Paddling the Buffalo National River with Sherman's Gang

     The more I visit Arkansas, the more I fall in love with this state. It's known as "The Natural State", and has beautiful natural waterfalls. This is Twin Falls located in the Buffalo National River Wilderness Area  (photo by Sherman).

      This past week, I was on the Buffalo River in Ozark Country with Sherman's Gang. I first met Sherman's Gang last year (click here for my original post). I met up again with Sherman's Gang last September and paddled the Meramec River with them (click here for that post).  So when I was invited to join them again for the Fourth Annual Buffalo River Trip, I said "I'll be there!"

     The gang rented Paradise View Cabin. This was our view from the porch.

I camped next to the cabin in La Lair.

     This group shot below is me with Sherman's Gang when we put-in at Kyles Landing -- not pictured are Sherman who took photo, and Tak who couldn't make it this year due to knee surgery.  I was in good hands with these guys!

Left to right, Dave, Abe, Jim, me, Scott, and Sherman's son Scott.

     Instead of paddling my little wave ski, I doubled-up with Abe in Dave's donated tandem canoe (see Sherman's photo below). Dave, by the way, was a Boy Scout and is organized and prepared for everything. Need something? He's probably got it.

     There were many beautiful outcroppings along the way. That's Jim in photo below. Jim by the way can fill-in missing information with factual knowledge; he's the gang's respectable "go-to guy" for any inquiries.

     The water looks green-blue because it's spring water. Below photo, that's Abe approaching a manatee . . . just kidding!  Abe by the way is a natural-born entertainer who's multi-lingual (including gibberish with an Ethiopian accent). He can be delightfully silly. For our gang's entertainment, he play-acted his tea parties with his two little girls -- I'm sure his girls adore him.

Some of the outcroppings were magnificently high.

It was a beautiful float.

     And beautiful weather for it too. That's the other Scott in below photo. He's an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. Adventure Racing Club Association and has won several of their events. Nothing intimidates Scott; he's usually the first to attempt something daring.

Ledges like the one below called for jumps. Jim spotted . . .

. . . while both Scotts jumped. The "Adventure Racing" Scott jumped backwards of course.

     The river was Class II in some parts followed by calm parts. Here's a tricky "Class II" situation which got my partner Abe's heart throbbing big time! Jim took this photo.

     Another tricky Class II situation (downed trees/roots and strainers from a recent rainstorm) spilled Sherman's son Scott in his kayak, but he only lost his hat during that very cold bath. Scott by the way is the perfect straight-man to his dad Sherman's comedic antics.

Two Northern River Snakes mating on a log . . . this is Jim's photo.

We spent one night along the river. This is the guys' tents.

And this is my Spartan "tent" (a tarp over a guard rail). Managed to sleep solid about five hours.

Back on the river the next morning, more beautiful outcroppings to the end of our 21-mile adventure at Hasty.

And beautiful Northern Maidenhair Ferns along the shoreline.

Besides paddling the river, we also hiked to Glory Hole (click here for description). That's "Adventure Racing" Scott in photo below.

That water eventually ends up down below in a grotto-type cave where we took this group shot.

     Top from left to right, Abe, Sherman, Sherman's son Scott. Kneeling, left to right, Dave, me and the other Scott. Jim had to get his flat tire fixed so he missed this hike.

The Prairie Spiderwort is a pretty little violet flower among all the greenery.

     Also took a hike to Eden Falls on the Lost Valley Trail (click here for description). Saw this little millipede.

Admired the star-burst shaped moss. . . and colorful rock lichen.

See this sign?

I'm the only one who obeyed it . . . . that's Sherman's son Scott below.

     Sherman joked that he lost his "souls" on the Lost Valley Trail. He had to return to the trailhead before seeing the Falls at the end of the hike. Sherman, by the way, is the main man who organizes his friends all year for kayaking and other exploits outside. He's the drummer that keeps an ensemble of players cohesive.

     Near the end of this hike is Eden Falls. It's creates a great pool for jumping (if you don't mind frigid water). Everyone but me jumped in. That's "Adventure Racing" Scott in photo below; photo taken by Sherman's son Scott.

