10/13/2026

 

The travel day started one day early for the six people travelling from Houston (Amy and Christy, Harmon and Terry, Robert Langley and Hazel), who met up in pairs to carpool and camped the night at Millwood State Park in southern Arkansas.  I was not there for this part of the trip, but heard that it was hot and humid, and they were able to shower and had a good time.

 

10/14/2026

On Wednesday the aforementioned Houston contingent and the Arkansas group (Duane, Cindy, Sam and I) met at the Dairy Shack, pretty much on schedule, and had dinner and finalized shuttle planning.  We headed to camp, putting off the shuttle for the next day.  We were surprised to find that the Cedargrove camp had changed from first-come, first served to the Recreation.gov reservation system, and that all sites were reserved until Sunday.  We checked out Dee Murray camp a little downriver, and found 3 sites available.  We booked them and set up camp. 

 

The beach of our Dee Murray campsites – pretty nice!

 

The weather was comfortable, but the forecast was for rain, cold and wind by morning. 

 

10/15/2026

Come Thursday morning, the forecast proved to be accurate, and the start of the shuttle, after positioning the kayaks and canoes, was very late and very wet. 

Shuttle traffic

 

The shuttle lasted until 12:30, and we finally got on the water at 1:30. 

Duane, Cindy, Christy, Terry, Harmon, Hazel and Robert almost ready to go

 

It was cloudy, windy and fairly chilly, but not raining, so that was good.  The water in the river was pretty “thin”, and we did a fair bit of dragging on the many barely submerged gravel bars.  The sun came through at about 3:00 and played hide-and-seek with us for about an hour and a half, after which we were shaded by the clouds for the rest of the day. 

Duane leading the pack

Harmon and Terry digging in

Hazel being Hazel

 

At 4:15 we took a break at Welsh Spring, 5^th largest spring in Missouri, and walked the short distance to the spring and ruins of the sanitarium. 

 

Welsh Spring

 

When we paddled into the outflow of the spring, where the water temperature dropped from about 70F to about 50F, and remained cold for the rest of the trip.  This is where we started seeing lots of watercress.

Cindy taking a break after freeing herself from a shallow gravel bar

 

During our 5.4 miles, we observed eagles, kingfishers, crows, a great blue heron and woodpeckers.

We found a good gravel bar where we set up camp, prepared and ate our dinners, and sat and talked around a campfire for a little while.  We saw quite a few fireflies on the ground, which surprised me since they disappeared from my fields in Arkansas about a month ago.  It was getting pretty cold, and we wrapped it up early.

10/16/2026

Friday morning was cold, windy and cloudy.  It had rained during the night, so our gear was wet, and we spent some time drying out when the sun finally reached us.  We were on the water at 10:30.

The river was not particularly challenging, but some of our party found my admonition to stay right-side-up overly strict and got very wet. 

I think there was some water removal going on at this stop

 

I have often jokingly referred to my threshold of 10% acceptable losses, but by the time we arrived at Akers Landing, 4 of our 10 were very cold from being wet in the low temperature amplified by the wind, and when combined with other underlying conditions, were not feeling up to continuing the trip.  They were very fortunate to be able to secure a shuttle back to their cars with one of the outfitters who happened to be at the store at the same time.  So, after saying goodbye to the 40% (Harmon, Terry, Duane and Cindy), we got back on the river, and paddled to the gravel bar we occupied last year across from Cave Spring, the outlet of Devil’s Well.  

 

In the 7.7 miles we paddled, we saw eagles, kingfishers, crows and a hawk.

 

We did all of the campsite things (set up camp, dinner, fire, shiver).  The fireflies were still hanging around on the ground.

10/17/2026

Saturday dawned cold and windy (again), but became sunny. 

The sunlight was creeping toward us as it burned off the mist on the river

 

We got on the river about 11:00 and paddled into the cave across from our camp with our headlamps lit.  The first chamber is pretty well lit from the outside, but the second chamber is pretty dark.

 

Amy and Christy at the entrance to Cave Spring

 

We continued downriver, and saw 7 white-tailed deer in the water on the right side of an upcoming island.  Sam and I paddled to the left side of the island while the rest of our group went right.  My skeg was down and started chattering against the rocks of the shallow gravel bar, which motivated the deer to cross the river in front of the 8 people on the other side of the island.

 

Throughout the rest of the 14 miles we saw three otters, some kingfishers and crows, and 10 bald eagles.

 

 

We passed Pulltite and Fire Hydrant springs, and camped a little further down on another gravel bar.  It got cold and windy as the sun set.  At our fire we dried our socks, shoes and feet.

10/18/2026

Sunday started out really cold (big surprise), but warmed up and became a beautiful day with a clear, blue sky.  We had deer visiting our camp as we were preparing breakfast.  We got on the river at 11:00.

