After a long five hour drive through some Interstate roads
and then miles of winding mountain roads, we arrived at Buffalo Point
campground. Wow, is this out in the boonies! We had made a Walmart provision
stop in a small Arkansas town. Driving into the campground we found that it was
pretty much self-serve. There was a closed ranger station, good thing we had a
reserved campsite. We found our site and got the camper in place. This campsite
is really cool, on a sloping hill, terraced with other campsites. Our whole rig
just fit in the space, but we got it in okay. Our site had a rock wall around
our front patio living space and was perfect for our needs. We quickly found
out that down in this river valley there are no cell phone signals, no TV, no
radio… basically, disconnected in every way. At least our trusty weather radio
worked if we held it in our hands; guess we were the antenna booster! We rode
our bikes around the park to get our bearings and find out where everything
was, we were able to find park maps at an unattended information station. This
is a national park and reduced staff, closed bathhouses, closed camping looks,
etc. are being blamed on the “sequester”. Really??? Closed bathrooms? Campground host volunteers are
the ones that actually clean and maintain bathrooms… damn federal government.
Later, we took the dogs down to the river to play on one of
the swimming beach “gravel bars”. They had fun running in the shallow water and
playing retrieve the stick (at least Kody was retrieving). Kurt also got in the
water to cool off; it was a great end to busy driving day.
The next morning, we drove up the road to check with an
outfitter about shuttling our kayaks upriver. We found a small, family run
business and they were extra nice (southern style). We setup a shuttle for that
afternoon. The plan was that we would paddle out of the park downstream to the
last take-out point for the lower part of the Buffalo River. The outfitter
simply picked up our truck and drove it to the take out so we could arrive
there on our own schedule. It was perfect. This section was a 7.5 mile paddle
(float) downstream, was calm and absolutely beautiful. The water in the river
was crystal clear, as much of the river is fed by springs and creeks. There
were many turns in the river with most of them consisting of a gravel bar. So
there were many places to stop to relax, swim or have a picnic. We took our
time and stopped a few times, to cool off and swim or simply enjoy the amazing
scenery. Many parts of the river were lined with high, rocky bluffs. Other areas
were just hills and many birds. We saw some wildlife; many turtles (sliders),
some water moccasins, otters and birds everywhere. It took us about 4 hours to
get to the take out, it was so much fun. It was a very enjoyable paddle and is
one of the prettiest rivers we have ever paddled.
We had so much fun we decided to go ahead and book a
different float for the next day. The outfitter’s plan was to pick us up at our
campsite (wow!) and take us to the put-in at a different part of the river that
was above the previous paddle. This section was a 11.5 mile float, which was
supposed to have more small rapids and more current. It was still a wonderful
paddle, with many gravel bars along the way. We truly enjoyed this river and
the surrounding area.
The next day the weather forecast was for severe
thunderstorms, which turned out to be true, along with tornado warnings in the
area. (This was the same weather system that went through Oklahoma City and
caused damage.) The weather kept us off the river, so went drove down to
Blanchard Caverns to take the cave tour. It was spectacular, the first level
caverns tour was 216 feet down! It was very impressive, as the two “rooms” we
went through were massive. The first one was as long as 6 football fields. I
posted some pics of the most amazing formations in this cave. It was well worth
the 45 minute drive through the mountains to get there. After returning to the
camp, most of the bad weather had passed by, so we took the dogs down to the
river gravel bar to play. Again, we all had a fun time.
Later in the middle of the night, the storms came back with
heavy rains and lightning. It woke us up a few times. All was well; I guess
being down in the river valley was a good thing at that point. The next morning
it was still raining somewhat, but was clearing up. Later in the morning we
decided to hike a trail in the park that goes back to an ancient rock cave
where native Indians had resided since around 700 AD. There were some other highlights
along the trail, like an old abandoned zinc mine. The hike was beautiful and
most along a lovely creek. It was very humid and hot, with a big elevation
change. I hate it when you hike downhill first, then have to go back uphill to
the trailhead. Anyway, we had a great time and really enjoyed the artifacts
along the way.
In the afternoon, we began prepping for the next day
departure. We met our camping neighbors who were very friendly. After we ate
dinner, Kurt started a nice campfire (despite the wet wood) and our neighbors
came over to share the fire. We all sit around the fire until almost 11pm, then
we had to get some sleep. It was a fun evening.
The next morning, we were breaking down camp during rain. We
just had to put on our rain gear and get it ready to bug out. Everything was
wet, so it was not a lot of fun. The next stop is near Branson, Missouri, at
Table Rock Lake. Kurt and his friends in Kansas used to hang out at this lake
over 30 years ago. Also, we want to see what Branson is like.
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