Drew, I think we're pretty far from the OP's thread at his point*, but yes to Patterson and North Fork of Kings from Balch Camp to confluence, as well as parts of Dinkey Creek above that. Above Balch the NF is unrunnable, but beginning below Black Rock Reservoir to Balch is the North Fork Jump Trip – in fact, an astounding canyoneering journey (…possibly the most 'committing' outdoors thing I've ever done) full of slippery granite traverses, painful jumps into cold, deep (hopefully), black pools, and 100 foot rappels at the lip of vertical waterfalls. I don't know what "Hell Hole" might be. Many runs have been renamed, and reclaimed as first descents, since I stopped routinely running Class V. The Middle SJ, as you say, is a sore point for me, and turned out to be a watershed(!) event in my continued boating over the years – and that's all I'm saying about that. The run beginning with a 'portage' over Bishop Pass you are describing is the Middle Fork of the Kings, pioneered by Royal Robbins and company. This fellow ran it solo a few years ago. Only as a point of possible related interest, I have had a kayak self-support website for such activities in the works for some time, KayakWild.com, but have yet to get it going. At this point, I may be secretly hoping kayak.com will buy the domain name from me, make me rich, and put me out of my misery.
* most of these locations are in Sierra National Forest.
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