Big Chillin on the Kern River Waterfront at Frandy Park Campground

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For Markie's Mom Maria's birthday, we took a trip to Kern River and pitched tents on the waterfront site at Frandy Park Campground. On the past two trips to Kernville, we envied families at this campsite and their easy access to the water. Rocks are built like dams and create small pools along the river behind the waterfront campsites making for a dream backyard. We set up a canopy and Miche'd our way through the weekend. 

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Driving into Kernville you pass a sign that warns you of this dangerous body of water. Kern River is all rocks, so for those free balling it into the river wear a life vest. And maybe a helmet if you're prone to accidents. When we came here a few years back we rafted the upper river but with the water receding, we could only go down the lower half.

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Day one, we got settled in and remembered all the things we forgot to bring. Luckily Marleine and Brady were meeting up with us that night and were able to bring the rest of our stuff. In the meantime, we set up our tents, made a fire, and Mark built our BBQ. 

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By the time Marleine and Brady got there it was almost 1AM and we all knocked out. The next morning, making Miche's for breakfast and had the entire day to enjoy our temporary backyard. Markie caught his first river fish and I owned everyone at speed......jk I fuckin suck.  

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That night, Markie and I ventured into what became the most pivotal moment in my creative career. Wandering into the darkest corners of the camp, we decided to take a crack at astrophotography. Inspired by Mango Street Lab and their easy to learn tutorials. 

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The few shots we were able to grab really pumped me up to continue taking photos of stars. The sad part is that if would have stayed up a little longer some of these shots would have caught the Perseid Meteor Shower. Between me and you, we saw it all and it was beautiful.

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After the fire went out, we hit the sleeping bag and prepared for our Sunday rafting trip with some morning bacon (cooked by yours truly). I lounged the last minutes we had left of the hammock and we packed it all up to hit the white water. Stay tuned for our video with Kern River Tours.

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Kim Quitzon

Kim Quitzon is a multimedia journalist specialized in documentary filmmaking and social media storytelling. She is a SoCal Journalism Award winner for her work on Dímelo and recently received her Master’s from USC Annenberg. She has been featured on Home Grown Radio, Blurred Culture, and Pharcyde TV. Follow her travels on @kimquitzon.


https://kimquitzon.com
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