Trip Report September 2022

In September I had my second visit of the year to the Kern River Valley, California, USA. The Kern River Valley is a valley and region of the Southern Sierra Nevada and start of the Sidewinder military low flying route (between Waypoints A and B).

U.S. Navy EA‑18G Growler routing low‑level through the Kern River Valley

Saturday 24th - After a 11‑hour flight from the U.K. I landed at Los Angeles LAX late in the evening. After clearing immigration and picking up a hire car I stayed overnight at a hotel near LAX.

Sunday 25th - With an early start to avoid the busy L.A. traffic I headed north on Highway 14 towards Palmdale and Lancaster, stopping on the way for a hearty breakfast at my favourite diner: Denny's. In Palmdale, a visit was made to a Walmart Supercenter to get provisions i.e. food, bottled water etc and a $11 camping chair, before again heading north towards Ridgecrest and the Highway 178 turn‑off for Lake Isabella and Kernville. After having lunch in Kernville, the rest of the day was spent driving north up the Kern River Valley via the Mountain Highway 99 and Forest Route 22S82 towards The Needles, to view possible vantage points for photographing low flying military aircraft.

During this report I will not be disclosing my specific photography locations in the Kern River Valley, as I took a lot of time and effort, before and during my trips to identify and visit potential locations. My main concern is that I would not like to see the area turn into another fiasco like Rainbow Canyon, where it was inundated with people and because the aircrew knew there was an audience had the potential to Showboat. On a positive note, the Kern River Valley locations are not as easily accessible as those of Rainbow Canyon, so I doubt that hordes of casual observers would be an issue. Any dedicated photographers of low flying military aircraft wishing to visit the area, I would be quite happy to help with locations if they contact me via email.

Monday 26th - Location near The Needles (Waypoint B). A location not ideal for the morning, as you are facing into the sun till the early afternoon. The first pass of the day at 09:16 was a F‑16D of the USAF 416th FLTS, Edwards A.F.B. which did a spectacular approach following the river valley and passing below my location. Though the light was not ideal, I captured (in my humble opinion) some nice photographs. A two‑ship of F‑35's appeared later in the morning with the lead aircraft passing below my location, but the light reflecting off the aircrafts upper fuselage fooled my camera autofocus and the images were all out‑of‑focus. For the remainder of the day, all the aircraft passed overhead or behind my location, only to drop down to low‑level further north as they routed towards Waypoint C on the Sidewinder. Though the hit rate of capturing aircraft passing this location at low‑level is not good, some spectacular images can be captured if they do. On a plus, the spectacular scenery and sometimes observed wildlife of the area, more than makes up for the lack of low‑level passes.

View looking north towards The Needles, Kern River Valley.

Tuesday 27th - A location visited on my last trip which is ideal for the mornings as you are facing east and the sun is not an issue till the early afternoon. As luck would have it, most aircraft appeared before midday, with very little activity in the afternoon. I was treated to the following low flying passes: Two EA‑18G Growlers of VX‑9 at 10:07. Single F/A‑18F Super Hornet of VFA‑94 at 10:08. Two F/A‑18E Super Hornets of VFA‑25 at 11:06. At 13:48, two F‑15C Eagles from the Air National Guard, Fresno, made a low approach towards my location, only to pull‑up and pass overhead.

Wednesday 27th - A location like yesterday. A quiet day with only three low flying passes:
Single F/A‑18E Super Hornet of VFA‑14 “Tophatters” at 10:42. Single F/A‑18E Super Hornet of VFA‑146 at 12:44 and finally a F‑16D of USAF 416th FLTS, Edwards A.F.B. at 14:27.

Thursday 28th - Same location as Monday. My luck was not in today. Had passes by several F/A‑18's, F‑16's, F‑15's and a T‑38 Talon, which all decided to pass overhead or behind my location. Ah well, win some, lose some. I still had an enjoyable day observing the different routes the aircraft take to navigate the relatively wide valley.

A lizard keeping me entertained during the lull between aircraft passes.

Friday 29th - Same location as Wednesday. The day started with being hill‑sided (aircraft routing through when not in position) at 08:20 by a F/A‑18 Super Hornet. There were no other aircraft seen in the morning, but the arrival of two like‑minded local photographers helped pass the time. The only aircraft I photographed was a F‑16D at 12:20. Though devoid of squadron markings the F‑16D was assumed to be a USAF 416th FLTS aircraft from Edwards A.F.B. I was informed by my two colleagues that the possible lack of traffic could be attributed to it being the last day of the 2022 fiscal year for military funding. I left the hill at 13:15, only to be hillsided by a F‑16D at 13:30 and when back at my hire car by a EA‑18G Growler at 14:30. This concluded my photography for the week and I started making my way back to Los Angeles to catch my flight back to the U.K. on Saturday evening.

To conclude. It was a most enjoyable week, though I was slightly disappointed with the number of low‑level photographs I captured in comparison to my vist in May. This can partly be attributed to some of the locations visited, but you don't know until you give them a try. For a future visit, hopefully in the Spring of 2023, some locations I will give a miss and possible new ones will be investigated.
Photographs from my trip can be viewed at: 2022 ‑ Sidewinder Trip 2, USA Military Low Flying.