Braving the Buffalo River

 

Braving the Buffalo River

 

            I floated down the Buffalo over ten years ago with my teenage daughter.  I loved it and wanted to introduce my wife and friends to it.  But a lot can change in ten years.  We should have gotten a clue when we were checking in with our shuttle, and heard them explaining to a group that the Upper Buffalo is only for experienced paddlers.  We thought we were experienced paddlers.

 

             A beautiful day in May, we, along with many other canoers, started at Ponca by driving across the low water bridge to load and launch the canoes. We chose this spot as we would have an easier access to the section of the river which immediately goes under Hwy 74 bridge.  Once our canoes were launched, we quickly realized the strong current of this river would make it difficult to steer, so that, by the second set of rapids we found ourselves being swept around a curve straight into an upended tree.  Our friends seeing our predicament, paddled into the shallows, only to be swept sideways. 

Launching at Ponca

 

            The river was deep, the current was strong and the rapids non-stop.  We felt as if the river and fallen trees were colluding to cause us problems.  Early in the day, the strong current worked to push the canoe into an overhanging tree as we tried to maneuver the bend.  As the current pushed the canoe closer to the overhanging tree, we struggled with immense paddling and prowess, only to lose; and found ourselves pushed from the canoe into the water. We soon saw a pattern.  We would be pushed by the river into a fallen branch, and then shoved by the branch into the river.  We were glad that we had worn our quick dry clothing and that the sun was shining!  It was also at this point that I decided that I was actually going to wear my life preserver.  Our advice would be: be prepared to get wet – not only from trees shoving you out of the boat, but from two-foot waves splashing over the boat caused by underwater boulders.  Also, make sure you bring something to bail out the canoe.

 

            Having barely gotten started on our trip we found it to be a tension filled river with the technical rapids of quick bends and downed trees, so we were relieved to take a break for a hike to the Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls.  Surprisingly, a man on horseback appeared on the shore and pointed us to the falls takeout. From the river, it is approximately a mile walk along a bubbling creek of small falls and ledges.  Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls is a 209 ft fall, the tallest in the state and some say the tallest between the Appalachians and the Rockies.  It had a calming effect, wiping away our tensions from the fast paced river.

 

The Trail

The Brook

Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls

Back on the river, our anxieties soothed, we were able to start enjoying the towering cliffs of gold, black and white, the trickling of water falling off the ledges and the milky lichen green river.  Even so, we still had to stay alert at every minute.  It was rare to be able to have time for a drink of water or to take a posed photo.  We were pleased to find that we hadn’t seen the first evidence of trash in the river.

         The Gold, Black and White Towering Cliffs (Credit: Debbie Braaksma)

 

            Our first night, we camped at Kyle’s Landing, a well maintained campsite.  A cost of $20, it had real toilets, water, picnic tables, and a fire ring with wooded sites that are widely spaced from your nearest neighbor. A nice service on the Buffalo River is that each campground has a free emergency phone located at the restrooms.

 

            As we talked over the day, we rationalized that our difficulty in controlling the canoe was because we were very loaded with gear.  So, the next day we emptied our water containers which reduced our load by 50 pounds.  But we found that wasn’t the answer.  We had not gone far the second day when the fast current and branch partnership colluded to knock me out of the canoe.  I couldn’t get my footing and kept trying to reach the canoe coming up to try to grab the canoe and get a breath of air.  As the canoe came into this obstacle, the bow paddler had ducked and missed the branches, but was now trying to control the canoe in a fast current level 1+ rapids from the bow.  She finally got the canoe to calmer, shallow water, and the rocky shore.  As I got my footing, we turned around to see our friends canoe completely upside down, going sideways down the river.  When we righted it, every piece of camping equipment remained in the canoe.  That sure was some good rigging and tying down.  One of the rules for the Buffalo is that everything must be tied down, and now we could definitely see the advantages!  It did take us awhile to bail out the water, to just sit on the shore in the sun to get warmed up and recover from the adrenaline rush.  We compared all our bruises and scrapes while taking time to pep each other up.  I lost a hearing aid and our friend lost his glasses, unfortunate losses but there was no backing up for a “do over”.

 

            Everyone we talked to on the river had some story of tipping over, many with the same words, “We have never tipped before; until today!”  And others with the words, “The Buffalo is some SPECIAL river!”  After this third time of being edged out of our canoe, we decided on a new way to tackle the rapids – just walk through the shallow areas and pull the canoe through, going around the more difficult parts.

