Wednesday, February 17, 2010

2010 Kern River Rafting Season Looks Outstanding

The last few weeks have been a winter paradise for alpine skiers and snowboarders in California – and they aren’t the only ones happy with recent storms. Riding in deep powder during the winter months is synonymous with whitewater rafting on rivers full to their banks. Whitewater rafting outfitters are used to looking at winter snow-pack data to determine approximately how much water – and how long – they will have to raft during the spring and summer.

In Southern California, Kern River Outfitters operates on the Lower, Upper, and Forks of the Kern River near Lake Isabella. “The two sources we look at in determining our water outlook are water levels in Lake Isabella and snow-pack in the Kern River drainage,” said Keith “Luther” Stephens, Kern River Outfitters’ general manager. “As of today, both of these are above last year’s numbers, which is very promising.”

Stephens, who has been working on the Kern River for over 25 years and has seen high water, low water, and everything in between, has become a sort of water guru for the Kern River Valley. He says that the snow pack “really is the life and blood of our operations. It’s a solid indicator of how long the rafting season will last.” Although it is too early to predict exactly how long the Kern River rafting season will last, in a recent memo to his guides Stephens wrote that regarding snow levels, “The bottom line is that we are already guaranteed a great runoff for the 2010 rafting season.”

Kern River Outfitters is the premier whitewater rafting outfitter in Southern California. They offer trips ranging in rapid difficulty from Class III to Class V, and trip lengths from half day to three days. The numerous options make Kern River rafting trips suitable for nearly everyone, and the short driving distance from Southern California’s largest cities makes it a popular summer destination. For information about the Kern River or California rafting trips in general, contact Luther Stephens at 1-800-323-4234. Kern River information including 2010 trip schedules is available at http://www.KernRafting.com.

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Resurrection of the Rafting Center

Those of you who rafted with us the afternoon of July 23rd, 2009 might remember this harrowing site. While all of you were out playing on the river, the Rafting Center was experiencing it's own little adventure via a motorhome, a vehicle in tow, and a set of defective brakes. Although causing quite an obstacle to overcome for the balance of the 2009 season, the good news is that no one was injured and it provided an undeniable motivation to remodel the building for the upcoming rafting season. Plans are being finalized as we type for a new and improved Kern Rafting Center to accompany the big water we expect this summer.


Stay tuned for details of our new and improved Rafting Center. With the promise of a bountiful snow pack, the 2010 season is sure to be one of the best years for running the Kern River with Kern River Outfitters, Southern California rafting at it's finest.