Bluffs opposite the spring and swimming hole
Kids tent - my home now!
Luxury tent with standing room and breakfast bar
Gary & Ginger at the Grand Gulf State Park
One of the very pretty Dragonflies we saw
View of part of the collapsed canyon
Down inside part of the collapsed area, not virtually clear of rock, saw a wasp nest high on the bluff
Mammoth Springs
One of the two outflows from the springs.Good flight from Honolulu, change over in Dallas worked a treat only took 20 minutes so had time to spare. Met at airport by Gary and Ginger and after picking up my bags we went for breakfast. What a treat, bacon, eggs and hash browns, American style of course plus biscuits and gravy. The biscuits are more like small scones and ought to be light and fluffy and the gravy is more like a white sauce but made with the grease off of sausages. Different and could get used to the idea. Then it was back to the house and rest of the day spent in chat. Gary and I worked out that we had not seen each other for something like 15 years and that was only a fleeting visit. Met Alek, Ginger's 15yr old son and learnt that Katie and Lanie, her two daughters are with their father in Chicago for the time I am in Springfield. Had a great evening just chewing over events between the four of us.
Sunday morning was spent at their Episcopal church, well attended and afterwards enjoyed a soft drink and was introduced to a number of friends. Rest of the day spent loafing around and speaking to mum on the phone - always tried to keep our Sunday morning phone ritual. Felt very tired probably due to the jet lag and effects of the long four days sightseeing excursions in Hawaii. Did have the pleasure in visiting Wal-Mart. During the evening discussed options for the week and was keen to get out and about. Only thing is that the temperature is unseasonably high at +90 degrees and a humidity of +75% - ouch!!! Met all four cats: Getzger is an Abyssinian and has his own F/B profile and was the friendliest of the four. Tubby is a Burmese and was very cautious about being friendly; Blue Kitty and Sprinkles are Maine Coons (this is a new variety to me and is worth looking on the Internet), Blue Kitty likes to sit behind you and wash your hair whilst Sprinkles was again cautions as to when you could touch her.
Monday through to Wednesday
Late start but finally off with all the camping equipment - excitement what!! Destination was Blue Spring on the Jacks Fork river. This is listed as a primitive camp site as there are no electric hook ups or water stand pipes etc only a loo block. Gary had told me about these blocks so was interested in their construction which is all RC concrete split into a base, walls, a roof(with tile effect finish) and two cess pits. Two great pipe stacks at the back vent the loos - all very effective. Ginger and Gary (hereafter known as the 2G's) had been here before and we crossed our fingers that their favourite site was available. It worked, mostly day visitors in the car park with one other site occupied. Each site is well screened and set apart so really minimal interference. Was given a very quick lessen in identifying poison ivy which can cause skin burns and irritation, then it was down to set the camp up and get the wood ready for later. The 2 G's have a large tent whilst I had the kids tent which was big enough for my bed and a few odds and ends. Thankfully it never rained hard as I was touching both sides when in my bed (at an angle across the tent!)
Blue Spring's name is due to a fairly large spring flowing into the river at a point where there are bluffs (small cliffs 200 foot high max) and a swimming hole. The kids were jumping off of rocks into the hole and having a good time. Away from the spring the water is warm and free flowing. The 2G's also have a large awning that was erected over the table and benches provided (one at each camp location as well as either a fire ring or bar-b-que). There are several Government bodies who provide and look after camping grounds and offer a variety of levels of camping - from the primitive to the all inclusive that cater for the large trailer vans and caravans one sees on the roads. Those that are sited around lakes also have jetties and ramps for access for all the various boating activities. During my visit I did not see any sailing or wind surfing though, but Gary confirmed that some of the larger lakes one may windsurf.
Once camp was erected we were all very hot and sticky so it was off to the river and swimming hole. The river current was not that strong and the water was lovely and warm. Had a walk upstream to see some of the bluffs, mostly ankle deep with a few areas where is was chest deep around the river edges. Plenty of fish in the river and mostly unconcerned but we did come across one area where the fish were agitated, we quickly deduced that this was a spawning area due to the clean areas of shingle amongst the small rocks, so stayed clear. Bluffs are well stained due to minerals being washed down them. The hard capping layer was well defined as were the soft layers beneath. Some very large chunks of rock had been undercut and tumbled into the river causing the river bed to erode and form deep pools. Tricky in walking up the river bed even with a type of plimsoll on. What was a delight was the variety and number of butterflies and dragonflies we saw. On the float downstream they would often settle on your arms or the noodle. The decision was that we would retrace our steps tomorrow and then go farther upstream to try and find the nearby road bridge. However as the day was getting on it was back to camp to get the fire going.
It had been a very hot and humid day and really the evening/night did not cool down that much, far too hot to sleep inside a sleeping bag. Plenty of bugs around so had to use Gary's bug spray - even had to spray up to walk across Ginger's lawn to the shed due to chiggers - they crawl up your leg and bite you in all sorts of places, previously Gary found one on the end of his <<<<>, Ginger apparently was quite amused, a rare find I believe. At one point in the evening Ginger spotted an Armadillo which came right through the camp between us and my tent. Even though we had our torches on the animal because it has poor eyesight did not seem to worry until it caught some whiff of either the fire or us. Sat bolt upright looking in our direction, was very clear to see. The nose was testing the air and the animal must have caught a good whiff as it suddenly jumped in the air, spun 180 degrees and disappeared into the bush. Apparently Armadillos jump when frightened which is why one sees so many as road kill, jump just the right height to be hit by either lorry or car bumper.