At the top of Eden Falls, up a steep trail, is a dripping wet cave. It's very slippery and treacherous. I didn't go in, but both Scotts ventured all the way back on their hands and knees. 

     At the end of the pitch-black dark cave is a beautiful water fall, which can be illuminated with headlamps or artificial lights (click here for photo submitted by unknown person on the Internet).

     When we returned from one of our hikes to our parked trucks at the trailhead, we met this interesting group of dual-sport motorcyclists from the Atlanta, Georgia area.

     The second guy from the right, Nate, is on his way to the tip of South America. The others are following the Trans-American Trail. They were as friendly as they look; a very refreshingly polite group of youngsters.

By the end of the week with Sherman's Gang, I had definitely "earned" this badge of honor!

Sherman's Gang was wonderful comradery for me. They all treated me with TLC, I felt 30 years younger! and I made lifelong very good friends :)

PS: click here for Scott's beautiful photos.  And for Jim's photos, click here.

The Natural State, Arkansas

     When I drove into western Arkansas from Oklahoma, my goal was to paddle its scenic waterways. But to my dismay, it rained and thundered along with a few Tornado Watches.

     The day after the storm, I checked out the Big Piney Creek which is a national scenic waterway.

The campground's boat access looked calm enough to float . . .

But a short walk downstream showed the high-water dangers . . . . 

This little guy near the river loved the rain storm . . . .

And this local fisherman enjoyed the weather, too.

     But I was frustrated with the weather. So I left the campground in search of a new area further north. I figured even the famed Buffalo National River would be as un-navigable as the Big Piney Creek due to all the rains. I stopped by an access in Pruitt, Arkansas to check out the Buffalo River, and saw these folks.

     From this point downstream, they told me the river was navigable. In fact, all the recent rains had made this usually too-low river now high enough to enjoy. All the paddlers were coming out of the woodwork to enjoy the rarity of a navigable Buffalo River. So instead of cursing the weather, I was now thankful for the rains. The next morning at 10 AM, a shuttle service had me and my ski on the river.

     The scenery includes beautiful rock outcroppings.

Not everyone stayed dry on the river.

This group of paddlers is from Saint Louis, Missouri.

     There were eight men in this group which I called "Sherman's Gang". I shared shade with this gang at a snack break along the banks of the river. Wondering what brought this diverse age group of men together, I discovered Rich and Sherman (retired, age 71) had rounded-up their former co-workers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Since they were all kayakers, they planned a one-week adventure for them all to coincide with peak conditions of the Buffalo River. They paddled several sections of the Buffalo River, hiked up to the famed Hemmed-in Hollow Falls, to the Glory Hole, to Lost Valley, and to other trails. And their grand finale for the week was a baseball game at Springfield, Missouri before returning home to disgruntled wives. 

Sherman had even built a kayak rack on his truck for six kayaks.

The peak river conditions brought women out of the woodwork, too.

Sherman's Gang had enthused me to stay in the area to hike the trails they had hiked. 

     But, due to all the paddlers coming out of the woodwork, there was no available campsite that weekend. I tried sneaking into this horse-camp, claiming I had forgotten to bring my horse Topaz.

     But the Park Ranger didn't buy that story and told me to leave. The folks in this fancy rig begged the Park Ranger to let me move into their camp.

     Despite all my feminine wiles, the Park Ranger still kicked me out. Not easily deterred, I drove next door to the "full, no vacancy" tent-only campground with a sign stating "No RVs". I'm a Van, not an RV. I found a solo camper and asked him if I could park at his tent-site, since the maximum number per tent-site is six people and two vehicles.  That's his tent and white van in the middle; La Lair is to the left.

     But surprise, surprise, he informed me his tent is a decoy! He was a solo, retired van camper like me! So, David and I laughed about his empty decoy tent for three nights, and buddied-up on hiking adventures for two days.

     At Sherman's suggestion, I hiked Lost Valley with David which is a beautiful area of rock outcroppings and forest. And we also hiked the five-mile round trip trail to Hemmed-In Hollow Falls.  David was brave enough to stand under the falls which "dances" around in the wind as it falls 209 feet.

One dangerous tree almost swallowed me!

     I love Arkansas! I will definitely come back to "The Natural State" this fall on my way back home to Texas.