Day 15: To Remington hot spring

July 24, 2009

Today I leave the central valley and start climbing into the Sierra Nevada mountains.

I got away from my motel at 8, but did errands until 9. It was already warm and sunny, of course. I pedaled northeast on highway 178 thru new upscale subdivisions where most of the McMansions have mountain views. The subdivisions end 3 miles from the mouth of Kern canyon, where the mountains start abruptly.

First view of Kern canyon from a hilltop northeast of Bakersfield.

The highway in Kern canyon is very narrow, winding, and very scenic. It attracts many tourists in RVs. And boaters driving up to Lake Isabella. And families looking for a place to swim. And motorcyclists on joy rides. And a few crazy truckers. Fortunately it's so winding that the traffic is very slow. I made sure the LED was flasher on.

Warning at the mouth of Kern canyon. The river is very swift, making it easy to get swept away.

I climbed nearly 2000 feet in the canyon. The miles go by slowly but beautifully, with gradually more trees. There are many places to stop and get down to the river. But very few places are slow enough to swim safely.

Kern river canyon. The road climbs steadily because the river has a huge gradient.

In the afternoon the temperature climbed well into the 90's. There's not much shade on the road, but I could find shade when I stop. The sun protective gear keeps me mostly covered with good ventilation, so I get good evaporative cooling when I'm moving. The humidity is very low.

15 miles into the canyon I turned right on Kern canyon road and stayed on the same side of the river while highway 178 crosses to the other side of the river and gets much wider. The highway stays near the river while Kern canyon road winds and climbs several hundred feet above the river. It's a forest road now, but it was once the main road. In 8 uphill miles I saw 2 or 3 cars.

View from Kern canyon road looking down on highway 178.

At 2 PM I turned into an unmarked parking lot 200 feet above the river. I plan to free camp along the Kern river near Remington hot spring. I walked the bike partway down the steep trail and locked it to a tree. Out of sight of the thieves and vandals that prey in the parking area. I carried all my other gear down the steep trail to the river and set up camp downstream from the hot spring. Shortly after taking this picture I moved the tent farther downstream to a spot under dense trees. It helps to sleep on ground that's been in the shade compared to ground that's baked in the sun all day. The shady spot was 80F inside my screen tent at 11PM.

I did laundry and relaxed and napped in the shade to stay cool. It was noticeably cooler (and louder) near the fast-moving 74F river. Several raft parties went by on the river. In late afternoon the air was 90F near the river, warmer elsewhere. With a breeze. I swam in the river a few times to cool down. That helps a lot.

At about sunset I walked upstream 5 minutes to Remington hot spring. The hot pools had hopefully cooled to decent temperatures after being in the shade for a couple hours. I soaked in the coolest pool with a view of the river.

On a warm evening the Remington hot spring pools were 106F, 104F, 101F. The Kern river was 74F. Measured with the digital probe thermometer shown.

An eddy in the river makes it easy to swim upstream, then circle back in the main current. You're in trouble if you fail to get back into the eddy.

I walked back to my tent at about 11PM. I could see a million stars until I got to my tree-shrouded campsite. It seemed cool enough to sleep.

Today's distance was short but mostly uphill. With a hot tailwind. Overall, an easy day. The 2000 foot elevation gain and nearby Kern river made the heat tolerable for camping. It's hot, but life is good.

Distance: 33.4 mi (53.4 km)

Climbing: 2857 ft (866 m)

Average speed: 8.0 mph (12.8 km/h)

Max speed: 36 mph (57.6 km/h)

Hiking: 2 mi (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 706 miles (1,136 km)

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