Lake Ming Walk

We had a relaxing day here at the Kern River County Campground. It was nice to take a day off that didn't involve coughing 85% of the time. We both seem to have caught a mild case of the flu, in addition to my asthma problems. We're both better day-by-day, although Mike is about a day behind me with the flu symptoms. I'm actually feeling pretty good this morning, and got a good night's sleep without having to endure coughing fits throughout the night. Things are looking up health-wise.

Smitty spent his morning on high alert, gazing out the catio window. There were people and woofies strolling by outside. We kept a weather eye on them.

Sadie couldn't be bothered. It was warm in the trailer, and she was snuggled up in a quilt. What more could a kitty want?

After breakfast, we got Smitty out on his harness. These first few walks always begin on the steps of the RV with Smitty in abject terror. He wasn't pawing at the door to be let back in, however, and so this showed some promise.

My computer just warned me that my battery life is about to expire, and so I'll have to return in a few. Please excuse this momentary interruption to my prattle.

Okay. I'm back. Did you miss me? And now I have my coffee. There are quiet hours in campgrounds when it is considered bad form to run one's generator. In this park, we had to wait until 7:00 a.m., which is fairly early. Some parks make you wait until 8:00 a.m., which is downright uncivilized without coffee.

So back to Smitty's walk...the back side of the RV was really the place to be. When Smitty is out and nervous on these first walks, I'm speaking softly and quietly, telling him to "maintain" and not panic. I picked him up and carried him to the other side of the RV where I set him down in the grass. Oh. My. Gosh. Like a cat starving in the desert, he was so glad to see some grass and spent several minutes right here grazing. You should always eat your greens.

And then we set out on a brief excursion of approximately two minutes back to the door side of the trailer where he pawed at the door to be let in.

Apparently the grass is the thing...and California is a legal state, so no worries.

Later in the afternoon, Mike and I got out for a walk. The weather was gray and overcast all day and a little on the chilly side. There is a biking path running along the edge of the park. Here, we stopped to calibrate our speedometers. We certainly didn't want to get ticketed for speeding.

We can't get over what a great resource this is for the locals. There were some informational signs along the way explaining how it came to be. We suspect this is a floodplain, and so can't be developed, but these two locals set about turning it into a community resource. The signs were in poor repair, but I think you can still read the one below if you're interested.

This next one gives some statistics. There was other information on this larger sign, but it was so encrusted in mold that it was nearly impossible to read. It says, "Beginning at the Mouth of Kern River, the Kern River Parkway includes over 6,000 acres of trails(?), parks and waterways extending over 30 miles westerly to Highway I-5."

There were arrows marked in lime with 10k markings as if there had been a race run here recently. Possibly a New Year's Day event? We don't know. In any case, we walked alongside the Kern River for a distance.

Across from where I took the photo above was this memorial bench.

Here's the plaque below. Rest in peace, Steve. He must have been a bicyclist.

Walking on, we came to an earthen dam which holds the Lake Ming reservoir.

Turning just slightly, you can see the water level device. We suspect water from the reservoir drains into the river when it rises above a certain level, and the device can probably be raised and lowered as well. There was a motor nearby that ran intermittently, but we didn't notice anything happening beyond the noise.

We saw a few birds out on the lake.

Before visiting the Merced National Wildlife Refuge last week, I could have called this next bird a duck. Now, I know it is a coot. I should hang out with my smart friends more often.

I posted this next image on Facebook for Judy's identification. She tells me it is probably a Western Grebe. You can see some better images at the link I've given you.

There were a few mallards.

As we walked back, we spied this red-shouldered hawk in a nearby tree.

And that was kind of our day. We had leftovers for dinner, and so we kept it pretty low key. Sadie's day was low key from start to finish.

Since my last post, we've had some time to scope out the amenities and necessary items available to us here. We needed an RV dump station and fresh water. We'll also need to refill our propane tanks. As it turns out the dump station and fresh water are available to us right here, and we can refill our propane in town. It looks as if we'll be spending at least one night at the Trona Pinnacles where we'll find free camping.

Yesterday I discovered a blog from a young couple who camp in wild areas. You can find their blog, Gone With the Wynns, right here. They've posted some drone footage of their visit. The fact that they are in a motor home gives us hope that the road to the pinnacles will be passable for us as well. Mike worries about his vehicles...typical man. From my point of view, if it's not a sewing machine, then who cares? Right? So anyway...I've discovered the way around this now is to say, "It'll be a good place to fly your drone." And he perks up right away. Always thinking...the woman is always thinking.

So time will tell...we'll either be at the Trona Pinnacles or else in Death Valley next time I write. And if it's a few days from now, then it's probably the Trona Pinnacles with no internet access.