Well, i wish i could say this was another epic adventure trip i love to write about. Unfortunately i can't this time. Even though we had a great time and we saw new things, i have to take this chance to be realistic and truthful about what we encountered.
I'll start out by saying we've never been to the Kern River. This was our first time. The only thing i can say is wow, its beautiful and wow it had a ton of trash!
It's a shame that people think they can just dump trash wherever they feel. On all the trips we seem to head out on this was the most blatant example of trash dumping. I hate to say it, but its not too uncommon to see a bottle here or a wrapper here. But this was just dozens after dozens of bottles, bags, wrappers etc. We filled 2 Trasharoo spare tire trash bags and a 3rd thirty gallon trash bag. We even found dirty diapers and socks in trees. It was out of control.
There was no way we could just let it sit and not pick it up. I don't know how others camped in the area could let it sit and not do anything about it.
There's even a sign when you leave the camping area that tells you to pack out your trash.
So getting that off my chest i'll tell you about the rest of the trip. It was really a strange one. Our ARB fridge came loose in the trailer, the plug was damaged.. there was mold in our friends tent, i forgot hamburger buns.. we didn't catch fish.. it was just a weird one.
The first night before heading to the Kern river we stopped off north of Red Rock State Park, near Last Chance Cyn.. it was a nice place to camp for the night. Plus i wanted to show Yosh the Burro Schmidt tunnel.
The tunnel is 2087 feet long and it was dug single handedly by William Scmidt. Rumor has it that William was hauling his loads back down and around the El Paso mtns so he figured he'd make a short cut and cut through the mtn and straight down to the town of Mojave. Pretty wild.
We camped for the night in Bonanza Gulch near the BLM adopt-a-cabin.
If you'd like to see more photos and info check out our report to this area in 2009 by clicking here
The next morning we packed up and headed towards the mountains.. there was a ton of Joshua Trees. It was beautiful.
It's not often in the Mojave desert you can get a shot of Joshua Trees with Snow in the background. Stunning..
Dixie was ready to rumble... smiling the whole way..
On our way we stopped off at an old Cemetery near Onyz Ca.
Some of the dates on the head stones dated back to the early 1800's. It was amazing.
There was an old tree that was in cased in a stone structure. It was really interesting. Apparently the tree had been planted in 1862. The bark was ripped off the one side and someone made an inscription with nails (hard to see in the photo). It was pretty amazing to see.
After spooking Justin out because he doesn't really like cemeteries, we headed on our way.
The valley was beautiful and the wild flowers were out in full bloom.
Lush farm land around every corner we drove.
The south fork of the Kern.. we were getting closer..
Meanwhile this weirdo kept snapping photos of us...
After stopping off in Lake Isabella for supplies.. we made it to camp on the upper Kern.
You could see snow in the distance at higher elevations.. however , where we were was a nice 70 degrees.
The river was 25-30 feet away. You could hear the small rapids the entire time. It was very peaceful.
Yosh checking out the river..
The rest of the weekend we just relaxed and fished. Unfortunately we didn't catch a single fish. But that's ok, because the worst day fishing beats the best day at work.
I had the bright idea to stand in the 30 degree water... yeah that lasted a whole 4 minutes. I couldn't feel my legs real quick.
I think this is the first trip where i didn't prepare any amazing food or shoot any pics of what we ate. Needless to say, we had Jambalaya with sausage and bagel burgers because i forgot the burger buns. Also to go along with the theme of the trip, the cream cheese flipped open when the fridge crashed and Yosh burned a Jet Boil pot to the stove. It was just one of those trips, i tell you!
Yosh and Dixie starting to fall asleep in their chair around the campfire.
Last night at camp i created a camp fire photo with LED lighting..
Anyhow, so the last morning after Justin made breakfast we packed up and headed home. We took the scenic route to the 58 just east of Bakersfield and it was amazing. Unfortunately, again i couldn't snap any pics because the road was so windy and tight. All in All it was a fine trip. Not everyone is going to be epic or out of this world... and like i always say.. you gotta be there for the bad ones to be there for the good ones!