MISSOURI -- MARCH 2015

The Trip Al Donaldson organizes an annual March Prairie State Canoe Club trip to Missouri. The group stays at a resort at Boiling Springs on the Big Piney River near Licking, MO. We have found that staying at a cottage in Alton, MO, about 90 miles southeast of Licking to work very well for the three of us.

Feb. 27-28 Temperature was in the single digits when Sharon, Mom and Bill headed south...but about 10 degrees warmer than when we left on this date last year. Good weather as we drove to Springfield, IL on the 27th.

It was still clear when we left on the 28th, but it was clouding up and freezing rain/snow was in the forecast for southern Missouri. Decided to take a little longer route to avoid some of the Ozark winding roads. We stopped to eat in Popular Bluff and it started to rain as we headed west on MO-160 from there. Fortunately, the roads did not start to ice up and we made it to Alton late that afternoon. Checked in and got settled in Eleven Point Canoe Rental's Ivy cottage. It is beginning to feel like a home away from home as this is the third year we have rented this cottage.

Mar. 1 The weather was marginal and we decided not to make the 80-mile drive to the Big Piney to join the rest of the group for a short paddle. Took advantage of the day to stock up on groceries, relax and get our paddling gear ready for the next day.

Mar. 2 Our first day paddling found us on the middle section of Bryant Creek (MO-95 to Hodgson Mill/MO-181). The water level was as lowest we have paddled this section. There were many strainers over the river and the current was very pushy, i.e., you had to be on top of things all the time or it would take you where you did not want to go. It resulted in two canoes tipping, both while trying to navigate through down trees across the river. It was a fun but challenging day and the scenery with the many icicles was beautiful.
Al and Ana navigating through down trees
More Pictures

Mar. 3 The weather forecast was for snow in the Licking area with conditions in Alton deteriating from mist to rain to snow by tomorrow morning. Instead of canoeing, we took a ride to Arkansas for some geocaching and to scout Crooked Creek west of Mountain Home, AR. It is an interesting river in that it goes underground at places. We saw one of these from a bridge on AR-101.

The trip home was "interesting". We followed Nuvi's suggestion which was a little shorter but much more "Ozarkie". These twisting, winding roads with low water bridges made for some "white-knuckle" driving as the fog continued to get thicker as we drove. It was near ten when we got home that evening.

Mar. 4-5 Wednesday morning we awoke to five inches of snow on the ground. Underneath the snow was a layer of ice. The snow continued off and on during the day. Thursday, the sun came out and the temperatures increased. There was little movement on the roads but by the end of the day, it was safe to drive. We took these two days for some R&R...reading, resting, working on this website, etc.
Morning snow accumulation

Mar. 6 Simmons Ford to Dogs Bluff is a fun, challenging section on the Big Piney. The flowrate was almost three times higher than we had paddled it before when the river was low. The higher water opened up a channel that allowed us to by-pass a ninety degree turn where EVERYONE (except Keith) has always hit the wall.

The ice formations were spectacular. More than once we were paying attention to them when we should have been looking more at the river. Fortunately, no one swam today. A great day on the river.
Heading down to the Big Piney put-in
More Pictures

Mar. 7 The Tan Vat (located just east of Mantouk State Park) to Cedar Grove section is shallow and twisty. High enough waters to prevent scrapping increases the challenge on the turnes and ever present strainers. Ana and Regina ran the shuttles and then joined us at Cedar Grove for the paddle to Akers.
The river was moving today
More Pictures

Mar. 8 We headed back to the Current today and canoed from Akers, yesterday's take-out, to Pulltite. It was a 9.7 mile stretch with a nice current. Of course, there was obligatory and always fun stop at Cave Creek. A bonus was we found an Earthcache (Cave Spring on the Current; GC22Y58) while there. It was a good day for paddling...temperatures in the 50s.
Missouri-19 north of Alton...hey, but at least it was straight!
More Pictures

Mar. 9 The group split today with some paddling the Big Piney and others Bryant Creek. Before meeting at the put-in, the group canoeing Bryant Creek scouted the section above MO-91 to see if it could be canoed...it definitely is a possibility next time in the area.

