious for causing swims. The best part: it is a must run, and the largest portage of the run is just downstream. However, there is plenty of time to recover in the pool below, as I found out after a nice free rodeo lesson. Below the portage rapid, which I believe is called Arndt's Falls, there are more fun class four rapids until the take-out.
And now for the pics...
Crissler Torrence running a drop in the first canyon.
Orion with his boat. The sieve is visible on the left in the pocket. Nasty.
Dan Menten running Mister Sqiggles.
Martin running Squiggles.
This is the view looking back up at the portage. We ran the bottom two drops seen from here, but the top of the rapid is choked with wood.
When we paddled this run, it took around 5 hours. We scouted maybe 3-4 times and routed everything else, following NF veteran Dan Menten through most of the goods. Plan on taking a full day for a first time run. Also, this section of river is fairly remote, and hiking out is not an option at most points. To Conclude this banter, I might add that the NF is a beautiful wilderness run that maintains a serious, but fun nature throughout its entirety, and is a must-do for any class 5 paddler, and strong class 4 boaters, with the possible addition of a few portages.
Where the Hell is This?
To access the NF Trinity, follow Highway 299 until the turn for Helena, which is located around 5 miles east of Big Flat. Follow the Helena road north until crossing a bridge. Take the road on the right just past the bridge. This is the take-out, and also makes a killer campsite. To reach the put-in, follow the original road upstream until a fork after a few miles. Follow the signs towards Hobo Gulch Trailhead, which should be about 12 miles up the road at this point. This road in good condition, but there are a few large rocks to watch out for, as we found out with Dustin's Subaru.
