Kern River kayaking and rafting news, and
weather
Kayaking Classes and Raft Trips Begin This Weekend, March 13!
Kayaking Classes and Raft Trips Begin This Weekend!
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River Notes for
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Important information about River
Notes.
Kayaking classes and Raft trips
begin this weekend, March 13! Book any Class
3 or 4 raft trip we offer on any day other than Saturday,
and we will give you 20% off. You must book by Friday, March
19th. Sundays through Fridays are less crowded -- it's like floating
your own private Wild & Scenic River. Believe us, you will
get just as wet as on Saturdays! Enter Coupon Code SD2010RK
at the time of finalizing reservation. This cannot be used with
any other discounts and can only be applied to new reservations
initiated after March 4th, 2010. This discount can only be used
on trips or classes that take place before August 31, 2010. Discount
expires March 19th, 2010.
March snow
course measurements by California Cooperative Snow Surveys
have been completed, and the Sierra snowpack (and paddling
season) continue to look fantastic! With 13 of 14 courses recorded,
the Kern snowpack is reported at 130% of the March 1 norm,
and 116% of the average April 1 seasonal total.
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. Our Kayaking
School page has all the details on these, and other whitewater
and lake touring kayak classes! With the great outlook for the
boating season, take advantage of our Early Bird weekend pricing,
and reserve a Kayaking 101 or Kayaking
201 class now!
 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 tikes to grandmas and grandpas. Looking for more adrenalin?
Try our new Upper Kern and Forks trips. Download our 2010
Rafting & Kayaking Adventures brochure (PDF) for more
information! Reserve your 2010 trip now!
We have great prices on new
and used kayaks, and all
the gear you need for the 2010 boating season. 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.
The new 2010 Jackson boats are
in! Check them out 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 yr. double warranty. Check out
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, isn't in production
yet, but we are anxiously waiting.
Because of the El Niño,
we're thinking that Brush Creek is going to be runnable a number
of times this Winter! Here's a Brett
Duxbury video of Liz Brackbill, Geno Hacker, Marc Vernon,
and Rebecca & Eric Giddens paddling a sudsy Brush Creek last
October. (Some browser/plug-in/connection combinations are slow
to start.)
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.
Gold
Medalist Nick Troutman, paddling a 2010 All-Star at the ICF Freestyle
World Championships, Thun, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of EJ & Jackson
Kayak
The ICF Freestyle World Championships
were held in Thun, Switzerland in September 2009, capping a great
freestyle paddling season with our good friends at “Team
Jackson” mopping up in nearly all categories.
The new Jackson All-Star 2010 was “the” boat
of the competition, that’s for sure. Eric Jackson and the “family” were
medalist in nearly every category. Now is a great time to order
the 2010 Jackson Star of your choice: The Star, All-Star, Super-Star,
and the new Mon-Star.
The Mon-Star is the 1st truly playful big guy’s play boat
for paddlers over 200lbs. If we don’t have a boat in stock,
Jackson is not only fast on the water, they are fast in shipping
and production.
With the excellent flows 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.
Stephen
Wright doing a massive 'Space Godzilla' on Gore Creek in Vail,
Colorado. Photo by Dane Jackson.
Evan Moore and Robert (Swanie)
Swan competing in the boatercross Duo-class at the Reno Whitewater
Festival.
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. The
2010 Kern River Festival is April 17-18, make your plans now!
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!
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) |
| 10MAR2010 1300 |
-- |
-- |
5.56 |
573 |
477 |
32 |
445 |
151,485 |
-- |
| Kern Flow Info |
Current |
5
Day Plot |
10
Day Plot |
Month |
WY
'09 |
WY
'08 |
WY
'07 |
WY
'06 |
WY
'05 |
| 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
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Immersion
Research Comp LX Dry Top
