Five days canoe camping on the Eleven Point River.

[Will Carry]

This is a long winded story but I just spent 3 days on a river without seeing another person except for my paddling partners. I just wanted to share it with someone. 

I just got back from Jasper Arkansas after doing a 5 day canoe trip down Missouri's Eleven Point River. Clear emerald green water moving rapidly through a rugged, remote area in the Ozarks. We saw some fishermen the first day and some John boats the last day and didn't see a soul for the rest of the time.  We then went to a cabin near Jasper Arkansas and did two day trips down the Buffalo River.  I left my truck at the put in on the Eleven Point River for 5 days with fishing rods in the back. Nothing was missing. Luckily my CC permit was honored in Missouri and Arkansas but I drove for 10 miles through Illinois. If I had gotten pulled and they found my handgun, I would have been sent to jail.  Isn't that amazing?  The photo below is of the Buffalo River near Ponca Arkansas.  This river was very scenic but we saw dozens of people. My choice of handguns was my Glock 19. It was kept in a dry bag while paddling. The drive home was about 1000 miles and took me 18 hours. It was worth it.



Here is how you do it. First get a canoe that will hold camping gear. It is a 16 hour drive from Durham NC, so split it in half and drive I-40 west until you get to Edgar Evins State Park. They have these wooden platforms that you can park your truck on and set up a tent for the night. The next day you drive through Nash Vegas and up I-24 into Kentucky. You have to go through Cairo Illinois, for 10 miles. They had a Zombie Apocalypse there a few decades ago and the once thriving town is now mostly deserted. Big old mansions over grown with vines and the roof caving in. Stores boarded up. Now that they have the highway repaired you may will miss Cairo. You then cross Big Muddy into Missouri. You will need to find Alton Missouri. That is the nearest town to get supplies. You will take hwy 160 east to get to the river. Cross the bridge over the Eleven Point and turn left into the boat launch area.  You will leave one truck here to be waiting for you when you take off the river. I left my truck with two fishing rods in the back and no one messed with them. Now you pile everything onto and into the vehicle that will take you to the put in, upstream. Hwy 19 is the place many people put in. This is dependent on the water level. Park the put in vehicle load your boats and you are off! No fees, no problems. There are designated camping spots that have an outhouse, picnic tables and tent sights above the high water mark. They are first come first served but you can camp on a gravel bar, if the weather says no rain. The river has many springs that flow into the river. Greer Springs is one of the biggest in the state with 350 cubic feet per second of crystal clear water. Greer Springs is about a one mile hike to where it comes out of the ground. Go to the Eleven Point in the Spring before the ticks and skeeters come out. Also, put on the river on a Sunday so you can miss any weekend campers.  You can buy a fishing license but after all the fees, you will be paying a dollar a cast.

NOTE: I saw more Confederate flags in Southern Missouri than I have ever seen. Damned Missouri Ruffians! They are nice people though and very country. They remind me of my kin. Their fried chicken is off the charts.

Paddling the Buffalo is much easier. Just go to Jasper Arkansas, they will help you with the canoes and then get a cabin at Bluff Dwellers Cabins.  http://www.ozarkbluffdwellers.com/
This is a secret! These cabins are on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Buffalo River Valley. They face west into the sunset, which can be breath taking. The cabins are isolated, you can't see one cabin from the others and not very expensive for what you get. The put in for the Buffalo is at Ponca. Then you can take out at a number of places down stream. Don't pass the Low Gap Café without stopping in. It is a hidden gem with a great chef, a local guy. I asked him "where the heck did you learn to cook like that?" he said "In the kitchen......" (dumb question)

The Buffalo is one of the most scenic places to paddle I have ever seen, with towering cliffs up towards 500 feet overhanging the river. This is a very clean river with clear water and no trash. They have some pretty strict rules about paddling the Buffalo. No glass, all canned beverages must be in a huggy that floats, all coolers must be have the lid secured and be tied to the boat, nothing should fall out of the boat if you tip over and you must carry a mesh bag for trash and there are no trash cans anywhere. You bring it in and you take it out.,

This is not me in the picture but that canoe is what yours will look like crammed with camping gear. Make sure your canoe is balance and not bow heavy or stern heavy. In a tandem canoe if one person is paddling it, turn the boat around backwards and sit in the front seat. This puts you closer to the center of the canoe and will give you better control. Always get on your knees when paddling through rough water, unless you want to swim with all you gear.

Edited May 12, 2018 by Will Carry

[MacGyver]

Looks like a great trip.  

Filing for future reference.  

[DaveTN]

2 hours ago, Will Carry said:

Luckily my CC permit was honored in Missouri and Arkansas but I drove for 10 miles through Illinois. If I had gotten pulled and they found my handgun, I would have been sent to jail.  Isn't that amazing?  

Sounds like you had a great time and a great trip. But why the fear of Illinois? I can have a gun in my car on a TN HCP in Illinois. Is there some issue with a NC permit? 

[Erik88]

My dad is from that area. He hasn't lived there in nearly 40 years but still speaks of it often. Beautiful country. 