Credit by Debbie Braaksma

Credit by Debbie Braaksma

Photo Credit by Debbie Braaksma

             We ate lunch across from a beautiful craggy bluff between mile marker 112 and 111.  When we were almost to Erbe, there is a standing wave across the entire river. We should have paid closer attention, because this is a drive through concrete road that crosses the Buffalo River.  If we had known, we would have gotten out on the left side and explored the Jones farmstead and the remains of the Erbe town.  On the map it appears to be a bridge crossing the river.

 

            This, our second day, had been a whopper of a day, so we were glad to have only traveled 6 miles. We camped at a group campsite at Erbe.  It was a long trek to carry all the camping gear.   These campsites are not as maintained as Kyle’s Landing. Several of the vaulted toilets were closed. In fact, there is no running water even though the current National Geographic map led us to think there was.  Remember we threw out all our drinking water to make our canoe lighter?  That wasn’t very wise and we weren’t mentally prepared.  So, what we figured out is that we need to use the National Park maps for up- to-date information about the conveniences at each campsite, but use the National Geographic topographic map for more details on the river.  We spent two nights at the campsite, reading, fishing for small mouth bass, hiking and exploring the local historic Parker-Hickman farmhouse. 

 

            The ½ mile hike to the Parker-Hickman farmhouse is along a dirt rocky road from the campsite.  The house was built in the 1840’s, added on to, and lived in until 1978.   The house and farm buildings are all intact and are open so you can visit inside.  The walls were plastered with newspapers and the ceiling with wallpaper samples.  There was no indoor plumbing so one interesting addition was an outhouse built by the WPA in the 1930's.  We continued past the farmhouse down to the river and realized we were on the road that became a concrete slab, which we had seen while in our canoes,  to cross the river.  During this last part of the dirt road, the road is mostly pebbles making it harder to walk.  This becomes a good place to talk about the bottom of the river, a constant supply of large pebbles.  Minimalist water shoes were not the best choice for walking this river.

Parker-Hickman Cabin

The WPA Outhouse

            Our third day on the river was from Erbe to a gravel bar past Pruitt.  The river was less intense and even though we still got out and walked a few rapids, it was less technical.  This allowed us to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery.  It seemed as if the bird life became more abundant, but in reality, it was probably because we didn’t have to focus on the rapids as intensely.  We saw little green herons, great blue herons, pileated woodpeckers, indigo buntings, pipits, and many warblers.   

 

We stopped at Ozark campsite for water.  It is not well marked, but we could see some cars through the trees.   As we were collecting water, the sky darkened and the wind was whipping up.  It was going to rain. It was great timing for lunch.  We beelined for the large covered picnic pavilion and had the opportunity to wait out the storm.  It would have been a nice place to camp, with flush toilets, water, and campsites near the water, but we still had quite a bit more river to cover.

 

            We had remarked on the pristine quality of the Buffalo River and its lack of trash.  Yet after Pruitt, we started seeing tires in the river.  It was as if people stood on the bridge of Hwy 7 and pushed them over into the river.  Since we left Ponca, we had not gone under a bridge until Pruitt. The other boaters had also all disappeared.

 

            Our last night camping on the river we found a secluded gravel bar on the Little Buffalo, where it joins with the Buffalo River.  The gravel campsite gave us a view of both rivers and bluffs across the river.  It was perfect for the evening.  A lone Canada goose flew mournfully in, circling and honking.  It’s partner soon joined it.  We had company.

Campsite on the Little Buffalo Confluence

 

            The last day on the river was from the confluence of the Little Buffalo to Carver, a trip of 7 miles.  It was uneventful and quick.  As we got out at Carver, fishers were launching their boats and Park Rangers were in their vehicles on the shore.  We were allowed to load up our vehicle on the rocky shore and the responsibility of the rangers was evidenced by their waiting to make sure we didn’t get stuck in the sand or the steep ascent off the beach.

 

At the end of our four days on the water, we took notice of a sign that we should have read as we embarked on our trip.  “River is High and Dangerous.  Experienced Floaters Only.”

 

 

NEED TO KNOW:

 ·       Wear life preservers.

·       Wear eyeglass straps.

·       Strap Everything down and include a locked cooler.

