Adventures K E
Legend Boat Launch Ramps Camp Grounds z Towns Hospital + Other Features
STATISTICS
Golf Course
M.L. Ludiker Artwork & Design
Airport
Sierra Way
Wofford Heights
Kernville
Mountain 99
Page 4
Wofford Heights Park
Tillie Creek Live Oak
North Fork Marina Camp 9
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General Drainage Area 2,093 Square Miles Capacity, Gross Pool 570,000 Acre-Ft. Surface Area, Gross Pool 11,400 Shoreline, Gross Pool 38 miles Length, Gross Pool 9 miles Main Dam Maximum Height 185 Feet Length at Crest 1695 Feet Auxiliary Dam Maximum Height 100 Feet Maximum Length 3,257 Feet Lake Construction Started March 1948 Finished April 1953
County Dump Cyrus Canyon OHV Area Target Range ModelAircraft Controllers Stine Cove Robinson Cove Hanning Flat
R I V E R
Kern River Valley information Recreation Info U.S. Forest Service
Lake Isabella office: 4875 Ponderosa Dr. (enter from Hwy. 155 just over the hill from Hwy. 178) (760) 379-5646 Kernville Office: 105 Whitney Rd. (around the corner from the museum) (760) 376-3781
Boulder Gulch Hungry Gulch Rich Gulch West Side French Gulch
French Gulch Marina Pioneer Point
To
field ers k a B
Water Ski Area
Lake Isabella South Fork Recreation Area
to Ridgecrest
Old Isabella Rd Auxiliary Dam Engineer Point Paradise Cove LI Visitor Center Kissack Bay Main Dam Hospital
Lake Isabella
General KRV Info
Wildlife Area
Mountain Mesa
Friday, February 12, 2010
Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce
6404 Lake Isabella Blvd. Across from Senior Center Local: (760) 379-5236 Toll Free: (866) KRV4FUN
Emergencies - call 911 Kern Valley Substation
Sheriff’s Department and CHP 7050 Lake Isabella Blvd. (760) 549-2100 Weekdays only, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Kern Valley Hospital Kern Valley Healthcare District
McCray and Laurel, Mt. Mesa (760) 379-2681
Kernville Chamber of Commerce South Fork Wildlife Parking Area
Southlake Map courtesy Mike Ludiker www.kernvalley.com
11447 Kernville Rd. Kernville Corner Sierra Way & Kernville Road Local: (760) 376-2629 Toll Free: 866-KERNVILLE
Sponsored by the Airport Cafe at Kern Valley Airport Sierra Way, 4 mi. south of Kernville Rd. Breakfast & Lunch, 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. Great food 7 days a week
The Kern River Courier’s
Sights Of The Valley
Above: Maryann Ryan got this picture of clouds on mountains. Right: Michael Batelaan took this shot Wednesday of Courier columnist Mike Mencarini tossing fish into the upper Kern River.
E-mail your scenic photos to office@kernrivercourier.com
Valley history: The Harley Mine Editor’s note: The mountain that the Harley Mine was located on was named for the late author and Kern River Valley historian Bob Powers, who told the story of the mine in his book “North Fork Country” (1974): One of the happy accidents that figure so often in stories of the early settlers occurred as a young troublemaker named Charles Harley wandered the hills on what was then called Mineral Mountain, fleeing, he thought, from justice, when he stumbled on a good-sized deposit of gold-bearing quartz. Imagine his dismay. All that quartz and nowhere to go with it. No one to tell about it. No way to get it down from the peak where he had found it. What to do? After a good deal of soul searching, self-reproach, and probably more than a few swear words, Harley realized that the only answer was to return to Kernville and take his medicine if he had to. Harley slipped into town as inconspicuously as possible, only to learn that the injuries of his adversary were so minor as to cast considerable doubt on the shooting ability of one Charles Harley. The ore was located 5,500 feet up the mountain. It would have to drop 2,000 feet in 1.5 miles to the site selected for the mill through some of the most rugged terrain in the West. Development began in 1877. The ore had to be packed out by mules at first, but the final solution was as beautifully simple in conception as it was staggeringly difficult in execution. Andrew Smith Hallidie of San Francisco was contacted to build an aerial tramway. The wire cable was over three miles long. Cable and the huge bullwheels were freighted by ox team from Visalia. The end of the Harley Mine came in 1882 when the tramway cable broke, and the ore buckets and cable came screeching down the mountain, banging and scraping against the rocks, emitting a stream of sparks that could be seen down in Kernville even though it was broad daylight. Two men working near the tramway were killed, cut to pieces by the madly whiplashing cable. —– information from books by Bob Powers
Courier Fishing Report
Trout back in river Mike Mencarini Kern River Courier Columnist
(Editor’s note: Mencarini has been a volunteer at the hatchery for seven years.) After 15 months or a trout At this time I have no infordrought, a portion of the Kern mation on future plants, but I River has finally received trout will do my best to relate inforagain. mation on any future fish stockA truckload ing plans. of these welPlease enjoy come trout our river and I had the privilege were stocked please keep it Wednesday in of helping put the clean. The Courier the area of is a weekly publiRiverside Park fish in the river. cation and can be to the raft obtained every --Mike Mencarini Friday at most of launch just below the our local busipowerhouse. nesses. I had the privlege of helping put the fish in the river, along Mike Mencarini is a Wofford with my fellow hatchery volunHeights resident and a volunteers Ted Panos and Buck teer at the Kern River Fish Jacob. Hatchery.