We paddled with the group from Hodgson Mill to Cook Access, a distance of about 16 miles. It was cloudy and the temperatures were in the 40's. The flow rate today was about 100 cfs higher than we had canoed it before and it was fun. The river is characterized by long pools followed by fun drops...nice rewards for the slower pools. The big reward comes in the last 1-2 miles of the section where are are long, fun wave trains. Today was no exception.

The take out is near MO-160 which goes through West Plains. The significants of that is that there is a great BBQ place just west of town. As you would expect, we stopped and picked up dinner.
Hodgson Water Mill
More Pictures

Mar. 10 Forecasts were for another cold, rainy day. The plans were to canoe a shorter section of the Big Piney. We decided to forego the drive and take the day off.

The Licking group did canoe a couple sections of the Big Piney as the river was rising...it was higher this morning than last night and during the paddle, the water level increased to the point one of the shuttle vehicles was standing in water when they got to the car.

We took it easy and unsuccessfully tried to find a local geocache.

Mar. 11 If we had to pick "the best" day canoeing for the trip, this would have to be it. The group split again today with some canoeing the Big Piney. Our group put in on the Jacks Fork at CR-Y and canoed to Rymers. The flow rate was up but not dangerously high. The result was challenges from strainers, fast/shallow turns in places and wave trains with big standing waves. There were misses, i.e., swims, and near misses. It was indeed a great day canoeing.
Beautiful, fun and challenging river

Mar. 12 The entire group canoed the Jacks Fork today. Some canoed from Rymers to Alley Spring and some from Alley Spring to Eminence. The river was nice, but a lot "calmer" than yesterday.

This was the last day canoeing for the trip. The weather forecast for the 13th was heavy rains and they were preparing to close the river by late afternoon. Some were heading home tomorrow and a few were staying a couple more days. (The forecast was accurate. The gauge at Alley Springs went from 520 cfs on the 12th to 7000 cfs on the 13th.)
Put-in discussions

Mar. 13 The Mountain View, AR Bluegrass Festival was Mar.12-14th and we planned to attend at least one day. With the rain canceling canoeing, we decided today was the day to attend. Mountain View is about 100 miles south of Alton and we made the drive in the rain. Ticket are for the entire day (two four-hour shows) but we felt we could leave anytime after the intermission of the afternoon show. Well, we not only stayed for the entire afternoon show, but also the evening show...eight hours of excellent Bluegrass music. Who would have thought...and there is another festival in November!

Five groups preformed at Friday's shows. While the same groups performed at both shows, their shows were different with different emphasis...recent releases, requests, etc. Lonesome Ridge is a band with local ties. They ofter perform in the square at Mountain View and are primarily a Bluegrass Gospel group. The Lost and Found Band was a trio whose lead singer and base player, Allen Mills is in the Virginia Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He was joined by Dempsey Young on mandolin and Gene Parker on banjo player who were as much to watch because of their facial expressions as it was to listen to them play and sing.

The Adkins & Laudermilk Band had two lead singers, Dave Adkins who was a headliner at Dollywood before setting out on his own and Edgar Laudermilk whose family's musical heriage includes the Louven Brothers. Two distict styles but both very entertaining. Audie Blaylock and Redline combined the signing of Audie Blaylock in the traditional bluegrass tradition and Redline, a young musical group lead by fiddler and singer Patrick McAvinue...he could definitely make that fiddle sing.

The headline act was Balsam Range. The lead vocalist, Buddy Melton, won make vocalist of the year and the band won Vocal Group and Entertainer of the year awards at the 2014 International Bluegrass Awards show. Their banjo player played with Ricky Skaggs for six years and won a Grammy award with him and one of the singers was with the Kingsman gospel group.

Mar. 14 Took our time getting the car packed and left Alton about eleven. We drove to Independence taking time to pick up a few goecaches along the way. Had some trouble finding a motel room as the Big 12 basketball tournament was in down. After a couple stops, we got a room that was being remodeled at a discount rate...no TV but otherwise nice.
Brown dots are geocaches found (5)

Mar. 15 We visited the Truman Presidential Library and his home. Both were very interesting. I saw many things in his home that I saw in by grandparents house and the house was the way it was when Bess Truman died. Very unassuming for the home of a president after his term of office.