·       Make sure you have dry bags or that your dry bags work.

·       Be certain that you bring along only essential items.

·       Be prepared to get wet and make sure you are wearing quick-dry clothes.

·       Don’t trust the maps for conveniences.  Talk to rangers ahead of time.

·       Be ready to bail water.

 

 

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS:

·       Arkansas honey

·       The town of Mountain View for local  mountain music

·       Serenity Farm Bread, a bakery in Leslie

 

Paddling the Patoka during a Pandemic

So what do you do during a pandemic? Go Canoeing!

Maybe not an answer that you would come up with, but that is exactly what we did. So, where do you go? Especially when one of the canoes is a handmade wooden one. Rivers in Kentucky get very low in the winter and are full of rocks, not so great for a wooden canoe. So Lake Patoka became our destination. It is known for fishing and speedboating.

We spent one beautiful sunny Friday in November out on this lake. It is 45 minutes from Louisville, so an easy drive. Take I-64 west and get off at the exit heading for French Lick. Print off a map of Lake Patoka before you leave and locate Osbourn Ramp on it. (The maps I found did not have the ramps delineated on the map; roads just ended in the lake!) After you cross the bridge over a section of Lake Patoka on SR 145, turn right off of SR 145 towards French Lick Cabins. Osbourn Ramp is at the end of the road. Each Patoka Lake entrance ramp has concrete ramps, ample parking with public restroom facilities. We did not find water at our entrance site, however. We chose Osbourn ramp because it leads to the more narrow channels (fingers) of the very large lake, the second largest reservoir in Indiana. To paddle to these narrower channels, canoe to the left (and not the right) after disembarking from the ramp. We were fearful of being on an open lake and having to paddle against the wind to get anywhere, but this part of the lake was narrow with many fingers. We set off, 3 canoes with 6 people paddling, and quickly began to enjoy being out on water in a canoe again, oh, and one dog. The water was calm, the sun was warm, there were very few boats in sight and the fall colors were still present with oranges and yellows. Can you think of a better way to spend a sunny November day?

Look at that Amazing Day on the Lake!

As we paddled we saw on the left, off of one of the fingers, what looked like a cave in the cove of the lake. We paddled closer to inspect and found a large overhang on this cove, with some water dripping off of it into the lake. We explored this interesting site and then continued on our way.

Large Overhang at the End of a Finger of Lake Patoka

Canoe in and Canoe out of this Cove

We got a late morning start on our trip and so we began looking for a piece of flat lakeside to stop and eat our lunch, masked up and social distancing, of course. We saw a site that looked fairly flat and large enough to accommodate us; so we headed there. The closer we got the steeper the bank looked. Nothing else looked better so we decided to go for it. After setting up our portable table and finding rocks to help level out our chairs, we enjoyed our time with our lunch catching up with friends. After lunch, we paddled around the nearby bend in the lake and found a very nice flat area that would have been perfect to stop on for lunch. Oh well.

The Beautiful Shore

We Love the Layers in the Rocks.

Lake Patoka became a reservoir in the 1970's. So we were canoeing through submerged forests. The tops of the trees were peaking out above the water, or hiding below the surface. The paddler in the bow had to be on the look out for these hidden trees. The dead trees that have been below the surface of the water for almost 50 years are still strong! They are strong enough to grab a canoe and not let go! Our friends canoed on top of just one little point of a tree, and couldn't get off! It seems silly to think that these tree tops could have that much power! At the same time, these submerged forests limit the speedboats in the area, and make it a perfect place to canoe.

The Submerged Forest  Photo by KT Ockels

We realized that we needed to pay attention to where we were going so we could find our way back to our vehicles. The lake has many side fingers that, we found out, are actually just a continuation of the lake into other valleys. If you don't pay attention you could find yourself spending a lot of time going into the wrong sections of the lake. Fortunately, we kept track and found that we were good navigators!

Pandemic fatigue? Get out into that sun, on a quiet lake and canoe! Use your navigational skills, paddle and enjoy! You can even socially distance with friends. Maybe even on Lake Patoka, an easy float, with pretty scenery making a pleasant outing.

 Oh, the Joys! Canoeing with Grandkids!

