Gwyny Pett has been visiting the Kern River for decades, camping there as a girl and then taking her own children, now grown, to splash in shallows so calm they felt like a private pool.
She has also seen the destructive power of the river during high-water years.
“I mean, this is dangerous,” she said, gesturing at the water speeding past.
After a parade of epic winter storms, the Kern River and other major waterways fed by melting Sierra Nevada snow have become wild torrents — a transformation so dangerous that several counties in Central California have prohibited people from entering the water.
On Wednesday, a kayaker died on the Kern River, about 20 miles upstream from the campground from where Ms. Pett was sitting.
Persons:
Gwyny Pett, Pett, gesturing, kayaker
Organizations:
The Mercury
Locations:
Kern, “, Central California, Fresno County