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Our annual “Boys Only” camping trip, aka Merino Madness 2008, was another successful adventure. This year, we decided to go back to “roughing it” and forego the condo camping, which we’ve enjoyed so much last year in Mammoth, and pack up the tents and head out to the Kern River. We encountered the Kern River when we camped at Lake Isabella in 2004, and I vowed to come back and camp on the river some day. We decided to take the risk and go up without reservations.

Our first stop was Hobo campground, south of Lake Isabella. We were pleasantly surprised of how empty the campground was, and felt that the natural serenity of the grounds, with nice shady sites right on the river, was a perfect match for us. Our only concern was that there was no running water, so no showers, and no toilets (only porta-potties). We decided to keep this site in mind, but make our way north of Lake Isabella to check out other campgrounds, both private and public. After about an hour of driving through various sites, we all agreed that Hobo offered the nicest atmosphere with the least crowds, so we went back to set up camp.

The campsite we chose (spot #5) was the largest on the grounds so we could set up three tents with ease. It was also very close to the Hobo Rapids , which made for a great soundtrack to our trip.

Our only complaint about the campground was the overly aggressive hornets, which forced us to eat in the car for the last 3 days of the trip.

One of the planned events for this trip was river rafting. I had gone rafting on the American River when I was around 12 years old, and I knew that everyone would enjoy it. We decided to go for the all-day Class II-III trip, called the Picto, run by Kern River Tours. Needless to say, we had the time of our lives. Our river guide, Matt Kerley (with curly hair, no less), was a 28-year-old free spirit that made sure we experienced everything we could. Of all the guides on our trip (there were 4 boats total in our group), Kerley was, by far, the best. He told great stories and jokes, and made every attempt to get our raft in the most hairy situations. Steven can attest to this as he was washed out of the raft as we hit a churning hole in a Class III rapid known as “Devil’s Slide”. Kerley quickly scooped Steven back into the raft, so no harm, no foul.

We also experienced a “Jump Rock”, where we launched ourselves from a ~12-foot high rock into the river. We all jumped several times, including Grandpa, who did his famous cannonball- at the amazement of all the others. At the end of the 8-mile run, we jumped out of the boat and braved an “Adventure Swim” where we floated through a Class II rapid with our life vests.

On the third day we decided to take it easy and soak in the river all day to stave off the 106-degree temperature.

Yes… it was HOT. Hellishly hot. Even at night. But we made it through alive and well. Other than the stupid hornets (which Steven calls the most useless creatures on the planet), we had a great time. Check out the pictures to see for yourself: Merino Madness 2008 Pictures

Shamir Merino