Oh, to share our love of canoeing with the grandkids.  To introduce them to canoeing, we canoed only about a mile on the Green River in Kentucky.  This was intended to give them a taste of being on a river, so that they would want to do more! The youngest had never been in a boat and was terrified that he would tip when we put him in the middle of the canoe. It took  five minutes of talking to him calmly, and then he was ready.  The oldest was also hesitant but didn't express it; we could just tell by the tenseness of his body and his reluctance to pick up the paddle.  But these photos show you the results.

Learning to Paddle!

Look at How I can Make the Canoe Move!

I can Paddle from the Middle of the Boat!

This is Fun!

Who Doesn't Love Gorp!

I'm Having a Great Day!

How Much Better Could it Get?

On the River, with my Grandkids!

 The Northern Woods on a National Scenic River

A Quiet Autumn on the Namekagon, Wisconsin

Oh, the northern woods! A lovely and quiet time in autumn, but quiet doesn't mean it is without it's own adventures!! We're talking about wildlife, hidden boulders, low bridges, colors and wind blowing upstream.

In planning the trip with our camping buddies we decided to take it easy and do 62 miles in 5 days, from the town of Hayward in Sawyer County (mile marker 66.1) to Namekagon Trail Landing (mile marker 4.8) in Burnett County. We shuttled our own cars because it was the end of the tourist season and most shuttling services had already closed. Shuttling took two hours. So we camped at the landing in Hayward before even hitting the water. If you want easy canoe camping, this is it!! Vaulted toilets, fire ring, picnic tables, benches and a dock. PLUS, within walking distance of two different restaurants to choose from:

Flat Creek Lodge https://flatcreekhotel.com/restuarant-bar

or Steak Lodge https://www.steakhouseandlodge.com/dining-menu .

Since, we were in the middle of the Covid crisis, we decided to carry out our order and dived into a meal of Walleye at our picnic table along the Namekagon River.

The Dock at Hayward Landing
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

                                                      

Getting an Early Start
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Camping right at the landing allowed us to get an early start the next morning. The first mile of the trip was dotted with houses and seasonal cottages, but we soon left them behind. Is autumn always so amazing in the northern woods? The mixture of various conifers, quaking aspens, birch, and red maples seem to increase the beauty. We don't experience these same forest species in Kentucky. The colors became more vivid each day, with the sunny skies and the cool weather creating an uncommon tranquility. And to think that the main highway was just 100's of meters away.

The Beginning of Fall Colors

Every so often that tranquility was cracked due to trains, or loud engines, but it was just a reminder how you can be in such beauty while so close to society's busyness. The river was clean, clear with no trash. Even though we understand this a popular river with inner-tubers in the summer, you wouldn't know it in the fall. Our first day included playful rapids causing us to be alert as rocks were abundant and a chute (right after Stinnett Landing Mile marker 57.7) that was fun but not technical. The river was often too shallow for a loaded canoe causing us to scrape bottom many times and sometimes we needed to get out and pull the canoe.

Each day our lunch stop came with a surprise. During our first lunch our conversation stopped because we heard sounds like drums, but way out here? What was it? As we were asking each other “what could that be?” a pair of Trumpeter Swans swept into view, taking off from the water with raucous honks. Wow!

At the end of each day, we tallied our sightings including many Bald Eagles. The first day netted two bald eagles, 2 trumpeter swans, wood ducks, a few turtles, groups of common mergansers and beaver dams. We also tallied the number of people on the river. Zero! We camped at Mile Marker 52.1 after canoeing 14 miles. We preferred the group camp sites because they included a picnic table along with the “throne” and fire ring.

The Throne

Camp sites were pretty evenly spaced along the river – one at least every two to three miles. But contact the local National Park Service because the maps are not always up to date and several campsites listed on different maps have been removed. Camps at mile markers 25.3, 21.2, 9.3 were closed and perhaps others that we missed.

We relied heavily on the detailed maps of www.wisconsintrailguide.com which our camping buddy had laminated and put together on a ring (pretty cool idea)plus www.nps.gov/sacn/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Whoa! Our second day started with what we came to call “Hidden Boulder Rapids” just before Springbrook Landing. We hit a hidden boulder and stuck, swung sideways and hit a second rock, lodged onto two rocks! Not exactly a great angle for loaded canoes in rapids. When we extricated ourselves, we were going backwards! We always say, that we have never tipped, and we were working hard to make sure our actions in that moment still reflected our words. Somehow we made it through totally dry.

