WATERS RUNS WHITE CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT FOR RAFTING RAPIDS ON THE KERN RIVER, WHERE THE ...

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

ON THE KERN RIVER - The raft bucks and hesitates before it drops into the churning whitewater.

``Forward two!'' yells guide Steve Rasmussen. The novice rafters dip their paddles in the water and tug furiously twice. ``Two more,'' yells Rasmussen, his voice cracking from shouting instructions.

He likely will be hoarse all summer.

This is a big year for whitewater enthusiasts. Melt water from record snowfall in the Sierra is propelling kayakers and rafters down California's rivers on epic rides. Kern River Outfitters, for which Rasmussen works, has added 15 guides to handle a jump of more than 50 percent in bookings.

Rasmussen owned a car sales and leasing company in L.A. but hated putting on a suit and tie every day. Now he's a river guide in the summer and a science and math teacher the rest of the year. He likes teaching but prefers guiding to trying to stuff algebra into teenage brains.

``I'd rather be in a river, or sitting on a rock on a mountain, than sitting on concrete, steel or plastic'' he says.

Rasmussen's four clients dip and strain on the paddles as water smacks them like a pie-in-the-face slapstick gag. You're pretty much guaranteed to get wet on a whitewater rafting trip this year, even if you don't fall out of the raft. In drought years, a rafting trip can be a leisurely exercise in wildlife viewing, but this year it's all about the rapids.

When they get through the Powerful Possum rapid without anyone falling out of the raft, Rasmussen tells the group to slap their paddles overhead in a rafter's high five. Between sections of rapids they have time to gaze at the scenery.

Wild and scenic

The Kern River has been proposed for federal designation as a ``Wild and Scenic River,'' and it's easy to see why. A blue heron slowly flaps its wings and heads upriver. Overhead, soaring birds float on air currents. The hills are swathed in patches of pink wildflowers called ``Farewell-to-Spring.''

Beneath the tan hills, the river, green and swollen, hurries by granite cliffs and boulders. The resulting mix of currents produces water features called holes, wave trains and haystacks. A hole is a hydraulic feature below a drop in which the water rotates and can flip a raft. Haystacks are large standing waves. Every run is different because changing water levels alter the rapids' hydraulics.

River-rafting is a get-wet, hands-on participant sport, a way to have an adrenaline adventure in the outdoors without a lot of training. You don't need to be overly fit - gravity does most of the work.

``Sometimes people are apprehensive at first,'' Rasmussen said, ``but after the first half-hour and a few rapids and they see how fun it is, they're over that.''

Rafting is an ideal shared adventure. Kern River Outfitters offers trips especially geared to families Mondays and Wednesdays, with extra snacks and drinks for the kids, along with age-group appropriate games and camp activities on overnight trips. The minimum age for children is 9, but that can change based on stream flows, the time of the trip and other factors influencing river conditions.

This day's group is from an engineering club at Cal State Fullerton. None have rafted before. After they are fitted with life vests, a short bus ride takes them to the put-in spot. The guides give a safety talk before the three-raft flotilla heads downriver.

``If you're in the river, it's like being in a washing machine,'' guide Jonathan Segev said. He told the rafters to assume the ``California lounge-chair'' position if they find themselves overboard in the tumult. This means pointing your feet downriver on your back - it's better to bounce off rocks with your feet than your head.

Everyone wears a Coast Guard-approved floatation jacket. Segev tells the group that if someone falls in, have them face the boat, grab their life vest, then dunk them and pull them into the raft. The dunking isn't punishment - by pushing down and pulling up, it's easier to get someone back into the raft.

Segev let's them know it's OK to panic for two or three seconds if you fall out. Then it's time to look around and find a raft to swim to. Otherwise, it's time to assume the lounge-chair position. The Kern is a ``drop and pool'' river, which means there's usually a calm place to get out of the water after a rapid. The group is rafting the lower section of the Kern, below Lake Isabella, with runable rapids up to Class IV.

Rivers with class

Rivers are rated from Class I to VI. Water rated Class I is flat and good for bass fishing. Class II has a few easy rapids.

The fun starts with Class III, which has intermediate rapids but little danger if you fall out of the raft. Class IV rapids, such as Powerful Possum, the rapid where Rasmussen wants more strokes from his paddlers, are described with words like ``intense, powerful'' and require ``fast maneuvers under pressure,'' according to American Whitewater, an advocacy group.

Class V rapids require ``must-make'' moves above dangerous hazards. Scouting might be necessary the first time down. Only experts can maneuver through Class VI rapids.

On the first stretch of the Kern, the guides coach the paddlers on technique in the slower water. Rasmussen tells the group that after a lunch break will come the Big Five - a quintet of Class IV rapids called Surprise, Hara-kiri, Horseshoe, Bailmore, Pinball.

One rapid is too big to run - the group will carry the rafts around it. Rasmussen tells the group to swim to shore or to another raft if they fall out before it arrives.

``You don't want to float into that Class VI rapid in your lounge-chair position'' Rasmussen said. ``That could be a little more enjoyment than you paid for.''

IF YOU GO

The Kern River is about a three-hour drive from Los Angeles via Interstate 5 and Highways 99 and 178. There are numerous campgrounds and several motels in the area.

Kern River Outfitters runs trips for all ability levels from April through mid-September on the Lower Kern, the Upper Kern and the Forks of the Kern. Trips range in duration from one to three days and in price from $142 to $898 per person, depending on the day of departure, stretch of river and length of trip. (The most expensive is a three-day trip on the Forks section.)

Group, family and nonprofit discounts are available on some departures. For details, visit www.kernrafting.com, or call [phone]. Kern rafting trips also are available from Kern River Tours (visit kernrivertours.com or call 800-844-RAFT) and Whitewater Voyages (whitewatervoyages.com or 800-400-RAFT).

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3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kern River Outfitters has hired 15 guides for its rafting adventures - record snowfall has whitewater enthusiasts geared for a spectacular season.

(2 -- color) Members of an engineering club from Cal State Fullerton prepare for the next in a series of Class IV rapids on the Kern River.

(3) Novice rafters enjoy the rapids on the Lower Kern River. Heavy snowpack in the Sierra means the best rafting in a decade.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News

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IF YOU GO (see text)