SUMMER WHITEWATER RAFTING, TUBING, AND CAMPING!

YOU CAN RSVP WITHOUT PAYMENT, BUT ONLY THE PAYMENT GUARANTEES YOUR SPOT. I EXPECT THIS ONE TO SELL OUT.

We weren't able to raft last year because of fires in the area, so let' make it happen this time: Let's go whitewater rafting and whitewater tubing in the middle of the summer!

Isabella Lake still has a lot of water, which means the Lower Kern River will be running strong all the way until the end of the summer. That means, while people are melting down here, we'll be up in the Kern area having a cool and awesome time!

One of the cool things about the Lower Kern is that it has a lot of nice rapids, and the rapids are followed by nice and calm recovery stretches. It's the perfect combination of action and scenic rafting!

Then, afterwards, we will go up to the Upper Kern, and tube down the river. At that time of the year, the Upper Kern is running slower, which is now perfect for tubing.

And as if it weren't enough August 9 is full moon, so we will be camping under the full moon! You guys know I love full moon hikes, so if you think we will be going on a full moon hike, probably to the Packsaddle Cave, you are right!!!

What a perfect weekend!

THE PLAN:

I got us campsites starting on Friday, so we can arrive on Friday evening (or any time after 3:00 pm) and get set up. I recommend that you do that, but if you don't want to, you can drive up very early on Saturday and meet us at Whitewater Voyages.

We meet at 7:40 am at Whitewater Voyages. There's a great breakfast place across the street, so we can get there at 6:45, have a breakfast burrito, and be ready and full of energy for our rafting.

We'll then meet our guides, have our safety briefing, and get on a bus for a quick ride to the put-in location at the base of the Lake Isabella Dam.

We are doing the Jungle Run of the Lower Kern River, an 8-9 mile class II and III run. It's one of the most fun runs on the Kern. We put in at about 8:30 am and should go until around noon.

Once we're done rafting on the Lower Kern, we will drive up to the Upper Kern, and go whitewater tubing! Because the Upper Kern is fed only by snowmelt, the water level is lower by August, so now the rapids are lighter. You can't raft them, but they are now perfect for tubing! They have buses at the take-out location that take you to the put-in location. We'll take the bus up to the top, raft down, and probably repeat!

Early in the evening, we'll have a potluck dinner. We'll all bring something to make and share.

But the night is not over! Like I said, it's full moon, so we have to go on a hike. We'll see how we feel, but if we still have a lot of energy, we can go to the Packsaddle Cave. If we're too tired for that one (it's 2.5 miles each way, with 1.7K elevation), we can go on an easy one.

On Sunday, we'll have a group breakfast and then see what we feel like doing. There is a nice pool on the river right at the campground, so we might just go and chill there before heading home.

PRICE: $189.00. That includes camping. And no, you can't raft and go home. That would be like having sex with me and then leaving. I demand some respect!

YOU CAN RSVP WITHOUT PAYMENT, BUT ONLY THE PAYMENT GUARANTEES YOUR SPOT. VENMO THE PAYMENT TO @EDUARDO-BRITO. OR ZELLE IT TO ZELLE@1000TREKS.COM. MAKE SURE TO TELL ME YOUR NAME!

All right! Let's have all the fun we can handle! See you guys there!

Eduardo