 

Hazel, Cindy, Sam and Robert, all right-side-up

 

Sam, rollin’ on the river

 

We paddled to the third Round Spring landing, where we got out to make the trek to the spring.  We made it to the parking lot where the trailhead to the spring is located, and it was closed due to construction, and we did not see the spring.  HOWEVER, on the way back, we noticed that there were showers, and the women extended their break to take advantage of them.

Our wildlife tally for the day was 3 eagles, kingfishers, crows, vultures, a great blue heron and a turtle.  At 11.3 miles for the day, we camped at across from Bee Bluff.

10/19/2026

Monday morning was cold.  What can I say?  A bald eagle was standing watch over our camp in a snag across the river for about a half hour while we were preparing and eating breakfast and doing other camp things. 

Our protective bald eagle

 

A raccoon (assumed) had pulled some of the stuff off my table at about 1:15 in the morning (I heard the racket), and it took me a while to find the roast beef can under about 6” of water at the shore when I went there to wash my dishes.

We were on the river at 10:30.  There were some interesting challenges in the form of cascading logs and semi-submerged rocks that required some quick evasive maneuvering, but we were up for the experience.  A white-tailed deer crossed the river in front of us at one point.  All too soon we were passing the store at Two Rivers on our way to the take-out. 

When we arrived at the take-out, we met Harmon and Terry, who had continued camping at Two Rivers and enjoying the area after they left us at Akers.  While we were waiting for the shuttle, Hazel taught us how to use air drop to share photos, and we reserved our campsites at Alley Spring.

When the vehicles came back, we packed up and went in search of dinner.  The Mexican restaurant we planned to visit was closed, as was the bar and grill we had selected as the backup plan, so it was back to the Dairy Shack for dinner.

We set up camp in the dark at Alley Spring.

10/20/2026

Tuesday we all got up and struck camp fairly quickly.  It wasn’t as cold as previous mornings, so we were able to move our old bones more effectively. 

Sam and I gassed up and had breakfast at the Sinclair Station in Eminence and got on the road.  Robert and Hazel made the trip to Texas in one day.  The other four arrived home on Wednesday, but I don’t have details of their last camp.

Great people, great scenery – good times.

 

EPILOGUE:

After we came home, Sam read that some of his distant ancestors had lived in the area we travelled through, and that often one could find evidence of their occupation in the form of arrowheads.  Sam dumped out a bag of rocks he had collected on our trip and found several arrowheads and partial arrowheads.

If that wasn’t enough of a surprise, he had also picked up a couple of what looked like deer bones and intended to give them to his dog when he got home.  While he was reading about the arrowheads, the article mentioned that deer bones were often shaped and used to scrape deer hides.  When he took a closer look at his throwaway bones, he noticed that, sure enough, a great deal of shaping had been performed on them.  He researched it further and found that they were probably worth between $500 and $900 each.  He wants to go back for a day and intentionally hunt/collect these things.

 

 

LESSONS LEARNED (AND RELEARNED):

1. Prepare for conditions “one click” worse than predicted in weather forecasts.
2. Be sure to include wind as an important factor with temperature and precipitation.
3. Make a list, check it twice (or thrice).Don’t cross anything off the list until it goes into your car.
4. Make a second list (copy) and check it twice (or thrice) for final prep.Don’t cross anything off this list until it goes into your boat or on your body.
5. Have change of clothes, including warm inner layer, and a towel in a dry bag in case of a swim.
6. Bring extra dry bags (reapportionment opportunities) and zip lock bags (trash, replacement)
7. Pay attention to what you will wear in camp (tennis shoes, socks, warm hat, etc).
8. Don’t waste space in freezer bags with freeze gels.Fill with frozen items you will use.

 

TRIP LEADER LESSONS LEARNED (AGAIN):

1. Make sure all documentation (mileage markers, camp reservations, site descriptions, etc.) are printed the day before departure and are packed with notebook and critical items for the trip.
2. Double-check camping reservation systems each year in case of update.
3. Plan for alternate trip, but not for follow-on trip
4. Consider shorter trip with shorter reaches and one less day (exit Round Spring – 25 miles?).
5. Try not to end a trip on a Monday (many restaurants are closed on Mondays).
6. All Missouri State Park campsites accept the National Parks passes for a 50% discount.Each campsite has a two-tent max and each campsite must be reserved by a different person/occupant (unique pass).
7. For Current River, Sinclair Gas Station has excellent breakfast sandwich and ice cream.
8. For Current River, the double burger and BBQ pork sandwich are winners, Coke is horrible.
9. For Current River, Dee Murray campsites 3, 4, 5 and 6 are on the river and can be used as put-in.Assign registrants to make reservations until appropriate number of sites are reserved (see 12).
10. For Current River, Round Valley campground (third landing) has showers and a store.
11. For Current River, Akers has a store.
12. For Current River, reserve Alley Springs Campground sites in Loop 400 (close to bathrooms/showers) (Recreation.gov - (606) 515-6777 or (877) 444-6777)

 

 

 

Author Kent Walters (photo credit: Harmon Everett)

---