It was about five when we left KC to drive to Des Moines. When we got there all three of us decided we wanted to drive the rest of the way home. Arrived well after midnight.
Brown dots are geocaches found (2)

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The Trip	Al Donaldson organizes an annual March Prairie State Canoe Club trip to Missouri. The group stays at a resort at Boiling Springs on the Big Piney River near Licking, MO. We have found that staying at a cottage in Alton, MO, about 90 miles southeast of Licking to work very well for the three of us.
Feb. 27-28	Temperature was in the single digits when Sharon, Mom and Bill headed south...but about 10 degrees warmer than when we left on this date last year. Good weather as we drove to Springfield, IL on the 27th. It was still clear when we left on the 28th, but it was clouding up and freezing rain/snow was in the forecast for southern Missouri. Decided to take a little longer route to avoid some of the Ozark winding roads. We stopped to eat in Popular Bluff and it started to rain as we headed west on MO-160 from there. Fortunately, the roads did not start to ice up and we made it to Alton late that afternoon. Checked in and got settled in Eleven Point Canoe Rental's Ivy cottage. It is beginning to feel like a home away from home as this is the third year we have rented this cottage.
Mar. 1	The weather was marginal and we decided not to make the 80-mile drive to the Big Piney to join the rest of the group for a short paddle. Took advantage of the day to stock up on groceries, relax and get our paddling gear ready for the next day.
Mar. 2	Our first day paddling found us on the middle section of Bryant Creek (MO-95 to Hodgson Mill/MO-181). The water level was as lowest we have paddled this section. There were many strainers over the river and the current was very pushy, i.e., you had to be on top of things all the time or it would take you where you did not want to go. It resulted in two canoes tipping, both while trying to navigate through down trees across the river. It was a fun but challenging day and the scenery with the many icicles was beautiful.	Al and Ana navigating through down trees More Pictures
Mar. 3	The weather forecast was for snow in the Licking area with conditions in Alton deteriating from mist to rain to snow by tomorrow morning. Instead of canoeing, we took a ride to Arkansas for some geocaching and to scout Crooked Creek west of Mountain Home, AR. It is an interesting river in that it goes underground at places. We saw one of these from a bridge on AR-101. The trip home was "interesting". We followed Nuvi's suggestion which was a little shorter but much more "Ozarkie". These twisting, winding roads with low water bridges made for some "white-knuckle" driving as the fog continued to get thicker as we drove. It was near ten when we got home that evening.
Mar. 4-5	Wednesday morning we awoke to five inches of snow on the ground. Underneath the snow was a layer of ice. The snow continued off and on during the day. Thursday, the sun came out and the temperatures increased. There was little movement on the roads but by the end of the day, it was safe to drive. We took these two days for some R&R...reading, resting, working on this website, etc.	Morning snow accumulation
Mar. 6	Simmons Ford to Dogs Bluff is a fun, challenging section on the Big Piney. The flowrate was almost three times higher than we had paddled it before when the river was low. The higher water opened up a channel that allowed us to by-pass a ninety degree turn where EVERYONE (except Keith) has always hit the wall. The ice formations were spectacular. More than once we were paying attention to them when we should have been looking more at the river. Fortunately, no one swam today. A great day on the river.	Heading down to the Big Piney put-in More Pictures
Mar. 7	The Tan Vat (located just east of Mantouk State Park) to Cedar Grove section is shallow and twisty. High enough waters to prevent scrapping increases the challenge on the turnes and ever present strainers. Ana and Regina ran the shuttles and then joined us at Cedar Grove for the paddle to Akers.	The river was moving today More Pictures
Mar. 8	We headed back to the Current today and canoed from Akers, yesterday's take-out, to Pulltite. It was a 9.7 mile stretch with a nice current. Of course, there was obligatory and always fun stop at Cave Creek. A bonus was we found an Earthcache (Cave Spring on the Current; GC22Y58) while there. It was a good day for paddling...temperatures in the 50s.	Missouri-19 north of Alton...hey, but at least it was straight! More Pictures