We stopped at mile marker 45.7 for lunch and our friend caught a Northern Pike. We were told that the fishing was good between Mile marker 46.3 to 41.8. While eating lunch, a little green bird made our acquaintance, but paid us no attention, hungrily snatching up caterpillars and insects within inches of us. We came to call it our weird little green bird.

OUR weird little green bird friend
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Continuing our journey, intense warm southern winds caused large waves to move against the river current so that we couldn't ease up on our paddling the last three miles to Earl's Landing (mile marker 41.3). It was supposed to be our relaxing day of only 10 miles, but with the strong wind and hidden boulder rapids, it turned out to be an intense day and we were glad to rest at the landing. Earl's Landing has beautiful open campsites on green grass under large pines. It included vaulted toilets, picnic tables, a fire ring and drinking WATER!

As we talked to people who were starting off from Earl's Landing, they commented on how we had “braved” the boulders. Ha, Ha! We guess we did! New wildlife for our tally included some playful otters and an osprey. Bald eagle sightings continued daily. People: Zero, before Earl's Landing. Fresh Northern Pike for dinner was a real treat.

One of many Bald Eagles
Photo by Debbie Braaksma

As we started our third day, we were anxious about facing more wind while paddling on a large body of water, Lake Trego. We were imagining being blown across the large expansive lake and fighting the wind. We paddled through the town and many bridges, even under a bridge that was so low that we had to squat and duck down into our canoe to get under it. When we got to the lake, it turned out to be long and narrow (approximately 6 miles long) with beautiful lakeside homes. The first part of the lake is dotted with large islands of grass and the wind was wonderfully at our back, so our fears were for naught. There was one private camping and cabin place in Trego along the river before we got to the lake, called the Log Cabin. Https://logcabin-resort.com They have cabins and camping with showers, electricity, flush toilets if you are wanting several steps up from primitive camping.

Low bridge in Trego

We stopped at Trego Landing on the southern side of the lake off of County Road K to stretch our legs. It was not on our map. The lake is almost entirely private property, so there is very little opportunity to get out on land.

We finally saw the dam at the end of the lake. The short portage is on the right side of the dam. It is a very narrow path through the reeds. We really wish they had a picnic table for a lunch break. We ate lunch here anyway, sitting on the ground, near the port-a-johns – the only shade nearby 😏.

Trego Lake Dam

After the dam, the river is easier and we finally left the road noise and civilization behind. But other canoers seemed to appreciate the easiness as well so whereas we rarely saw other canoers the first two days, now they became more frequent, which also meant that more of the campsites would be occupied.

Each day the tree colors intensified. The autumn colors were vibrant with all the red hues imaginable, even florescent. Our responses were similar to watching fireworks, breath-taking, with ooh!, ahh!, at every turn.

Photo by Debbie Braaksma

We were headed to Marker 25.3 to camp when some canoeing angels let us know that it was closed. So we camped at 26.7. A wonderful item we brought on this trip was the solar shower. A black bag filled with water which sits on top of the load soaking in the sun so by day's end a luke-warm shower is possible. So refreshing even in September in the Northern Woods. Tally: Another bald eagle sighting and many small ducks that swim with their tail in the water and don't let us get close enough to identify them. People: We don't tally them after being spoiled with ZERO.

Campsite 26.7

Day Four:

We are completely away from any road noise. The river is becoming deeper and we don't scrape the bottom as often. The bottom alternates between gravel and pure deep sand. In the sandy bottoms, groups of River Redhorses are visible, a bottom feeding fish which can get up to 20 inches long. We glimpsed our first giant sturgeon in the sandy bottoms. The sturgeon seemed to be as long as our paddles.

Lunch was at Howell Landing (Mile Marker 16.9) along with a large group of Texans. We filled up with fresh water there.

We camped at 12.5, an overlook over a sharp turn in the river with grassy islands and beautiful evening views.

Camp 12.5 Photo by Debbie Braaksma

Tally: River redhorses, sturgeon, 3 bald eagles, a great blue heron and green heron, deer, and a young common water snake.

Day Five:

Knowing we just had a few miles left on the river, we rose early in the morning and were ready to go. The river is wider and deeper with large expanses of sandy bottoms and less obstacles to maneuver. Lots of curled silver maple leaves floated on the river, accompanying us, like little boats. We disembarked at Namekagon Trail Landing (Mile Marker 4.8). We originally had planned to canoe to Riverside Landing on the St. Croix, but the Park Service said that the St. Croix was too low for loaded canoes. It was so good to see our truck sitting there and we easily loaded it and drove back to Hayward to get the other car.

