Kern River kayaking and rafting news, and
weather
|
 
Sign up for a Sierra South Kayaking Class!
Click to watch a kayaking class video.
|
|
River
Notes for
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Important information about River
Notes.
 Download
our 2010 Rafting & Kayaking
Adventures brochure (PDF).
As many of you know, a fire broke out up Bull Run Monday afternoon. Bull Run Creek enters the Kern on river right just above Powerhouse Rapid. All of the homes above Powerhouse Rapid on river right at the end of Burlando Road were spared. The fire went up Bull Run and then turned and came back down toward the little town of RiverKern just north of Kernville. You've probably stopped at the RiverKern store for goodies on your way up or down river. The store still stands. Six homes were lost in RiverKern, but more would surely have gone if it wasn't for the heroics of locals in the area, many of them rafters and kayakers who work, vacation or have retired to this bucolic little enclave. Some in flipflops and tanktops manned hoses and stomped out floating embers that were falling everywhere. All of the homes along the river were saved. Headquarters campground is intact. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate the boating community's concern.
Because fire fighting helicopters need unrestricted access to the River to get water, the Upper Kern is closed from Headquarters Campground to Brush Creek. We have resumed running raft trips and kayak classes on the Lickety Run from the powerhouse into town, and are hopeful things will be getting back to normal in a few days. We are continuing to run our 2-day and 3-day class 5 Forks trips. The sale will still happen on August 14-15.
 Have you been thinking about taking a kayaking lesson or going on a raft trip? Want to know more? Check out our paddling videos on Vimeo, YouTube or our Kayaking and Rafting pages.
Make your plans now! The 25th annual Sierra
South Sizzlin' Summer Sale is August 14-15. We'll have more than 170 new
and used boats on sale, including kayaks from Jackson, Liquidlogic, Wave
Sport, Pyranha, and Wilderness Systems; and inflatable kayaks and rafts from
Hyside. Nearly all in-stock boats, paddling apparel and gear, and store merchandise
will be priced at 10%-70% off. Don't miss out -- take advantage of our low
Sale prices -- you'll be paddling in Sizzlin' style!
Our
world-famous Lickety-Split and Lickety-Blaster raft
trips are far and away the two most popular and most affordable
Class 2-3 whitewater rafting runs available on the Kern River.
Both are full of enough excitement to challenge just about everyone
from young tykes to grandmas and grandpas. Looking for more adrenalin?
Try our new Upper Kern and Forks trips. Reserve
your 2010 trip today!
Learn to kayak! Our proven teaching
method takes you through a gradual progression that maximizes
the fun. We've designed our beginning
class for those who have never river kayaked before, or who
have played around with kayaking some, but have not had formal
instruction in the fundamentals of river kayaking. We also offer
a 5-day
total immersion learn-to-kayak class and Private Instruction. Our Kayaking
School page has all the details on these, and other whitewater
and lake touring kayak classes!
Kern
River Alliance's "KRA Kids" Hooligan Boat navigates through the rapids
of Riverside Park during the 2010 Kern River Festival Hooligan Boat Float.
We have great prices on new
and used kayaks, and all
the gear you need for paddling. Many items,
including boats, are on sale! Need help? Our river guides,
instructors, and store employees actually use the products
we sell. Call 800-376-7303, and you'll talk to a knowledgeable
person that can answer your gear questions.
Gold
Medalist Nick Troutman, paddling a 2010 All-Star at the ICF Freestyle
World Championships, Thun, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of EJ & Jackson
Kayak
Check out the new 2010 Jackson boats in the New
Boat Barn. We think the new elite versions of the boats are
the best ever made by Jackson and worth every penny. With the
Sweet Cheeks and Happy Feet system, you also get the best outfitting
ever. It takes just a minute or so to understand the process
to get the correct fit. It is not hard to master and we will
be happy to show you how. Cross-linked plastic and a composite
beam support make these hulls the stiffest and most durable on
the market. The come with a 2 year double warranty. Also take a look at
these Jackson videos of the Star
Series in action and the Elite
outfitting. We usually have the new Star Series, Funs, and
Heroes in stock. The new creek boat, the Villain, looked great on Brush Creek at the Kern River Festival, and we have it in stock.
