Day 116: Kern River, but Wilderness

Saturday September 6, 20.7mi/33.3km

Kern River Canyon (327.3/3910ft) to Upper Kern Flats (348.0/5070ft) (CA)

I followed the Kern River all day again today, I started off the morning hiking right beside it.

And then I climbed up above the river, to the Rincon Trail.

The connector trail was blasted right into the cliff!

The trail got a little confusing near this old mining tunnel, as there were a bunch of little paths going in all directions.

The Rincon Trail runs parallel to the Kern River, but up high and with better views.

I came across a missing croc in the middle of nowhere, some poor hiker is traveling with only one shoe?

Things got a little brushy for a couple of miles.

But then quickly cleared up once I descended back down to a meadow near the Kern River.

The hardest part of the day was fording the river. It was only knee deep, but moving very swiftly.

After talking to a few fishermen I saw today, this is considered low water. I can’t imagine crossing this river back in May or June when the water is higher. Pretty sure I made the right decision in skipping the Sierra section, and coming back to it later. After crossing the river, I had lunch and dried my shoes. The afternoon was easy hiking on a very nice riverside trail.

It was a hot day again, but at 5,000 feet elevation, it felt less intense than the previous couple of days.

This old stone ruins was right next to the trail, I couldn’t really figure out what it was, with a concrete platform.

It was also a good spot to access the river, so I decided to go for a swim and cool down. The water isn’t even that cold, so I took my time and rinsed off. The rest of the afternoon was mostly hiking in a sparse pine forest.