We were very lucky and pleased to see the armadillo, still talking about it when Raccoon decided he would investigate our food locker. This is a fairly large container with a tight fitting lid, not raccoon proof though. Ginger chased it off, the animal sat in the bushes just looking at us for a short period before disappearing. However he was back in a short time and this time I had a very good view of a raccoon's bum sticking out of the food locker. We shooed him away and did not see him again, but in the morning his paw prints were all over the bench and table cloth. Due to brown bears, raccoons and skunks the food and perishables have to be locked in the car overnight.
One of the treats whilst camping was the toasted marshmallows between two square sweet biscuits and a couple of pieces of chocolate - yum yum - melted chocolate ran down my beard, but that is what beards are for :-)
Up bright and early, sun shining and still the noise of the cicadas rang out. Different lot to the night before I think, those at night did not seem so loud as I could hear raccoon sniffing around - well I hope it was him.
Morning was spent visiting the Gulf State Park and Mammoth Springs. Missouri and the Ozarks in particular have a number of springs that are fed from water percolating through the limestone and dolomite rocks. Gulf State Park is a small canyon that is made up of a number of caves and underground rivers. These are formed by the action of the mildly acidic waters eroding the cracks and crevices in the rock formation eventually to form a cave system. This particular area it is thought that some 10,000 years ago the roof collapsed along one particular section of cave/underground river system leaving a rather deep and long canyon. The sides are near vertical (130 feet high) and the length is nearly one mile long. The river disappears at one end back into the ground to emerge 9 miles away at Mammoth Springs. This is so called because up to 9,000,000 (million gallons USA measure) gallons of water flows per hour - spectacular or what. Only a small part comes from the canyon so the majority is from other underground sources.
Enjoyed a walk around and in the canyon following reasonably well marked trails, whilst no water was flowing when we visited I understand the canyon can fill up to about the 100 foot mark, and then take several days to drain away. We were able to walk along a short section of the original floor of part of the cave, in this part much of the roof has been broken up and washed downstream. It must have been dramatic to have witnessed whole sections of roof collapsing into the then underground stream.
Once we had tired ourselves out walking around the canyon we then drove to Mammoth Springs which is just over the state line in Arkansas (pronounced Arkansaw).
Rainfall in southern Missouri seeps down into the water table and underground aquifers and flows through a vast system of passages and cavities. These cavities come together to form a main channel which reaches the surface at the town of Mammoth Springs. The emerging water forms a 10 acre spring pool that drains and flows over two stone dams. The spring generates a flow of 344 cubic feet per second and emerges at a constant temperature of 14 degrees C or 58 degrees F. The spring itself cannot be viewed because it's mouth is more than 21m (70 feet) below the surface of the large spring pool. One could feel the coolness from the flowing water which was very welcoming. We think we saw an otter at the side of the lake that is fed from the pool, but on reflection much later decided it was a muskrat.
Back to camp via Wal-Mart where some noodles were purchased - used as a flotation devise and are very similar to pipe lagging but come in pretty colours. Quick change then took our noodles up river, and walked about a mile or so. At one point we came across some high bluffs with a very wide and deep swimming hole so needed the noodle to help me swim across. Whilst we never made it to the bridge we could plainly hear the traffic over it so determined we were close. We were faced with a prolonged set of rapids, we found walking through the various rapids difficult mainly due to the lack of depth of water and slipperiness of the rocks below. We were also quite tired by then so decided to float our way back. Even on the way back we had to walk through the rapids and lost our footing several times - sore on the butt I can tell you.
Took our time floating back and had a good look at the make up of the bluffs. Some of the layers were well honeycombed and it was easy to spot the several large overhangs. At some stage in the future these will collapse into the river. You really get a fish eyes view of the bluffs and Ginger spotted several wasp nests high up whilst we were floating across the wider pools. Buzzed by several wasps which are bigger than ours in the UK, kept underwater when they were around. Floated past our beach to view the spring, found that it was gushing out from the side of the bluff. Standing in the water my upper body was warm but lower half very cold. After a few minutes Ginger pointed out a snake that was in the water by the spring. This was fine until it decided to swim towards us and then disappear from view. We exited out of the water very quickly as she could not tell if it was harmless or not - here snakes can bite whilst underwater so caution is required.
The evening threatened thunder and rain but all we got was a brief few gusts of wind with lightening in the distance. Gary has a radio that they tune into the local severe weather forecast. One tuned in the radio will automatically send out details if the weather turns for the worst. Great fire again - must blow my own trumpet as nobody else will!!! - oh and we finished the whiskey, good job tomorrow night we will be home.
Wednesday we broke camp and the 2G's were keen to find the route down to the shingle bar opposite our campsite. Once found we parked the car and walked along the single beach which had been the main route for the river at one stage. Saw a lot of crayfish, or crawdaddies as they are called in the pools plus butterflies and dragonflies. Where the shingle meets the bluff one can scramble up to the top, Gary did but said the view was masked by trees, Ginger and I stayed below and watched a fish with a very long snout - a Gar. According to the Internet they are related to the Bowfin (came across this in Pearl Harbour) and emanate from a fish found in the Eocene Period. Gary said they were small examples and boy was he right - later on he took me to Bass -Pro shop, an outlet for all things outdoors. They have live alligator Gars which are absolutely huge.
Next stop was to visit Ginger's parents (Jim and Carole), who live on an 80 acre farm near Thornfield. Had a lovely time and good feed, Jim is now retired but I get the feeling that he works on his hobbies most of the time so has plenty to keep him occupied.Talked quite a bit about the lumber industry and was shown a rather interesting book on the way it done in the late 1800's, early 1900's. Early evening we said our goodbyes and headed up the road to Springfield, I think Alek and the cats were pleased to see us.
Tomorrow, well the 2G's have another couple of treats in store, this time in St Louis so it is camping time again.
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