Kayaking - A Chilly Fall Paddle

Red River                                                9.7 miles                              1389.1 miles total
3.7 mph avg speed, 7.6 mph max speed
2:37 moving time, temperature 50 degrees!!  River at 1.3 feet

We started a local FB page called 'Clarksville Kayaking Friends'.  It was our intention to invite local paddlers and post paddles to make shuttling easier.  Believe it or not, we're up to 82 members!  But, we get very little response when we post a paddle.  The few times we do get a response it is from our true FB friends and we could just as easily post on our own personal page that we're paddling so they could see it there.  This page has been a puzzle to me.  I'm not sure why people join it and should I keep it open?
Anyway, Beatrix and Kevin saw our post and joined us.  We decided to meet at the Highway 70 bridge at 10:00.  We've been definitely spoiled with weather because today at 10:00, it was 50degrees and if the temperature went up when we were in the water, it was only by a degree or two.  The water felt warmer than the air so it was a paddle where we were all determined not to go in.  If we had gone in, it would mean coming out to cold air!  The river level was at 1.7 feet and in several places, our boats dragged on the bottom.  It's always nice to paddle with the Murphys because we end up talking the whole way down the river.  We had lunch at a small creek off of the river.  We saw several blue herons along the way, or we did think it was possibly the same heron playing games with us!

Kayaking - Rain on the "Dangerous" Current River

Aker's Ferry to Round Springs                                        18.8 miles                  1379.4 total
5.8 avg. speed, 9.8 max speed, 3:16 moving time

While staying at the Rivers Edge Resort we met the couple next-door (Kevin and Cheryl, from Kansas City) who are our age and also happen to be kayakers. It turns out we were both undecided about what to do on Sunday so we decided to shuttle and kayak together. We drove up to Round Springs and left a vehicle at Round Springs Lower Landing, and then drove up to Akers Ferry. Out of curiosity I went into Akers Ferry Canoe rental to ask about river conditions. There were five guys in there who highly suggested we not kayak to current River as it had rained in upper Missouri and all the water was flowing down into the current river in the water level of the river was 2 feet higher than usual. They said we would encounter some debris floating down the river and possibly some eddets and downed trees.  After hearing the 'doom' of the river, we had a brief discussion - very brief, because we all decided to kayak.  Sadly the river was a very muddy brown from all the rain and not as clear as the river had been on Saturday just two days prior. The water was really flowing fast and we always alert, watching for different channels, downed trees, rougher water, and experienced nothing major. We pulled over at a gravel bar at Pulltite Campground and headed to lunch at a very nice campground. Shortly after that campground on the right side of the river going down stream we veered off to see Pulltite Spring and cabin. The cabin has been let go by the national Park service and it’s really just a run down old hunting lodge. The spring is a shallow spring filled with lots of beautiful green plants and maybe one small section of aquamarine blue water. We got back into our kayaks, headed back down river and actually passed other kayakers and canoeists on this river. We did see one eagle along the way and I saw one otter playing on the shore. The skies started to get cloudy and we began to feel some raindrops and then the thunder started. The rain got heavier and heavier, the thunder got more frequent and so we pulled over at Sinking Creek Campground. Other people had also pulled over due to thunder. In fact, two campers had pulled out a canoe and then along came the two guys that owned this canoe.  We waited for a while, and were told that the takeout was maybe a mile and a half away. So even though it was thundering and raining, we got back into the kayaks and paddled like crazy to get to the end. Soon it was a deluge and we were paddling harder than we probably had ever paddled before. We passed Round Springs upper landing and saw the bridge and knew we were almost there. We finally saw the takeout and with relief pulled into the launch. We did notice that the river had risen considerably and it was a good thing that Kevin had parked his car at the far end of the parking lot. Kevin and Cheryl loaded their kayaks onto their vehicle and Scotty and Kevin drove to get the truck. When they returned we loaded our kayaks and we all headed back to Rivers Edge Resort. We changed in Kevin and Cheryl‘s room and headed off towards Clarksville. While we had intended to only possibly do a 7 mile paddle today, it was great to meet another couple who like to paddle as quickly as we did and we ended up paddling 19 miles. It's always nice to have friendly people to talk with that have similar interests. It turned out to be a great day even with the rain storm.

Aker's Ferry - a 2 car ferry that is pulled across by pulleys.

And we're off!

Just one of the caves we saw.

