Saturday Surf and Turf 7/19

So those who know me know that I have this affliction of waking up early and not getting back to sleep. The whole early to bed, early to rise deal does have its advantages.

Saturday I blinked awake at 5:45 and decided that it was surf time. I dragged out of bed and threw my nine footer in the back of the truck. There was a rumor of a significant swell coming in that should be peaking Sunday. I headed to Sunset and discovered that the swell consisted of 3 foot cruisers every few minutes. The typical weekend crowds were there but minimal and mellow.

After picking up some peelers and chatting it up with a few new friends I looked at my watch and it was about 7:45 it felt like the swell was building a little but my shoulders had had enough and the crowds were picking up and getting a little more serious. Time to go.

On the way out I saw a bunch of folks dressed in costumes with their long boards. For example William Wallace was playing bagpipes, Jesus and his buddy an the Arab were chatting it up, their was an alligator with a massive tail and all sorts of costumes that involved capes. WTF, eh. So I changed out of my wet suit and got back to the beaches entry point just in time to see all of these really stoked goofy people just flat out taking over the line up.

(From another year but you get the picture)

I specifically remember a very sullen face older (non participant) guy speeding in from the point and getting taken off of his wave by a squatty female in an alligator outfit. It was great! What are you going to say to an alligator? He just paddled back out and probably had a laugh later that day. Every significant wave was a party wave with ten people paddling for it and six people catching it. Then the trick was trying not to run in to every one else that was on the wave. Mayhem!
One wave had Jesus the Arab and some guy in a cape all zooming towards the beach and laughing their heads off. What a blast!

Dooda Surf 2008. It was really fun to see the pretension taken out of what is just a great past time. It will also teach me to leave my camera at home...

After that it was time to walk the livestock and Bella and I headed to the top of Mandeville Canyon. It was overcast in town and it was socked in on the top of the mountain.

Really good start to a great weekend. Went to the Santa Monica GLOW exhibit that night (someone else can review it. It was neat but not my ball of wax) and then had a mellow Sunday surfing at station 8 and getting ready for the week.

The Toledo Show

Sunday nights, The Toledo Show happens at Harvelle's Blues club on 4th and Santa Monica. Great club, great show. Get there early.


I was a little buzzed and had my camera with me. So enjoy.

http://www.harvelles.com/Harvelles.html
The Toledo Show is considered a burlesque show but is really like stepping in to an artists canvas. The dancers are really good, sexy, tortured as per the formula and it all works. Apparently the band has off nights. When we saw them everything was clicking.
Again good seats are a good thing for the show. Try to get near the dance floor. Try to get near the stage. It's worth the I believe, $10 cover charge and they say it's the best show going on Sunday night. It's hard to ague.

Hiking Kenter 7/10

To get to the top of Kenter trail head:
Go to Bundy.
Head North
Bundy turns in to Kenter after Sunset.
Follow Kenter up a long and winding road till it dead ends.
That's it.

When you get there you can follow the trail all the way over to a housing tract that is accessible from the valley. Halfway up this hike their is also an oak tree that shades a bench that over looks really, the whole LA Basin and has a great coastal view. That's usually what I do.

This time of year staying on the main road is a good idea but even there keep your eyes out for these guys.
I walked past this little guy (and so did Bella) and he was maybe 2 feet off of the trail. He was really lethargic as it was pretty chilly out. Notice the camouflage and the fact that he's sleeping in an almost strike position (in strike position his head would be raised and cocked back).
Western rattlesnakes are equipped with a venom that dissolves soft cell walls in whatever it bites. When the cell wall dissolved it creates serious pain and swelling. The swelling can block blood flow to areas distal from the bite and cause a serious issue. The venom can make its way to vital organs and that is also a problem. If you want to see a picture of Ms. Bella's ear after she was bit last year email me. It's pretty ugly.