Tally: River Redhorses, three bald eagles including immatures, Canada Geese.

Heading off, we were all thirsty and seeing an A&W we stopped for a Root Beer Float treat! What a great way to end a quiet river adventure!

Autumn Water

surface of the river

reflecting the lime greens,

neon pinks and Ruby red

smeared together

an impressionistic painting

surface of the river

ripples, swirls and dips

translated by the sun

into black and white mosaic moving patterns

on the sandy bottom

surface of the river

sounds of inexplicable drumming

when two hidden swans gain flight

glimpsed for seconds

Oh, their webbed feet, the drums!

surface of the river

delicately curled

silver maple leaf boats

floating, accompanying us

gently down the river

We are never alone.

September 22, 2020

Namekagon River, WI

Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida - From Days Gone By

The Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida

From Days Gone By

We fell in love while canoeing the Hillsborough River over 40 years ago! So many years later we were in the area and decided to put in at the Wilderness Area at Morris Bridge Road. This was our usual put in spot those many years ago. Back then, it was just a place alongside the road, with ease of entry. The Hillsborough River Basin Board with the Southwest Florida Water Management District has bought up much of the property along the upper river. Several parks along the river have developed walking trails, loading ramps, and even docks which make the river easy to access. This makes it easy to canoe from one park to the next and get out and take a stretching or bathroom break. Maintaining it as a wilderness area has also helped to maintain the special qualities of the riverine/swamp ecosystem. We were excited to be back on the river.

Alert to the Wildlife

We had only one car, so instead of asking for a shuttle, we canoed 2 or 3 miles upstream and then turned around and canoed back. As we glided on the intimate river, we soon realized how easy it was to fall in love, not only with each other, but with the natural Florida environment. The Hillsborough River runs through an enormous cypress swamp with huge fluted cypress trunks and cypress knees everywhere.

Lilies were scattered on the moist banks. It remains a perfect haven for a wide variety of wildlife. If you are counting the various birds, turtles, or alligators, you quickly give up because there are so many it is impossible to keep your count accurate.

There wasn't a moment that we were not seeing some kind of wildlife and often there were three to five different species visible at the same. And if there was a moment with no wildlife visible, the whole environment is absolutely beautiful! Obviously the birds, turtles and gators are used to seeing people float by in their various sized canoes and kayaks as they casually watch you pass by. We were pleased to see that Roseate Spoonbills have found the river to be good place to live. 

The indigenous Limpkin were numerous and frequently seen. Hearing their raucous call was a wonderful reminder of our visits in the past.

Instead of creating a list of the wading birds we were seeing we started a list of those that we were NOT seeing. We didn't see any little Green Herons or any Black or Yellow-crowned Night Herons. Other birds? Yes! And lots of them – Kingfishers, Limpkins, Great Blue, White Ibis, Little Blue, White Egrets, Anhingas and Cormorants! Plus the call of a Barred Owl. Unexpectedly we also saw a Blue Macaw! Only this one came riding on someone's kayak as someone's pet.

    Canoeing the Hillsborough River not only is a great experience, but it is so easy and takes so little of your time.  We saw so much and our total time spent on the river was 3 hours.  People spend lots of money in the area for 3 hours of entertainment.  The Hillsborough River experience is free and you can do it over and over again at the same price!  Enjoy!!

Canoeing the Cool, Clear Current River

Canoeing the Cool, Clear Current River

We camped our first night just across the Current River from where six men, floating on this cool, clear river, built a log cabin (now called the Pultite Cabin) in 1911 as a retreat for fishing, floating, hunting and just relaxing in this beautiful land. Over one hundred years later, the Current River is still a retreat in this beautiful land. We are so thankful that it has been preserved.

The Current and Jack's Fork Rivers make up the first National Scenic Riverway, established in 1964 and called Ozark National Scenic Riverway. When you paddle (or float as Missourians say) on this clear river with its multitudes of springs it is easy to understand why it has been protected.

