Kern Valley Airport is a fantastic mountain getaway just an hour’s flight from Hawthorne. Situated on the north shore of Lake Isabella along the Kern river, the airport provides access to fishing, rafting, hiking, and camping. In addition to the attractions the area provides, the airport has a fantastic campground with cool grass, shade trees, fire pits, and hot showers! This trip marks our third camping trip to Kern.
Since the beginning of California’s Safer-at-Home order, Maoli and I have spent a lot of time in the house. Our weekend activities have consisted of long drives through the city (no stops), long walks around the neighborhood with the dog, and occasional jaunts to the grocery store. 80P has been down since the beginning of March due to a failed electric auxiliary fuel boost pump. After getting the pump overhauled, we decided to expand our weekends and spend some time in nature, away from other people. The original plan called for a return trip to Payson, AZ (KPAN), but the forecast was calling for temperatures on the warm side (Hayden is a bit heat-sensitive these days). Instead, we redirected to Kern, where temperatures were forecast to be a little cooler.
We took our time Saturday morning, launching toward Kern in the early afternoon. Entering the Mojave, our route took us directly over Antelope Valley, perfect for inspecting the poppy bloom. There was an AIRMET for moderate turbulence below 12,000 MSL, and just past the poppy fields we encountered mild chop. Tightening our seat belts, we continued on into the foothills of the Sierras. Arrival over the south end of Lake Isabella was uneventful, but there was one other aircraft on downwind for runway 17. To my great surprise, the campground ramp was almost full. After the aircraft ahead of us taxied in, only a single tie-down remained! It would seem that we were not the only SoCal pilots with this brilliant idea. Thankfully the landing with an audience was uneventful - some might even call it “good.”
After taxiing in, we tied down the plane and claimed a shady campsite under an evergreen tree just outside the showers. There were at least six other camps spread around the area, more than we’ve ever seen! Luckily, there’s plenty of space for everyone to spread out and maintain good social distance. We secured the plane, set up camp, and realized that we forgot our skillet… so we introduced ourselves to the neighbors, who kindly lent a spare skillet. After settling in, we headed for the river. Winding our way through the brush, we encountered a friendly local, who suggested a better location further downstream. We rerouted to the new location, and sure enough - a nice sandy beach on the side of the river awaited us! We opened our chairs, laid out our towels, and got to the difficult business of relaxing, wading in the cold snow melt water of Kern River, playing with Hayden, and generally enjoying life away from the city. After a couple hours of R&R, the sun began to sink behind the hills, so we packed up and headed back to camp.
For this trip, we brought food to cook and test our new MSR Dragonfly stove. The evening meal consisted of a lemon marinated spatchcocked chicken from Trader Joe’s, accompanied by asparagus and a large sweet potato. Since we had a little sunlight left, we took turns trying to light tender with our flint & striker - but without a char cloth we didn’t have any success. I left Maoli to prepare the fire using more modern implements (a lighter), while I set up the stove. The attraction of this particular model lies in it’s fuel flexibility - very handy when many of our camping trips happen with the airplane - which is full of fuel! Yes. You can successfully run the Dragonfly on 100LL. I’m not sure I’d recommend doing this regularly (it’s leaded fuel, after all), but it certainly works in a pinch. After lighting the stove, we placed the whole chicken in the skillet, covered with a plate, and waited. Amazingly, the little stove worked fantastically, cooking the whole chicken through (we did flip the chicken part way thorough cooking) over the course of 30 minutes or so. Halfway through, we added asparagus to the skillet to steam/marinate in the juices. Throughout this all, the potato was roasting in the coals of the fire.
After the chicken was cooked through, Maoli pulled the potato from the glowing coals, cut into it, and to our excitement it was perfectly cooked. No sugar needed! We prepared our plates (an awesome new set of camping plates gifted to us by our friend Chris - thanks Chris!), and sat down for a gourmet fire-side meal. After dinner, we threw more wood on the fire, cleaned up our cookware and plates, and returned the skillet to the neighbors. They turned out to be a group of fellow pilots, up from Santa Paula celebrating a friend’s birthday. We chatted a little, then returned to relax by the fire.
Sunday morning, we awoke at a leisurely hour - there was nothing aside from relaxation on the agenda! We prepped coffee and sausage and eggs for breakfast and tidied up camp. We debated returning Sunday evening, or or waking up early Monday for the return trip to Los Angeles. The Santa Paula crew was packing up their gear, so we stopped by to chat for a bit. A few of them planned to stay Sunday night, so we formed a plan to meet up at the river after getting camp squared away. Maoli and I decided that we’d also plan to leave Monday morning and dedicate Sunday to relaxing by the river!
I’d heard that a couple more pilots from Hawthorne were up camping. I recognized one of the planes from the tie-downs, and while we were prepping to head down to the river, I saw the occupants loading up the plane. I walked over to introduce myself, meeting Peter and his girlfriend, along with Rick and his wife. I was quite impressed that they managed to pack their Cherokee with two full-size mountain bikes in addition to their camping gear - a definite inspiration for my future Comanche-packing experiments. After they headed out, Maoli and I packed up our beach chairs, gathered our beverages, and headed for the river. The beach from Saturday was already occupied by a few anglers. Luckily, our new Santa Paula friends, Zach, Vic, and Josh, knew of another good spot further downstream, which was deserted. We set up the gear, cracked open our beverages, and proceeded to relax in the river and get to know our new acquaintances. The afternoon flew by, and soon the sun was sinking behind the hills - and worse, the beer cooler was empty! We decided to head back to camp, run to town for supplies, and enjoy a dinner together.
Sunday evening was filled with another delicious camp dinner, stories around the fire, and a few more cold ones. The perfect conclusion to a wonderful weekend. As the moon rose in the sky, and the campfire dwindled, we said goodnight and headed to the tent. Maoli and I both had early meetings Monday, so we needed to be up early. As the dawn broke Monday morning, we got up, enjoyed a marvelous hot shower (one of my favorite features of the campground), broke camp, and packed the plane. By this time, it was a little after 8 AM, and Zach and Vic were up and about. We said our goodbyes, fired up the plane and headed south toward Los Angeles.
The trip back was uneventful, with smooth air and quiet radios. We made it back (just) in time for our meetings, the magical weekend keeping a smile on our face the whole week. We can’t wait for our next Kern adventure!