Date |
Seasonal
Peak (cfs) |
6/6/2010 |
8862 |
5/15/2006 |
7588 |
5/27/2005 |
7743 |
6/17/1998 |
7276 |
6/13/1995 |
6550 |
Preliminary hourly flow data from the Corps of Engineers
(COE) indicates the Kern River at Kernville (Riverside
Park) peaked at a flow of 8662 cfs and stage of 10.31 ft. on Sunday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. The peak daily inflow to Lake Isabella appears to have occurred June 7, with an average 24 hour inflow of 6405 cfs -- a little under the value the CNRFC had projected. Based on a review of USGS and COE data, a peak flow of 8662 cfs would be the highest peak flow from May/June seasonal snowmelt since at least 1986, and possibly 1983. There have been higher peaks, but those have been rain related, and outside the usual May/June peak snowmelt window.
Flows continue to be excellent on the Lower Kern. Last season, Evan Moore and Spencer Josif gave their
new 2010 All Stars a good workout at the KRT and Royal Flush
playspots. Check out their Lower
Kern Playboating video on YouTube.
Because of the El Niño,
Brush Creek was runnable last October! Here's a Brett
Duxbury video of Liz Brackbill, Geno Hacker, Marc Vernon,
and Rebecca & Eric Giddens paddling a sudsy Brush Creek.
(Some browser/plug-in/connection combinations are slow to start.)
Describing the numerous on-river
and off-river recreation options, the July/August 2008 issue
of Paddler
Magazine selected Kernville as one of the 'Best Paddling
Towns' in the U.S. The article rated Kernville a 5-star weekend
destination and a 5-star 'Near Home' vacation destination.
Sierra South has been running raft
trips, and teaching kayaking classes on
the Kern River since 1985. The 2010 season will mark our 25th
year on the Kern River!
We talk a lot about the "Kern
River basin" in Rivernotes. During the Winter, we frequently
refer to the Upper Tyndall Creek, Pascoes, and Wet Meadows snow
sensors. During the paddling season, it might be Limestone, The
Forks, Kern Falls, or Kernville. Here's a satellite
overview of the 1000 square mile N.F. Kern drainage area
with a few of the features labeled. If you look near the bottom
of the photo, you'll see Lake Isabella. We're located just north
of the lake!
Want to check on the
Kern snowpack and see where the snow sensors and snow courses
are located? We've put together a Kern
River Basin Snow Courses & Sensors Google Earth KMZ file
mashup that shows the station locations in Google Earth and links
to the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) data page for each
station.
Here is a snapshot of today's flow
and reservoir data, based on reports from the Corps of Engineers
(COE) and Southern California Edison (SCE). Click on "Current" to
get the latest COE info. For SCE flow information, call the flow
phone at 877-537-6356 or 760-376-8821. According to SCE, the
flow phone values reported for Above & Below Fairview, and
Below Democrat Dam are updated every 5-10 seconds. All other
flow phone data is manually updated twice a day (7am & 2pm)
when an operator is on duty.
| |
Upper Kern |
Lower Kern |
| |
Above Fairview* |
Below Fairview* |
At Kernville |
Lake Isabella |
Below Democrat Dam* |
| Date & Time |
Flow (cfs) |
Flow (cfs) |
Stage |
Flow (cfs) |
Total Outflow |
to River |
to Borel Canal |
Storage
(acre-feet) |
Flow (cfs) |
| 28JUL2010 1300 |
NA |
NA |
5.96 |
764 |
2017 |
2017 |
0 |
302,050 |
1518 |
| Kern Flow Info |
Current |
5
Day Plot |
10
Day Plot |
Month |
WY
'10 |
WY
'09 |
WY
'08 |
WY
'07 |
WY
'06 |
| Weather |
NWS |
NWS
Zones |
CNN |
Washington
Post |
Satellite |
Radar |
Riverkern
RAWS |
RAWS
Archive |
|
| *Flow values
from SCE Flow Phone. For current information call 877-537-6356
or 760-376-8821. According to SCE the flow values reported
for Above & Below Fairview, and Below Democrat Dam
are updated every 5-10 seconds. All other flow phone
data is manually updated twice a day (7am & 2pm)
when an operator is on duty. |
More information concerning flow and weather can be found on
our LINKS page.
River
Notes Archive and Index - River
Notes Photo Archive
Interactive Maps to Kernville & Road
Conditions
If you would like to receive email notification of equipment
sales, special promotions, and other paddlesports related news
and offers, please take a few moments to subscribe to The
Sierra South Rapid! Email List, the fast-track to
great deals on paddlesports gear.
Barry Tessman
|
|