Life's situations these past two years, have prevented us from our “floating” together with our canoe-camping buddies, Debbie and Del. A celebration was in order! We had just returned from a trip to Italy where we canoed the Adige River and bought some good Prosecco. So, we popped the cork our first night out and raised our glasses in a toast to river camping. This first night camping was after a 6 hour drive to get to the camping site, Pultite, across from Pultite cabin and close to our intended shuttle service. Morning came and we loaded our canoes to carry them to our put-in spot at Akers. There are many canoe rentals and shuttle services along the river and we used Current River Canoe Rental. They have a store at the Pultite Camp Ground which is closed after Labor Day, but still offers ice and firewood which can be paid for at Running River Canoe Rental on Hwy 19 on the way to Akers. Akers has a store and an old ferry that has not been functioning in the past year. (Plants are growing out of it). We left our car at Akers for the shuttle company to pick up and drive to our ultimate take out point at Round Springs – 20 miles downstream. The weather was great! Cool and fresh air – a perfect October run. Finally back in our canoes, we pushed off – Azul, our dog, was excited to be back on the river too! 

Azul Back on the River

As we said, the river is from springs feeding the river its cool clear water. In this clear aqua colored water we could clearly see some good sized bass. The river flows a good 3 miles an hour making our paddling easy. At the same time, the fast little current liked to push us up against the outside banks on a curve, so we still had to pay attention so we wouldn't get caught off guard. The river was playful with fun ripples. As we enjoyed the river, we were also on the lookout for Cave Springs on the left side of the river.

The Entrance to Cave Spring

There it was six miles down the river, a little hidden making us turn our heads back a bit to see it. We ventured into the cave in our canoes and could go about 3 or 4 canoe lengths into the cave and it was wide enough to turn the canoe around. The cave seemed magical, to be able to canoe inside a cave! Cave Spring is connected to Devil's Well. They said that once people put a dye in the water at Devil's Well and found that in 5 days the dye arrived in Cave Springs. There is a 4 mile path to Devil's Well at Cave Spring, or you can get there by car (which was easier). 

We continued our float down the Current stopping for lunch on the bank of the river. While we enjoyed our stop a large Indigo snake passed by us not really paying us any attention. Back on the river we soon arrived back at Pultite (11 miles from Aker) where we left our tents set up from the night before. The Pultite campground is right on the river. Just paddle up and set up a tent nearby. Picnic tables, fire rings, restrooms and showers all available. It was really nice not having to unload and set up our tents for the night. We bought a deck of cards at the store so we could play cribbage after supper. We also collected enough wood to have a nice fire to sit by. Also, the main shelter has Wifi available.

Our second day on the river, we canoed less than ½ mile to the Pultite Spring and walked ¼ mile up a path to the source of the huge aqua colored spring. At the spring we found water cress floating and growing on the bottom of the stream and along the path to the large sturdy cabin we found and tasted ripe paw paws. That was the first time ever that we have found wild paw paws. The cabin is still standing but people are not allowed inside. The six men built the cabin in 1911 with the logs aligned vertically and it is still in good shape today. We headed back to the river. We love morning runs because of animal activity. Three otters were playing and fishing together in the water near the banks, while kingfishers kept swooping in front of us and a flock of unidentifiable ducks kept their distance. The turtles didn't come out until later in the afternoon, sunning themselves on logs.

We passed several different canoe groups in the morning. Many were still dismantling their camps on gravel or sand bars. There are so many good places to camp or picnic on the river. Take your pick!!

This part of the river includes Current State Park on the left with a beautiful retreat center. There is an opportunity to get off the river here, although we just kept going. Six miles down from Pultite campground is a cave on the right side of the river. We could hear the rush of a spring and enjoyed a short excursion to its opening. Thinking about all the springs,we found that the river had an abundance of liverworts in the shade of the rocks near springs. The vegetation on the river consists of a canopy of sycamores with the ancient horsetail growing in the moist soil. The banks were also abundant with river cane, dotted with red indian paintbrush flowers and maiden hair ferns tucked in for variety. Then around the eighth mile you pass Sinking Creek on the left. There is an access road there from state road 19. Near the river is a restroom and I am told there is a campground. This is associated with Echo Bluff State Park. After that it is a quick 2 miles to the take out at Round Springs. Round Springs has two accesses, a campground and picnic area. It is a short walk to the springs from the river. And a surprise are the wild horses gathered together in this area.

The Current River provides a great opportunity to be in God's creation, enjoying its beauty and the cool clear water flowing in it!