[analog_kidd]

Very envious of your trip. I just did an over night kayak trip a few weeks ago. We went to the Big South Fork area and did Clear Fork, which at the confluence with New River becomes the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. There were a couple of small rapids, but mostly a lot of flat water. But, we had a great time. The camping was awesome, and like you, we were oblivious to any form of civilization.

It was the first time in a couple of decades that I had overnighted a kayak trip. I used to do it all the time in Florida on the Peace River. I'd forgotten how much fun it was. 

[Grayfox54]

Back in the 90s I was a Scout leader and we did regular overnighters on the Eleven Point every year. Beautiful country and good fast water in the spring. 

[Will Carry]

Thanks for allowing me to share this story. My kayaking forum called me a murderer because I was a member of the NRA. That is strange because the guys I have been paddling with for the last 35 years are all Republicans. Maybe that is why we were the Canoe Club rejects. Or maybe it was our wild and rowdy ways? Illinois will accept a North Carolina CCP but you must have your handgun disassembled and the ammunition stored in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall's back porch. (Funk and Wagnall published an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a..............oh never mind.) I was NOT going to stop my truck and break down my Glock for 10 miles. Plus I was following Speed Racer because I didn't know where we were going. The drive through Tennessee was like a drive down the road to the "Old Home Place". I would be in Tennessee now if my wife hadn't got cancer after she graduated from George Peabody. She wanted to die with her family in North Carolina. Don't feel bed for me! That was in 1984 when I was 23 years old (OK 27). I have led a good life and now have a wife of 30 years and too many grandchildren to count. I do miss what Tennessee was like back then.

[KahrMan]

32 minutes ago, Will Carry said:

Thanks for allowing me to share this story. My kayaking forum called me a murderer because I was a member of the NRA. That is strange because the guys I have been paddling with for the last 35 years are all Republicans. Maybe that is why we were the Canoe Club rejects. Or maybe it was our wild and rowdy ways? Illinois will accept a North Carolina CCP but you must have your handgun disassembled and the ammunition stored in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall's back porch. (Funk and Wagnall published an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a..............oh never mind.) I was NOT going to stop my truck and break down my Glock for 10 miles. Plus I was following Speed Racer because I didn't know where we were going. The drive through Tennessee was like a drive down the road to the "Old Home Place". I would be in Tennessee now if my wife hadn't got cancer after she graduated from George Peabody. She wanted to die with her family in North Carolina. Don't feel bed for me! That was in 1984 when I was 23 years old (OK 27). I have led a good life and now have a wife of 30 years and too many grandchildren to count. I do miss what Tennessee was like back then.

F your kayaking forum. No offense intended.(to you, just to them)

[AuEagle]

10 minutes ago, KahrMan said:

F your kayaking forum. No offense intended.(to you, just to them)

And the kayak they rowed in on.

[analog_kidd]

That is exactly my experience with the kayaking community. I'm not in any of their forums (BT is just intolerable), but even in personal interactions i get looked down upon with the few people who know. Most of them i boat with would pee themselves if they discovered the pistol in my backpack. And, it would be the last time I ever would be allowed to boat with any of them. So, I just keep quiet about it, and have a policy of not talking politics with any of them.

[Ronald_55]

Sounds like a great trip even though I  am not a boater. Last canoe I was in ended up making me swim.  The chance to get out and away would be great though.

[Will Carry]

  That is why I like this forum. People can disagree and still be respectful and polite.  I am sure no liberal kayaker would call me a murderer if we were face to face. They would see what a nice guy I am, that I practice non-violence and it doesn't hurt to be a large gentleman. I will stick with my old school paddling buddies. 

Gary C: A Vietnam veteran. Demolitions expert. They sent his squad into Cambodia to blow up an underground bunker complex. They spent a day laying charges in the three level complex that included an operating room with French equipment. The explosion was supposed to be just enough to cause the complex to implode but they failed to discovery the ammo dump on the 4th level. The entire hill went up. There were friendly casualties. Gary had asked for an extra day to explore the complex but was denied. He doesn't talk about it much.

Garg G: A redneck with a masters degree in Computer Technology. He has canoed all over North America. They say you can still see his claw marks under the rock at Right Crack (A rapid on the Chattooga River). 

Richard M: A bad @ss redneck who used to look like a cross between Charles Manson and Wild Bill Hickok. He was our body guard. He has been known to face down groups of campers who got out of control and were partying past  the 10:30 quiet time. "But he ain't like that no more."

Jack S: A Aquarian Veterinarian who looks like a Prussian general. He was in his late 60s and could keep up with the youngest of us, any day. 

Joe H: High school history teacher. The man was insane! He would charge over horizon lines with only a clue as to what waited for him below. When he realized that he had reached his peak as a class V boater, he just quit paddling all together. 

Edited May 19, 2018 by Will Carry

[Chucktshoes]

Looks like a hell of a fun time. I’d probably be miserable because that seems like a whole lotta nature. Me and nature are on cordial terms, but we ain’t really friends.