Temple dreamer and minerval runner left to cross the desert at midnight under the full moon, guided west. We were ascending the mountain range separating the desert from the oak savanna and grassland valley. Our destination for the day: The hot spring on the Kern River, in the Southern Sierra down from Lake Isabella.
To get there from the south, there is windy one lane Bodfish-Caliente Road which has an awesome view of the valley (above) over the cliffside. We came downhill over the mountains with potatoes bouncing across the freeway from a truck and felt like taking an early exit to the Cesar Chavez national monument. We didn’t know this is here, so stopping here was a good surprise with art and historical information about the activist and United Farm Worker leader.
Enetering the Kern valley towns of Bodfish and Lake Isabella, we found the humble dirt forest road and came to the riverside campsite. It’s about $22 to camp here for one night and there were lots of people there already, though it’s beautiful. The springs parking lot is a few miles further downriver and it’s on the rocky, forested cliffside with no guards and plenty of cars parked around. This was our destination.
The springs are free to visit and it’s free to park and camp. However, to get to the springs it’s about a 3/4 walk down a steep canyonside. Once you’re down, it’s tough to want to climb back up. It’s an awesome spot in the main spring by the riverside, 3 pools of different heat by the rushing river. The afternoon folks were chill and with mostly women, where we heard about the lady who built the pools and cares for the site. Guys with stereos came in…the Stones and Prince. “Time is on our side.” Oh yes it is…..
The night crowd is a bunch of drunks who sadly left trash around, let the water go down, and yelled for hours from on the hill by our camp to their friend who may have gotten lost down there. This is the downside of an open paradise, and why i cannot fully recommend this place.
Morning sun rises gloriously from up canyon, and we could see it all from the cliffside camp. The mountain breeze is cool but not cold, and it all feels good. Down at the springs, we enjoy a meditative morning in near solitude, she at the small pool higher and hidden away , i playing my drum in the main pools by the rushing river among trash and drained water.
A guy sits down by me, listening to my song. When i get out he tells me there are lots of crazy locals that come down here, and they are influenced by the military and feudal Europe. What?
It’s a long way up the hill to our cars to leave. This wasn’t the dreaming experience we were hoping for, but the highway down the canyon to Bakersfield surprisingly is. Picnic areas sit along it and the riparian marshy habitat in areas like the picture below. As soon as the brown mountains end suddenly into flatland, the river appears to dry up and pipelines instead follow the way to Bakersfield.
This the dry Kern River that we hear about in songs like “Kern River Blues” by Merle Haggard. Further downriver, there is a Kern wildlife refuge that once had water as there were boats sitting on the grass (it may again have water after a rainy winter) and we know this to be part of the pre colonial Tule basin.
Near this refuge is the agricultural town of Delano and many farms including the 40 acres of the United Farmworkers, where Cesar Chavez spent time. This area is known for table grapes, which had worker boycotts in the 1960s with Chavez. The town has many Mexican-Americans and Filipino-Americans in the population, and there are local food markets and murals in the small historic downtown.
For more about the United Farm workers and the Delano Grape Strikes read here….
The Kern River canyon is part of the Sequoia National Forest and there are many park sites along the river on CA-178 NE of Bakersfield. For updated access information, visit the first website. We recommend not visiting the hot springs on weekends in the summer.
arianna's creative travels 