We left Vegas at 5am Saturday morning, and made our way to Kernville to grab an overnight permit at the Ranger Station. From there we made the windy, slow drive up to the Jerkey Meadow Trailhead, arriving at about noon. By the time we hit the trail at 12:30 my car showed 84F. Not ideal. The first 3 miles of trail is consistently uphill and rather sunny, but does pass through a number of awesome sequoia stands that provide some shade. We were also lucky to come across multiple little runoff streams on the way up that I imagine won’t be there all season and probably aren’t usually there.
- Enjoying the seasonal runoff across the trail.
- Great views as the climb approaches the ridgeline.
- A little clarification added by fellow hikers.
- Peaks to the north of the ridge, still snow capped.
We found the Little Kern to be not-so-little once down into the river valley, and we could hear it long before we could see it. The bridge spanning it, however, was still well above the water level and fine to cross. We found a nice, well used campsite just across the bridge and made camp there. The pup still had loads of energy and I considered continuing on to Trout Meadows, but he’s also got an inexplicable fear of unfamiliar inanimate objects (grocery bags, boxes, bowls, you name it) so I thought some time relaxing at camp with all the new ‘things’ would be good for him. He never quite came to accept that the tent wasn’t terrifying from the outside, but once coaxed inside he found it a rather nice place to sleep.
- Little Kern bridge, in good condition.
- Looking south from the bridge.
- Not shabby camp. Closer to the water than I like, in terms of impact, but camping in an undisturbed spot seemed like a worse option.
- Exploring the ridge east of the river to let the dog burn some more energy.
- Jin surveys the river gorge.
- Tent sleeping was no issue, clearly.
In the morning we packed up and got on the trail by 7:30 to try and beat the heat. The climb back up to the ridgeline went quick in the cooler temps, as did the descent back to the trailhead. We were driving back toward Kernville by 10:00. All-in-all I found the region to be a quite nice, and longer treks to the Kern or Little Kern Lake, etc., are probably great early season trips that I’ll consider in the future. Also, if you're in the area with your dog, the Kern River Brewery gets three thumbs up for having nice food, nice beer, and a nice dog-friendly patio.
- Big tree, little dog on the hike out.
- One of the better post-trip re-fuels in a while.
