Kern River Camping - Part Two

When I arrived at Keyesville South I chose to park on a small side road at the top of the cliff because someone was already parked in the area I preferred.  Two days later my camping neighbor climbed up the hill to introduce herself and ask if I could help her with her trailer's interior lights.  Believe me, I am no expert with 12 volt systems but within a few minutes I identified the problem - a dead battery.

She had recently purchased the battery and a small solar panel trickle charger.  Unfortunately where she was parked she got no more than two hours of sun each day.  I brought down my generator and solar panel to charge up the battery.  I have my solar panel on a 20' length of wire so it can be moved around to sunny spots most of the day.  By sundown her battery was fully charged and she had lights for the first time in a couple of days.

She invited me for a cocktail at her campfire.  It was enjoyable getting to know Christen and hear the stories of her travels as a single woman.  At one point she asked why I was camped so far from the river and I explained that I enjoyed being away from other campers and wanted to give her the same consideration.  The next morning we took a walk around the campground and found a nice spot for Dod down below which was separated from her site by a couple of large boulder formations and large trees.  I moved!

Dod's New Site

My new spot had a lot of advantages: less wind, less traffic, closer to the river and closer to the restroom.  The one problem with the site was that the area was on the muddy side.  My brother Rick came up for the day and within a couple of hours we had solved the mud problem, built a fire ring and gathered a truck full of firewood.

My new pine needle wall-to-wall carpet.

First time I have built a fire ring.

Woodpeckers were busy storing nuts for the winter.

After four days of beautiful weather, clouds moved in; the wind roared through the canyon; and the temperature plummeted from the mid seventies to the low fifties.  With a forecast of rain and even lower temperatures  I decided to bail and go back down the hill to Rick's house.  Cristen decided to leave early also and head for a friend's house in Palm Desert.  We made plans to meet up there on my way to Mexico and even discussed the possibility of a two vehicle caravan down the Mexican coast.