The Kern River .... Why do so many have to die?
This picture was taken in December of last year ..... After this weekend it is at least 10 more people added to that number, it is currently 335. WHY?
It is a very sad thing to drive by the campgrounds full of people and children playing in the water and think ...Some of these people will never make it home .... Some of these people will Die today .... Some of these people .. will that child be next?
Highway 178 Which we live on goes through the Kern River Canyon and was just named 9th Deadliest highway in all of CA. The canyon regularly will be closed due to an accident (in the summer) or a rock slide (in the winter) or vice versa occasionally. It is not uncommon for a car to go off a cliff hundreds of feet down to the river. People passing on a blind corner, people driving way too fast for the conditions...there are lots of ways these deadly things happen - not accidents but instead someone not being a responsible driver. If this wasn't bad enough there is the river, part above Lake Isabella and another portion below. Every big weekend a couple people lose their lives in ways you think would never happen...Example: Family of 4 comes up from Southern CA for a camping trip on the river, going to be a great family weekend full of memories. When they get to the campsite and pull the car in the kids are ecstatic can't wait to get wet and have fun. The 12 yr. old daughter jumps out of the car as it comes to a stop and runs down to the edge of the river (so excited). Without any warning she slips on an uneven rock and falls into the river before her parents are even out of the car. She was never seen again. A mother of 4 goes down to the water to try and cool off, after all it is over 100 degrees. Without realizing it she steps to far out into the water and is swept away. Another camper a few sites down hears her screams for help and runs to help, he dives in with every intention of helping this woman. Neither are ever seen alive again, 1 will never be seen again. A man stays near the shore sensing the danger but still drowns since no one in his party can swim. Why? So senseless?
You have to go to Bakersfield for an appointment and have to drive through the canyon. On the way you start to see people in groups of 3 or 4 visibly crying, some with binoculars, looking for the body of their loved one floating in the river below for some type of closure.
These are all true stories of how deadly this place is but yet so peaceful they think. There are also stories of people "Tubing" in this river which has class 5 rapids, yes class 5. Just this weekend a mother with a baby in a tube flipped over and had to be rescued ...Luckily. Almost 100% of these deaths are NOT locals, we don't go in the river. And I'm sure you have already guessed NO LIFE JACKETS EVER.....Why? Whenever I drive by one of the popular sites and see children chest deep in water that clearly will kill them I yell as loud as I can "Yes that's the place everyone dies." I do this in the hopes it will scare a parent or two and change someone's life for the better, they don't drown. A local fisherman on Saturday morning witnessed 2 bodies float by him at 6 a.m. with no other soul around ...what do you do? Do you jump in and try to grab their dead body, for their family ....or do you climb up to the top and call authorities maybe never to see them again?
The beauty of this place is being replaced by sadness and horrible memories yet nothing changes. Crazy to think how long ago that song was made and yet it still continues, very sad.
I do have to admit the river has become a terrible thing to think about or even drive by when you know someone you can see WILL DIE. We live in such a beautiful place but it is hiding such death and destruction. The one thing that is repeated sadly almost every weekend is "No one told us how dangerous it was." But the answer to that is "There are not enough signs to fix stupid," sounds cruel but so is death. There are signs all over the place warning people of the dangers but they are ignored, just like the sign at the beginning of this post. It is a very sad thing to hear about but after hearing it repeated almost verbatim so many times it turns to anger ... Why?
This life is so precious and fragile don't fall prey to the trap of lackadaisicalness in a place of unknowns. I would hate for this to happen to a member of our Tort Family!
It is a very sad thing to drive by the campgrounds full of people and children playing in the water and think ...Some of these people will never make it home .... Some of these people will Die today .... Some of these people .. will that child be next?
Highway 178 Which we live on goes through the Kern River Canyon and was just named 9th Deadliest highway in all of CA. The canyon regularly will be closed due to an accident (in the summer) or a rock slide (in the winter) or vice versa occasionally. It is not uncommon for a car to go off a cliff hundreds of feet down to the river. People passing on a blind corner, people driving way too fast for the conditions...there are lots of ways these deadly things happen - not accidents but instead someone not being a responsible driver. If this wasn't bad enough there is the river, part above Lake Isabella and another portion below. Every big weekend a couple people lose their lives in ways you think would never happen...Example: Family of 4 comes up from Southern CA for a camping trip on the river, going to be a great family weekend full of memories. When they get to the campsite and pull the car in the kids are ecstatic can't wait to get wet and have fun. The 12 yr. old daughter jumps out of the car as it comes to a stop and runs down to the edge of the river (so excited). Without any warning she slips on an uneven rock and falls into the river before her parents are even out of the car. She was never seen again. A mother of 4 goes down to the water to try and cool off, after all it is over 100 degrees. Without realizing it she steps to far out into the water and is swept away. Another camper a few sites down hears her screams for help and runs to help, he dives in with every intention of helping this woman. Neither are ever seen alive again, 1 will never be seen again. A man stays near the shore sensing the danger but still drowns since no one in his party can swim. Why? So senseless?
You have to go to Bakersfield for an appointment and have to drive through the canyon. On the way you start to see people in groups of 3 or 4 visibly crying, some with binoculars, looking for the body of their loved one floating in the river below for some type of closure.
These are all true stories of how deadly this place is but yet so peaceful they think. There are also stories of people "Tubing" in this river which has class 5 rapids, yes class 5. Just this weekend a mother with a baby in a tube flipped over and had to be rescued ...Luckily. Almost 100% of these deaths are NOT locals, we don't go in the river. And I'm sure you have already guessed NO LIFE JACKETS EVER.....Why? Whenever I drive by one of the popular sites and see children chest deep in water that clearly will kill them I yell as loud as I can "Yes that's the place everyone dies." I do this in the hopes it will scare a parent or two and change someone's life for the better, they don't drown. A local fisherman on Saturday morning witnessed 2 bodies float by him at 6 a.m. with no other soul around ...what do you do? Do you jump in and try to grab their dead body, for their family ....or do you climb up to the top and call authorities maybe never to see them again?
The beauty of this place is being replaced by sadness and horrible memories yet nothing changes. Crazy to think how long ago that song was made and yet it still continues, very sad.
I do have to admit the river has become a terrible thing to think about or even drive by when you know someone you can see WILL DIE. We live in such a beautiful place but it is hiding such death and destruction. The one thing that is repeated sadly almost every weekend is "No one told us how dangerous it was." But the answer to that is "There are not enough signs to fix stupid," sounds cruel but so is death. There are signs all over the place warning people of the dangers but they are ignored, just like the sign at the beginning of this post. It is a very sad thing to hear about but after hearing it repeated almost verbatim so many times it turns to anger ... Why?
This life is so precious and fragile don't fall prey to the trap of lackadaisicalness in a place of unknowns. I would hate for this to happen to a member of our Tort Family!
