THE GOLDEN TROUT. 



KEKN KIVEK. 



Kern River i.s in .some respects one of the most interesting streams in the Sierras. 

 Its headwaters are among that group of stupendous mountain peaks from Table 

 Mountain (14,000 feet) in the Great Western Divide eastward through Mount 

 (ieiieva, Crag Ericsson, Leland Stanford University Peak (14,103 feet). Junction 

 Peak (14,000 feet), Moimt Tyndall (14,101 feet), Mount Williamson (14,448 feet). 

 Mounts Barnard, Tunnabora, and Wokorope to Mount Whitney (14,522 feet), the 

 highest and greatest of them all. (PI. vi, figs. 14 and 1.5.) 



The course of the Kern is remarkable in that it is rectihnear and meridional, it 

 being almost exactly due south for a distance of more than 28 miles, without wind- 

 ings or curves of importance thi'ough the great Kern River Canyon, which for 

 sublimity, as well as })eauty of scenerj-, rivals the Yosemite. The direction of the 

 canyon was, according to Professor Lawson, determined originally by a straight rift 

 which has controlled subsequent erosion, and the canyon is therefore both a rift 

 valley and an erosional trough. The Kern River is a considerable stream, carrying 

 a large amount of water. At the ford just above Soda Spring the stream was on 

 July 22 about 40 feet wide, with an average depth of 18 inches and a strong current. 

 The water was clear and cold. The total length of this river is probably 120 to 150 

 miles, and the entire portion lying above the foothills of the Sierras is good trout 

 water. 



The tributary streams are many. Those of importance on the west, beginning 

 at the north, are Milestone Creek, Kern-Kaweah River, Chagoopa Creek, Funston 

 Creek, The Big Arroyo, Rattlesnake Creek, Laurel Creek, Co^-ote Creek, and Little 

 Kern River; those on the east, from north to south, are Tyndall Creek, East Fork 

 of Kern River, Whitney Creek, Rock Creek, Volcano Creek, Nine Mile Creek, 

 Monache Creek, and South Fork of Kern River. The only ones of these examined 

 during the present investigations were Little Kern River (and certain of its iiihuta- 

 ries), Coyote Creek, Whitney Creek, Rock Creek (and Guyot and Siberian Outpost 

 creeks, two of its tributaries), Volcano Creek, and South Fork of Kern River. 



Kern Lake. — Just below Soda Spring and the mouth of Volcano Creek is an 

 enlargement or widening in Kern River known as Kern Lake. This lake was 

 formed in the spring of 1868 by a landslide or, more properly, bj^ the washing of 

 a large amount of debris from a small canyon on the east side and depositing it in 

 the canyon of the -Kern across the stream and completely danmiing it. The dam is 

 now triangular in shape and extends out from the east wall of the canyon. It is 

 aljout an acre in extent, and most of it was not more than 4 or 5 feet above the sur- 

 face of the lake at the time of our visit. The dam appears to have raised the water 

 at least 10 feet, as shown ))y stumps of trees standing in water 10 feet deep. Most 

 of these trees have been broken ofi' at the water Itnel, but si.\(M-al still project 1 to 

 10 or 15 feet above it. The lake is about a mile long and half a mile wide. The 

 deepest water is at the lower or south end on the east side, where it reaches a maxi- 

 numi of 13 feet. Three soundings taken near the lower end gave 8, 8.5, and 10 feet; 

 a series of six at the lower end of the lake just west of the outlet gave 10.5, 

 lit. 5, 10.5, 10.5, 10.5, 11, and 11.5 feet; and another series just east of the outlet gave 

 11, and 12 feet. 



