I wish to express a personal thank you to all the men and women who are serving and have served the armed forces of this country.

Thank you!

The water level is falling at what is suppose to be the beginning of rafting season.

The water level at the upper Kern was measured at 1,910 square feet per second; this is probably the last good weekend to raft up here.

Jane, Professional Debriefer Paul, Jeff W., Instructor John and myself set out to do four runs from the Powerhouse rapids to Frandy campground.

The Kern River death count still read 242 – they apparently are no longer updating the sign.

John gave his safety and procedure lecture to refresh Paul’s memory on how to raft – he had not been rafting for almost 30 years.

Paul was so nervous, he started biting his fingernails off.

The first crew is ready to go – from left to right, Debriefer Paul (who actually is shorter than me), Me, Instructor John and Jane.

We’re off!

We made it through the Powerhouse rapids.

I don’t have any really exciting rafting pictures on this trip – the professional photographers were apparently so burned out from the Memorial Day weekend, they had packed up and left by Monday afternoon.

We made it through the first run without a problem, even though the raft was lopsided on power with only three paddlers and the guide.

On the second run, Jeff W. switched with John; John ran shuttle.

The back of the boat from my perspective.

The front of the boat from Jeff’s perspective.

The second run was flawless – a real nice ride!

Jane complimented Paul and I for blocking the water so she wouldn’t get so wet.

The third run was pretty routine despite Jane telling John after we had launched, “I think we might flip this time because I had a beer for lunch and I’m sort of buzzed.”

The third run went smoothly as well.

While launching our fourth and final run of the day, I witnessed a truly spectacular example of Darwinism at it’s best:

A young girl who apparently couldn’t swim, but desiring to play in the river, was tied with a string around her arm with the other end held by an adult – probably her mother.

“She doesn’t know how to swim, so I want something to pull her back up to shore,” she told the other person in her party.

The water level had fallen since the first couple of earlier runs in the day, but the fourth went smoothly and without incident.

Another day of rafting comes to an end.

We hit Memorial Day traffic coming back in to Los Angeles; with a few shortcuts on side roads by Magic Mountain, we still got home in decent time.

Apparently, there were two water rescues today above the Powerhouse rapids by the Fire Department; we were not provided any details.

The upper Kern river apparently peaked today at 2,912 cubic feet per second, so it’s back up to the Kern River for some rafting.

This may be the last really good weekend of rafting due to the crappy snow fall last Winter.

Next weekend is Memorial Day; the water may be good but the crowd makes it too much of a pain in the ass to have fun.

The Kern River Death Count remained unchanged from last year at 242, even though we know of at least eight additional deaths since then.

I think it’s ironic that just as many Americans as Mexicans have died on the Kern – 242 each; so I guess that would be 484 total?

On the way up, Instructor John told us that the commercial operators are really hurting for business and that private boats are considered “Pirate Rafters” since we are taking business away from them.

Cool, we’re pirates!

We inflated the raft at Frandy camp ground before hauling it up river, past the Power House.

Here’s the front of the raft from John’s perspective.

John handed the camera back to me, I turned and yelled, “Tree!”

“All forward! All forward,” John yelled.

We barely missed getting all of our heads ripped off by the approaching branches.

The water was so high, the islands in the middle of the river were flooded.

We went through the Power House rapids without a problem – a really fun ride, in addition to the four other rapids along the way to the class three Euwing rapids.

There were teenagers on the banks of Euwing with professional cameras taking pictures of the rafters, hoping to make a few bucks – obviously they did with us.

We approached the Euwing rapids…

John yelled, “Oh my God, we’re all going to die!”

Notice how composed and macho I am.

We headed into the Euwing rapids.

We hit the first pit – I laugh at danger!

The fun is just beginning…

All forward! Dig! Dig! Dig!”

“Rock! Rock! Rock!”

We made it through the Euwing rapids without a scratch!

We brought the raft back up river.

We relaunched at the same spot, but some hot chick sun bathers tried to take over the beach… they practically fainted at the site of pirate rafters!

Do I look macho, or what?

I’ve noticed that the commercial rafting outfits cater to everyone, regardless of experience, just like Instructor John does.

However, they charge an insane amount of money – I think $40 to $80 – for two runs down.

They launch below Power House and stretch a 25 minute run down the river by having water fights and pulling over for some swimming.

Depending on who is on board, they might purposely miss some of the waves and pits, which may be a good thing for them.

Here comes our second run at the Euwing rapids…

“All forward! Dig! Dig! Dig!” John yelled.

Another successful run!

We made two more trips down the upper Kern, all without a wipe out, crash or anyone falling out.

Macho man me, done for the day.

The ceremonial deflating of the raft.

The ceremonial rolling up of the raft.

Hopefully, we can get a few more weekends of rafting in, but it doesn’t look too promising.