During the middle of October, the Santa Barbara 4 wheel drive club made its annual trek to the upper Kern river.
Camping right on the river, members enjoyed relaxing, hiking, fishing and having lunch at our favorite burger place, McNalleys, (which makes the best burgers and shakes), as well as wheeling in the nearby mountains.
As forestry fire restrictions were in place, we weren’t able to enjoy our usual wood campfires. The restrictions even included charcoal barbecues. As propane sources were still okay, we were able to enjoy a small propane powered fire ring for our evening campfires.
The weather was clear, cool and windy, especially at night.
During the day, we were able to observe fighter jets on low level training runs buzzing up the canyon between mountain ridges literally just above us. It was awesome.
On Friday, the club explored Sherman Pass Road, which still had significant snow above 7,000 feet.
After stopping and enjoying spectacular views at the lookout vista at 9,200 ft. elevation, our club members made our way down the backside and enjoyed a trip through the forest at approximately 8 to 9,000 feet through the forest on the last loop of the Sherman Pass 4 x 4 Jeep trail.
Our trek through the forest was beautiful due to the snow everywhere from the storm that passed through the week before. We found ourselves traveling through 8 to 12 inches of fresh snow. It was so much fun.
On Saturday, we headed back up to Sherman pass and entered the Sherman pass 4×4 trail on the middle access point. Led by Swifty, this trail was a steep climb entering several challenging areas, especially with slippery mud from the snow melting. We eventually made our way up to 2 old abandoned cabins (likely the Embrea cabins) where we got out, walked around and explored for a while. While the date of these cabins were originally constructed is not available in the trail literature, it is obvious they have been there for a long, long time as they are in severely dilapidated condition.
After leaving there and continuing up the mountain, the views became more and more spectacular. We eventually ended up turning around after trying to get to the radio towers on the top of the mountain because the snow became just too deep.
After a nice break, we traveled back down the mountain the same way we came up and eventually got back to asphalt, where we aired back up and headed back down the mountain. Some members stopped at the McNally’s burger shack for lunch, enjoying their tasty food at their picnic tables out front.
Sunday was pack-up day for our crew as we all headed out of the Kern river valley and back home.
Congratulations to Tad and Ann, newish club members making just their second extended remote trip with the club. They did great.
All in all, it was a great trip enjoyed by all.