Mar. 9	The group split today with some paddling the Big Piney and others Bryant Creek. Before meeting at the put-in, the group canoeing Bryant Creek scouted the section above MO-91 to see if it could be canoed...it definitely is a possibility next time in the area. We paddled with the group from Hodgson Mill to Cook Access, a distance of about 16 miles. It was cloudy and the temperatures were in the 40's. The flow rate today was about 100 cfs higher than we had canoed it before and it was fun. The river is characterized by long pools followed by fun drops...nice rewards for the slower pools. The big reward comes in the last 1-2 miles of the section where are are long, fun wave trains. Today was no exception. The take out is near MO-160 which goes through West Plains. The significants of that is that there is a great BBQ place just west of town. As you would expect, we stopped and picked up dinner.	Hodgson Water Mill More Pictures
Mar. 10	Forecasts were for another cold, rainy day. The plans were to canoe a shorter section of the Big Piney. We decided to forego the drive and take the day off. The Licking group did canoe a couple sections of the Big Piney as the river was rising...it was higher this morning than last night and during the paddle, the water level increased to the point one of the shuttle vehicles was standing in water when they got to the car. We took it easy and unsuccessfully tried to find a local geocache.
Mar. 11	If we had to pick "the best" day canoeing for the trip, this would have to be it. The group split again today with some canoeing the Big Piney. Our group put in on the Jacks Fork at CR-Y and canoed to Rymers. The flow rate was up but not dangerously high. The result was challenges from strainers, fast/shallow turns in places and wave trains with big standing waves. There were misses, i.e., swims, and near misses. It was indeed a great day canoeing.	Beautiful, fun and challenging river
Mar. 12	The entire group canoed the Jacks Fork today. Some canoed from Rymers to Alley Spring and some from Alley Spring to Eminence. The river was nice, but a lot "calmer" than yesterday. This was the last day canoeing for the trip. The weather forecast for the 13th was heavy rains and they were preparing to close the river by late afternoon. Some were heading home tomorrow and a few were staying a couple more days. (The forecast was accurate. The gauge at Alley Springs went from 520 cfs on the 12th to 7000 cfs on the 13th.)	Put-in discussions
Mar. 13	The Mountain View, AR Bluegrass Festival was Mar.12-14th and we planned to attend at least one day. With the rain canceling canoeing, we decided today was the day to attend. Mountain View is about 100 miles south of Alton and we made the drive in the rain. Ticket are for the entire day (two four-hour shows) but we felt we could leave anytime after the intermission of the afternoon show. Well, we not only stayed for the entire afternoon show, but also the evening show...eight hours of excellent Bluegrass music. Who would have thought...and there is another festival in November! Five groups preformed at Friday's shows. While the same groups performed at both shows, their shows were different with different emphasis...recent releases, requests, etc. Lonesome Ridge is a band with local ties. They ofter perform in the square at Mountain View and are primarily a Bluegrass Gospel group. The Lost and Found Band was a trio whose lead singer and base player, Allen Mills is in the Virginia Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He was joined by Dempsey Young on mandolin and Gene Parker on banjo player who were as much to watch because of their facial expressions as it was to listen to them play and sing. The Adkins & Laudermilk Band had two lead singers, Dave Adkins who was a headliner at Dollywood before setting out on his own and Edgar Laudermilk whose family's musical heriage includes the Louven Brothers. Two distict styles but both very entertaining. Audie Blaylock and Redline combined the signing of Audie Blaylock in the traditional bluegrass tradition and Redline, a young musical group lead by fiddler and singer Patrick McAvinue...he could definitely make that fiddle sing. The headline act was Balsam Range. The lead vocalist, Buddy Melton, won make vocalist of the year and the band won Vocal Group and Entertainer of the year awards at the 2014 International Bluegrass Awards show. Their banjo player played with Ricky Skaggs for six years and won a Grammy award with him and one of the singers was with the Kingsman gospel group.
Mar. 14	Took our time getting the car packed and left Alton about eleven. We drove to Independence taking time to pick up a few goecaches along the way. Had some trouble finding a motel room as the Big 12 basketball tournament was in down. After a couple stops, we got a room that was being remodeled at a discount rate...no TV but otherwise nice.	Brown dots are geocaches found (5)
Mar. 15	We visited the Truman Presidential Library and his home. Both were very interesting. I saw many things in his home that I saw in by grandparents house and the house was the way it was when Bess Truman died. Very unassuming for the home of a president after his term of office. It was about five when we left KC to drive to Des Moines. When we got there all three of us decided we wanted to drive the rest of the way home. Arrived well after midnight.	Brown dots are geocaches found (2)