Side trip to Kern River and Lake Isabella

Shortly after completing the flower bed installation I decided to take a trip into the neighboring Kern River Canyon for some alone time.  We went up through Kern Canyon just north of Kernville and found a free campsite right next to the Kern River.  There are several National Forest dispersed camping areas along the Kern River between Lake Isabella and Johnsondale.

Great view to the East and the river to the West

Even though this was a nice campsite, I only stayed one night here.  It was peaceful for the most part (some traffic noise) and it was easy to fall asleep listening to the river flowing by.  The highlight of the day was when four Navy jets buzzed through the canyon at about 1000' above my head.  

The next morning I headed for Lake Isabella (about 15 miles south) and explored several potential sites.  I finally settled on one of the very few that had shade and a view of the lake in the distance.

This tree provided shade for most of the day.  As the shadows moved, so did Dod.  The line on the rocks at about the height of Dod's cabover is the high water mark for the lake.  Now the lake is several hundred yards away and probably 15' lower.

The area around our camp was covered with a carpet of green and we had a  panoramic view of the surrounding Sierra Nevada foothills.  It was super relaxing to sit out and read books.  I finished 5 books in 6 days!  When not reading, I explored some of the many roads and trails that crisscross the lake bed.

The rock formation is probably 60' high and I would have liked to climb to the top but being alone and so isolated I did not want to risk it.  I stayed at this site for 5 days and saw a total of 8 vehicles and only two hikers.

These campsites are within 60 miles of Rick's house so I can easily get to the area in less than 2 hours.  I have since found several other great, free campsites to which I will return soon.

Jesse

I missed having Jesse with me as he would have had the run of the entire lake bed and been good company on my hikes.  Jesse and a local family from Bakersfield fell in love and I gave him to them.  While I miss his company, I think he will be happier with a permanent home.  He didn't enjoy traveling that much and I found I was foregoing stops I would have made had he not been with me.