Kern Whitewater | Life in 1972 - 01

Sunday, April 16, 1972 - Page 107

LOCATION: Newport Beach & Kernville, California

This image of my brother Chuck racing in whitewater was drawn by our father, Lu (Grady Luther Lyda Jr.)

[TIME-HOP to previous day]

Saturday, April 15, 1972

(Written Monday, April 17, 1972, 11:30:45 A.M.)

I woke up at 6:00 A.M. and got ready for the trip to Kernville. Chunk had trouble getting the car started, so it wasn't till at least 8:30 before he got there. Bob Kirkeby came too -- an old friend of Chunk's from the Sea Scout Days. Bob is taking a photography class so he had a school camera to take pictures at Kern. We went to Mayfair and bought food for the trip, then we went to a camera store & Bob got film. It took three & a half hours to get to Kern, though it is supposed to be a five hour trip. I sat in the back seat which was slightly cramped with equipment (sleeping bags, blankets, food, kayaking stuff, paddles...) sprawled from the back to the back seat. Glenn's kayak was tied to the roof of the car so we'd have enough boats to paddle in.

Kernville looked a lot smaller than the last time I saw it which was many years ago, about 5, I think. We first went to the Ewings portion of Kern river to see if Chunk's boats were there -- they were. So we went to Peanut Butter Park where the kayak crowd camps out. The new boat Chunk built (the Musky Mongoose) was there. Then we drove up to Tom Johnson's, whom I haven't seen since I was last at Kern. He didn't recognize me. Anyway, Patch was there, and Bob & I tied it on the Barracuda (we'd left Glenn's boat at Ewings). There was a thermometer at TJ's that said it was 79° -- the weather was warm & clear.

Chuck on the Kern (1974)

We left Johnson's and drove back to PB Park to get Chunk's boat, and Bob & I held it to the car out the windows, and I drove back to Ewings. Bob wasn't used to kayaking -- it was the first time he'd paddled, though he was familiar with sailing and rowing. He used Glenn's, I was in Patch, and Chunk took the Musky Mongoose. We paddled in the calm deep water below Ewings to get used to it. After about 15 minutes I tipped over into the 40° water. Bob had flipped a few minutes earlier. The dunking I took got me very disenchanted with kayaking, and I was reluctant to get back in. In the interim, Bob & I went to the banks of Ewings in the kayak. Chunk was concerned about this foolhardiness and told him to use Patch (a boat he wouldn't mind getting busted), the oldest raunchiest paddle, a helmet and life jacket. So Bob went thru the white water like he was going through the gates of Hell, head scrunched down, shoulders sloped -- terrible form, but he made it through without flipping. So he went to do it again -- but before that I got back in the kayak (Glenn's water-tight one) with many reservations, but bowed to Chunk's urging. Then Bob ran the river again and flipped over -- that was two flips for him & one for me.

I got a little more confidence but I still wasn't anxious to run Ewings. I just stayed in the calm water. By then the sun was setting, so we returned to Peanut Butter Park, and got in league with Cliff, a kayaking buddy of Chunk's who is about equal to him in ability, and we had dinner, using his stove to cook beans, chili, and beef stew, and Bob cooked the steak on a grill over the fire. So the four of us had dinner. At the camp there was a three legged dog (front leg missing) and a three legged cat (hind leg missing), which was slightly odd. There were also some other dogs and cats there who vied for our leftovers. A few people gathered at the fire and talked, me, Bob, Cliff, Chunk, and a few young girls usually. TJ [Tom Johnson, Chuck's legendary mentor] came to the fireside gathering, which was unusual. The crowd changed to experienced kayakers & drifters. I wandered away at about 8:00 to go to sleep. I used the foam rubber boat pad with three blankets. C & B turned in at 10:00 or 11:00.

Keeping track of the competitors: Tom Johnson at the Kern in 1974

Sunday, April 16, 1972

(Written Monday, April 17, 1972, 12:38:17 P.M.)

I waited 'till Chunk got up before I officially awoke, which was at about 8:30. We were the last people to wake up. Chunk went running with Cliff about 3 miles. Bob & I had breakfast. Eventually Bob & I went to the river, and Bob ran Ewings again, flipping at the start. I was in the calm water and caught the paddle -- people on the shore helped him and the boat out of the water. Chunk got in the water later. I managed to flip over again while trying to get used to the rough water at the edge of Ewings. So I quit again and Bob took pictures again, and I joined him on the rock. Then Chunk and Cliff paddled the slalom at the end of Ewings, and I timed their runs -- they averaged

[Here the text is interrupted by the end of the page, continued on tomorrow's entry:  April 17]

The Apollo 16 Saturn V space vehicle lifted off at 12:54 p.m. EST, Sunday, April 16, 1972, from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. To see a NASA documentary about this mission, go to April 20 - Apollo 16 moon landing.

For more like this, go to  Top 20 Entries from 1972

ALSO, see Life in 1972:

Races May - 02, Oxnard/Newport June - 03, 18th Birthday July - 04