WARNING Extremely Graphic Image In This Post!
Hows everyone this July? A few years back, around this same time in July, some friends of mine introduced me to the concept of tubing a local river north of Lake Isabella at the very southern portion of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I had never been so I thought it would be a fun time to spend the 4th. I was set to drive up to the ghost town I used to work at and drop a hefty portion of bottled water to them. All water is vehicled in to the ghost town so I was providing a few months worth of drinking water. The ghost town was literally on the other side of the mountain range so I figured while I was in the area I would do both. I loaded up the 4runner with several hundred gallons of water and went on my way. At least while we were up there we would not be thirsty.
If you dont drink Crystal Geyser I suggest you start. The bottling company is out of the Sierra Nevada mountains and honestly I feel it tastes much better than others at a cheaper cost. Every time I drive up route 395 I enjoy seeing the plant up close.
During this time of year, heading through Kernville is a disaster. It gets very packed with people that want to do things from white water rafting to kayaking. Driving up was hilarious as most people will blow up their tubes and strap them to their vehicles so they are ready to go. Well most of the time these tubes are not tied down properly and people were all over the side of the road securing their cargo. The vehicle in front of me almost pegged me with a raft after one of the ropes became loose. Once I arrived, my friends had already set up an easy up and had their tents popped and ready. It was later in the day so I figured I would get a few hours of tubing in before sundown. They were off so I waited for them to show back up before getting to know the new people in the group. I figured as it was a new area to me I would wait and see where they went rafting so I could get my bearings. After all the formalities and a few beers we took a group shot and set off to hit the river.
The section we were located was pretty calm and very relaxing as you floated down the river. I was extremely happy to be there and finally able to relax for my 4th of July.
When I said packed I meant packed with people. Families were set up near the water all down the river. The water was nice enough to swim in and take the edge off the summer heat.
There were a few spots on the river where ropes crossed, allowing us that were tubing to stop for others that were lagging behind.
As we drifted further down the current got rougher, but it was all fun at the time.
At one point though, I got separated from the group for a minute down a rough section of rapids that shook me a little. I am a very strong swimmer but these rapids and all the rocks are a tough thing to navigate. I was too into filming to have payed attention.
More smiles at the camera traveling backwards, not knowing everyone is going to the left and I am getting pulled right towards to rougher rapids.
After being split from the group I headed down a section of rougher rapids with none of my friends in sight.
I freaked a little but after a few rough moments, the split became one and I noticed everyone getting out of the water on the far side of the pool. I quickly swam over and exited the river with them. We all walked the 2 mile trip up river raving about the great time we just had. Once back at camp we started dinner and I provided a nice flavored steak for everyone to eat. Beers flowed and conversations spoke as the night went on, with me actually passing out in the chair I was in, waking up in the morning hours because I was still topless and had gotten a chill. My friend let me know the next morning that I looked comfortable and they didn't want to disturb me.
The next day started out great, we hit the river early. Once the sun was shining in the valley, the only cool place was the water. We all decided to hit a different section of river to make things interesting. We drove a few miles up and plopped in the floaties.
I was really getting into the groove of how great it felt to be away and out with friends. I was on film acting a fool but still having fun and enjoying what it means to be alive.
When we exited that section of river, the group proceeded on to the next spot where we hiked in to raft back down to the car. On the hike out we were all in tow and I happened to slip and fall, like any person can do on a trial. I picked myself back up and carried on walking and talking with my friend in front of me. She tells me im bleeding a few seconds later and when I go to inspect my knee, ITS SPLIT! I have never had a split knee before but there the rotator cup was....for everyone to see. WHAT THE HELL DID I FALL ON? I guess shale? That was in a tectonic formation of being folded and uplifted??? I leave it to you to decide but believe me once I noticed I got the groups attention and it was a no go from there on out.
We all headed the mile and a half back to the car, taking breaks as I got light headed. The blood flow from the kneecap is minimal as there are no nerve endings there. So the pain was also minimal. One of the guys I had just met in the group was testing to be an EMT so he had all the bandage equipment in the car. Once bandaged I left the group in search of the nearest hospital, which turned out to be 30 miles away in a small town at the south end of lake Isabella. I had to drive my stick shift truck with that bad knee being the one I do all the action with. Once there I knew what pain was when the nurse poured iodine AND hydrogen peroxide on the wound. Not sure if that was worse than the very long needle shots of numbing agent. Once stitched up I headed back up to the river. Even though my friends were willing to grab my stuff and bring it back to me once I got home, I was not letting them eat my STEAK....I purchased that to eat and enjoy with everyone. Not even a busted kneecap would keep me away from that.
As most of the day was already gone by the time I got back it was dinner time already so we jumped into that steak I wasn't about to let them eat without me. No painkillers were used as there was no pharmacy to fill out a prescription so a little beer helped ease the pain. The night went off without a hitch and the next morning we all packed up early. The trash cans near the vehicles were loaded to capacity and overflowing with garbage. Everyone around was packing up with a half dazed look of sadness of the trip coming to an end and hung over all mixed together. We all headed our separate ways only to battle the holiday traffic back home.
The scar healed nicely and within one week I removed the stitches myself because they were itching me so bad.
Within two weeks the wound was almost fully healed.
The next year we followed up with another trip, but this time it was a little later in the season due to the high flow of water in the Kern river. I brought my beautiful girlfriend @beckymeep with me to partake in the fun as she was not around the year before.
This year, on the drive up we encountered local Turkeys in kerville. They were someones pet on the loose, but perfect for Thanksgiving. They stood about a meter tall and were gobbling away as we drove by. We stayed at the same spot but also traveled up river to experience everything. At one point three of us had holes in our rafts and were not sure how they got their but @beckymeep saved the day by using her patch kit from her sleeping air pad. After that it was ON to float and relax.
On one section of river my friend notified us of a hot spring right along side were we could stop. We hung out for a bit enjoying a mixture of hot sun, cold river water and a nice warm bath with varying temps from one side to the other. It was bliss.
Photo by @beckymeep
My friend Ryan Vega produced a very nice short video of this trip that I have uploaded to youtube. It will give you a better understanding of just how much fun we had.
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Fun stuff dude. I wish I went on that trip! Just fyi I was going to watch the video, but when I click it, it says it's "blocked on copyright grounds".
Thank you so much for being part of the #socalsteemit community.