From Mayoclinic.com

If you've experienced a snakebite:

• Remain calm
• Don't try to capture the snake
• Immobilize the bitten arm or leg and try to stay as quiet as possible
• Remove jewelry, because swelling tends to progress rapidly
• Apply a loose splint to reduce movement of the affected area, but make sure it is loose enough that it won't restrict blood flow
• Don't use a tourniquet or apply ice
• Don't cut the wound or attempt to remove the venom

Seek medical attention as soon as possible, especially if the bitten area changes color, begins to swell or is painful.

____________________

I'll add. Go straight for the medical attention. Don't wait for the symptoms. Time is important on this one. Also keep the bitten area lower than your heart. I don't know how much this helps but it makes sense to me to use gravity to your advantage here. For example, if your hand is bitten keep it down by your side, not up in the air. Just a thought.

Don't let snakes keep you off the trail. Rattlers keep the rodent population down and are a part of the Wests ecosystem like 'em or not. They don't want to mess with you and would rather be left alone.

That being said the next time I go out I will be taking my hiking polls so if I see one of these little natural wonders I can fling it off into the bushes.

Fishing The Kern River

JJ and I met up in Kernville for a fishing weekend this fall. I had heard about fishing this river from fly-shop owner Guy Jeans ( http://www.kernriverflyfishing.com/ ). He had spoken to SouthWest Fly-Fishers Club a few months back. Knowing that Kearnville was not to far away and hearing that the fishing was pretty decent, we planned a three day weekend. The first night was spent at a hotel as we did not really have our bearings yet. The second night we also wound up in a hotel because the first nights hotel was right next to the Kern River Brewery http://www.kernriverbrewingcompany.com/ . Really good beer. JJ owns a brewery as well so once he gets talking with the owners and brewers its really easy to get in to beer "tasting" mode. When tasting with full pints it's really easy to not want to drive to find a campsite.


The river was high from that seasons run off and we had very little luck during our first day of fishing. We fished along the main back road in to Kernville that was heavily fished and used by rafters. It was really slow and a little discouraging. We caught a few but nothing worth bragging about.

First day= a few small (really small) fish.

Good sign! We were on the tail end of a yearly Stone Fly hatch!

On our second day after having stopped by the fly-shop we learned (or were reminded in my case) that about 25 minutes north of town there is quality water. This is a section maybe 4 miles long that is designated as single barbless hook/no bait/you can only keep I think it was, 2 fish over 16 inches a day. This allows the fish to grow to decent sizes and keeps casual plunkers from depleting the fish stock.

We hiked in and WoW! The first day was fairly productive. We used emergers and a few small nymph droppers and caught a decent number of fish but day two we pegged it!



At the end of our drift we discovered that allowing the nymph to rise to the surface and then slowly pulling it up stream for a short distance was what they were looking for. It wasn't the most fish we had caught in a day but it was close. Most of the viable looking holes were producing really nice trout.


All of this while the river was really considered to high to have a good fishing day. Brilliant!
Kernville= Good Beer/Good Fishing/Friendly Locals/2 hour or so drive.

We will be back. Oh yes we will.

Lone Pine Rocks(!)

(Click on these images to enlarge them)

Sharks Fin is a rock that we have climbed on two separate trips and there are three or four routes up it that are really fun! The views are great from the top as you can see Mt. Whitney and a large portion of the Alabama Hills. It is located right off of the Whitney Portal Road so it's convenient as well.

On this trip we spent one night in Lone Pine. After climbing the next morning we could hardly hold a canteen because our arms were so tired. We drove to the the base of White Mountain Peak on the Eastern side of the valley and walked through the Bristle Cone Pines. Didn't get any really good shots of the trees but I did get a view of the Sierras.

Than that night we camped in Bishop...
And climbed the next day. Bishop really is the climbing mecca it is cracked up to be. The varied terrain and sheer quantity of climbing is fantastic. Really incredible rock formations that are just fun to look at and really interesting and challenging to climb. If any climbing gym rats read this do your self a favor and take a weekend to get out here. It's worth it.