Body NOT found in the Kern River

I pulled a Without a Trace scenario today, only I wasn’t declared missing, and my body wasn’t found two weeks from now floating in the Kern River. I had been communicating with a guy on the Internet for the past eight months regarding a small farm he wanted help maintaining in exchange for an interest in the property. The property was in Weldon, California not far from the Kern River. So on a recent trip across the county I told the man that I would stop by and see the property. He provided some directions but said I would find the road on Google and he was the only developed property on it.

I started out that morning from Barstow, a small town in California known to be a gateway to Las Vegas due to its proximity to major cities on route. I followed a Goggle map north on 395 to Highway 178 to CA Highway 14 and back to 178 — all of which wind into the interior of California between China Lake and Lake Isabella at the base of the Sequoia National Forest. There is not much out there including towns and gas stations except for scattered and isolated houses some of which seemed to be mostly off-grid, at least off cell-grid. Much of the land is obviously water-scarce supporting mostly scrub oak or low growing trees such as Juniper or Limber Pine.

After driving for an hour or so I was getting concerned about gas (although I had a half a tank — had not seen any stations or signs to where they might be). Finally, in Onyx I saw a station and pulled in for gas and to ask directions. The man was friendly and offered directions but there would be no gas. The station was out. So sorry. “We’re getting some in tomorrow.” I wondered for a moment if I should stay at that creepy little rundown hotel across the street. I decided against it. 

With few main roads in the area, he quickly directed me to Kelso Valley Creek Road which would run into Kelso Valley Road which would take me further back into the hills about 20 miles and eventually to Cortez Road that may or may not be marked. I drove but I never found a marker for Cortez Road. Google had pinpointed it to 8.2 miles down Kelso Valley, but now, cell coverage had stopped. At that point I turned onto the only right-turning road in the area — a dirt road that looked like it might be Cortez Road. A red “no trespassing” sign was attached to a post at the road entrance. The rule-breaker in me ignored it and I turned in. The road was sandy, uneven and deeply rutted in places so I had to drive up onto the land a bit and although I have a 4-wheel drive Ford Explorer, I was now getting concerned about getting stuck or damaging my car in a deep rut. The thought of running out of gas was bothering me too. But, I had come this far and I was already two hours into this little adventure and I really did want to see the property. I continued another 400 yards and was greeted by another no trespassing sign; this one was larger and attached to a small closed gate blocking the entrance where the road continued. I sat and looked at it for a while. Should I walk in?

If you are wondering why I didn’t call the guy — the cell phone didn’t work. Neither did my GPS. Besides, he wasn’t supposed to be there — just a caretaker. Some sort of sense took over and I reluctantly gave up. At this point, sitting in the middle of seriously nowhere, without a cell phone or GPS and running low on gas I began to realize what I had done. No one knew where I was. No one would have ever found me had I gone missing. Not being a person that trusting of humanity I wondered out loud to myself what I was thinking. Who are the people that live out here? Loners. Hermits. Serial killers?

There are no road signs because these are people that don’t want to be found. I turned the car around and wound back down the dirt road to the Kelso roads and back onto 178 and headed toward the Kern Valley — taking the scenic and social route out.

No adventure but still alive.