Lunch at Pulltite Campground.

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Daily flow of 38 million gallons a day.  That was hard to believe as the water
here seemed so serene and calm.

Kevin and Cheryl at Pulltite Springs

Possible summer home??

The cabin was built in the early 20th century, as a 'retreat' for city folk.  It is no longer maintained by the NPS.

Interesting contrast seeing the Pulltite spring water coming out into the Current River.

Look how the tree just grows right out of the bluff here.

The rain starts.......

Hard to tell, but when we were at the launch, the rain really started to come down hard,
but fortunately, it was not cold.



River's Edge Resort

I didn't get a photo of our room, but it was fine.  It had wood paneling and could be described as rustic and
quaint.  We did think we noticed the floor had a slight slant!  And apparently last year, the hotel was
flooded and they lost their cabins and water did get into the first floor. Being a commercial business, they did
not get FEMA money to rebuild, but used their own money to do it.  There's a metal workshop on site and just TONS of
interesting and cool metal sculptures everywhere.

Kayaking - Twists & Turns, A Tree and A Tip - Jack's Fork River

Alley Springs to River's Edge Resort                                   6.3 miles                   1360.6 miles total
3.0 avg speed, 6.7 max speed, 2:05 moving time

Today we drove up to Alley Springs with the shuttle service. We walked around the Mill which was absolutely gorgeous. It’s a two-story red building set above the springs which is an aquamarine blue and all surrounded by lovely, green trees. If somebody was an artist,  it would make a great painting.  (Interestingly enough - on the way home we stopped in Poplar Bluff at a cafe called 'Bread & Butter' where they had a large canvas of this mill.)  We then put in at Jack’s Fork River and had to paddle over a stretch of shallow water covered with a short stretch of gravel. Once he spring water joined the river, the river widened and the paddling became very easy. We had several Eagle sightings, although we think it may have been the same two Eagles. At one point we stopped in some slow moving water just to watch an eagle soaring above us. Once again we stopped at a beautiful spot for lunch. This river is different from the Current River because it’s much more narrow and it has a lot of twists and turns. There were several challenging spots and unfortunately at one of the sections, I had a problem - yep, I tipped.  The current took me into a tree and I found myself slowly leaning to the left and finally tipped over. I was trying to save my kayak and realized that was useless so I let it go, but did hold onto my paddle. Scotty checked to see if I was okay and then he paddled ahead to get my kayak while I floated down the river never really able to get my balance and stand up. I finally floated over toward shore and was able to stand up and get out.We did pass a few people on this river, both in kayaks and canoes. It was a Saturday so maybe that accounted for more traffic. There were many spots where the water was really really deep and it looked aquamarine blue. In fact it was so deep we couldn’t even see the bottom at some points.  I'm not sure why I never tried this before, but I put our underwater camera under the water and was able to take some photos of me looking down into the water.  Hehe, fun! We reached a big gravel bar and saw a row of 14 brand new cabins which are the cabins that belong to Rivers Edge Resort. Apparently, there was a flood last year that ruined their previous cabins.  Once again, we saw an otter.  This time, he climbed up a small bank to the top and was about to come down into the river, until he saw us and then scampered away.  This is where we pulled out and Scotty brought the truck around.  Had we gone down to the other takeout, we would’ve had to walk across a large expansive gravel bar and up some stairs. So the choice for us for simple.

Overload on the Springs photos, but I'm sure you can see why.  It was picture perfect!

Launching Area at Alley Springs

Look how clear the water is!

That's an eagle way up there!

I don't know why I never tried this before!  I have the camera underwater aimed up at me!  Oh, I know why, we don't often paddle in such crystal clear water!

  

After up our paddle we went to see two springs. The first was Blue Springs where you have to hike about a half mile back to see it. This spring flows into the Current River. There is a wooden over look above the spring and a huge bluff behind it. This spring puts out 87,000 gallons of water a day and is about 310 feet deep. If the Statue of Liberty was at the bottom, you would not be able to see her crown. The second spring was Rocky Falls. And it was definitely a Rocky Fall.  The water flows down over just one section so there are plenty of rocks surrounding it where you can climb up to the top. This spring also flows into the Current River, but has less water flowing than the springs we had seen.  

Blue Springs, 75 mile hike, 21 minutes moving time

Rocky Falls, .35 mile hike, 10 minutes moving time

Again, look at that clear water!!

View from the top.