Filling up with water in Chagoopa Meadows before we start our hike down to Kern Hot Spring!
Yes you read it right. HOT SPRINGS! Today we hiked down to the Kern River. If you look at the map above we took the left fork of the trail (its not highlighted in bold) because it was a little shorter. The hike was quite pleasant and really pretty as we hiked through several small meadows. Once we started to descend down to the Kern River it got pretty steep. I have to go slow and be real careful going down because my ankles are very sprain prone. Chase, Paul, and Jonathan went on ahead while Jerel, Jordan, Shad and I took our time hiking down.
We were just chatting and enjoying the view of the Kern River Valley when all of a sudden Shad shouted "bear, Bear, BEAR". We looked across the way at the hillside nearest us and there was a black mama bear looking right back at us with a little brown cub right behind. It was cool to watch her since we were a safe distance away. We made some noise and she scurried on up the mountain with her cub struggling to keep up.
We thought that was pretty cool and kept on hiking down the mountain. Pretty soon Shad did the same thing and we looked over and saw a very scary looking bear looking right back at us. He was closer to us than the last bear and was brown instead of black. Shad was pretty excited and kept telling us it was a grizzly. I was like, "No...there are no grizzlies in Cali". It got my heart rate going and we confirmed it was just a black bear (that was brown) but not a grizzly. We assumed this was the papa bear.
We continued down and down and down and down to the Kern River. I was glad to finally reach the bottom where we found the others waiting for us. They were getting ready to leave us but Chase had made us a sign in the dirt so we would know where they had gone.
Down here at the bottom of the valley it was HOT. The views were cool as the mountains towered above us in the bottom of the Kern River Valley. We even saw Chagoopa creek turn into Chagoopa Falls as it cascaded down the mountains and into the Kern River.
When we reached the Kern River Bridge, Jerel and his boys decided to stop and fish. The rest of us continued on a short distance to Kern Hot Springs where we would camp for the night.
We found a good camp site and then we got our shorts on to go swimming in the river and soaking in the hot springs. A long time ago someone had built a cement tub just below the hot spring with a pipe going to the tub. It was a nice big tub and you would unplug the hole at one end to let the water in and plug up the other end so that it didn't empty out. The water was VERY hot and the day was quite warm so we spent time going back and forth from the hot spring to the cold river. The hot spring felt so good. Pretty soon Jerel and his boys arrived and quickly joined us. It felt great.
As we sat around the campfire we enjoyed telling stories. It was nice to feel rested and enjoy the evening instead of being so exhausted. Pretty soon another backpacker came and joined us at our fire. He was in the military and was out enjoying nature for a few days. He was a really nice guy and put up with us for a while. Just as it was getting dark another couple arrived and found a campsite near us.
As it got dark I went and soaked in the hot spring again as did Jonathan. What a nice evening!
We thought that was pretty cool and kept on hiking down the mountain. Pretty soon Shad did the same thing and we looked over and saw a very scary looking bear looking right back at us. He was closer to us than the last bear and was brown instead of black. Shad was pretty excited and kept telling us it was a grizzly. I was like, "No...there are no grizzlies in Cali". It got my heart rate going and we confirmed it was just a black bear (that was brown) but not a grizzly. We assumed this was the papa bear.
We continued down and down and down and down to the Kern River. I was glad to finally reach the bottom where we found the others waiting for us. They were getting ready to leave us but Chase had made us a sign in the dirt so we would know where they had gone.
Down here at the bottom of the valley it was HOT. The views were cool as the mountains towered above us in the bottom of the Kern River Valley. We even saw Chagoopa creek turn into Chagoopa Falls as it cascaded down the mountains and into the Kern River.
When we reached the Kern River Bridge, Jerel and his boys decided to stop and fish. The rest of us continued on a short distance to Kern Hot Springs where we would camp for the night.
As we sat around the campfire we enjoyed telling stories. It was nice to feel rested and enjoy the evening instead of being so exhausted. Pretty soon another backpacker came and joined us at our fire. He was in the military and was out enjoying nature for a few days. He was a really nice guy and put up with us for a while. Just as it was getting dark another couple arrived and found a campsite near us.
As it got dark I went and soaked in the hot spring again as did Jonathan. What a nice evening!
1 comments:
This all looks very outdoorzy! About 20 years ago I would have loved to take it on - now it just seems somehow dangerous and dirty! Looks like you all had a wonderful time!
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