Exploring the Southern Sierra: West Side

This 1995 edition is still a wonderful guide to the large area covered. My wife and I recently used the book to greatly enhance our touring, camping, and hiking experience during a trip covering the areas north and south of Isabella Lake. History that we learned from the book was new to some local residents we met during our stops.

You'll find out all about the bridges that span the Kern, bridges that range from little teetering footpaths to proud products of the interstate age. Jenkins is an affable guide to the different bridges, his roguish voice straightforward and poetical, like the narrator of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. You will find no covered bridges here, though. The Sierras are harsh country. I took a few trips with Jenkins in my back pocket, walked around the majestic giant sequoias, and saw with my own eyes the reseeding and the replanting of the great forest. Jenkins has it all down, even to the black flies that will make your life miserable unless you do what he says. If you're tired of swatting, use this book instead. Try tubing and canoeing the Jenkins way, and you'll have the Sierras forever, with a whole new perspective, as pioneered by this man and his late mother, who seems to have been a remarkably good sport. You'll also want to see the abandoned land mines, some of which are open to the public. Pioneers pulled tons of silver and gold out of "them there hills," and the romance of the Gold Rush is never too far away. At any moment, you feel, there could be another wildcat strike that will shake up this sleepy old world. Find out history and economics all within the covers of this invaluable guide.

I am one of those people who grew up in the city and until about seven years ago, hardly ever placed my feet on unpaved ground. I recieved a copy of Jenkins' book as a gift and began taking some of the easier trips in this beautiful country. The book is full of descriptive detail, well thought out hikes,and enjoyable car tours. The original author, J.C. Jenkins, actually travelled every inch of the territory described in the book with a mileage wheel.After his untimely death, his mother,Ruby Johnson Jenkins,set about the task of rewalking every trip in order to keep the book up to date. There is no second-hand information in either of the books(the companion book is called "Exploring the Southern Sierra,East Side"). I have been of many of the longer trips now and find the books to be reliable, interesting, and informative.