Who goes camping and floating in the middle of Missouri on opening day of Deer Season?
Well, that would be us............ and 16 friends. As I always say, "Never a dull moment!"
We head out Friday afternoon. It's a 3- 1/2 hour drive and we hope to make it down by dark. Dinner is at 6:00 and we hope to make it down and have our tent set up by then.
The closer we get, the more relaxed I get. The woods are good for the soul.
We arrive right about sunset. Many of the group have already arrived, some had been there since Thursday. The first thing we realize is that we have probably have one of the best campsites in Missouri. It's one site at the end of a very long, hilly, gravel road. When you get to the end of the road, you are at the campsite. And you are at the river. We immediately know where our tent is going. The gravel bar on the river. Heaven.
I look at my phone and realize I have no service. For just about a nano second I panic. Then I realize that having cell service is not going to change anything in the world. I did not see my phone again until we were on the road and headed home.
Being the good team we are, Jim gets to work on the tent and I get to work on unpacking the Subaru. We are up and running in no time. We did stop a couple times to admire the view before it got dark. Stunning!
We have a wonderful dinner of oysters and scallops, pasta and other miscellaneous delicious nibbles.
We sit by the fire and talk and laugh and tell stories. Such a good time. Mitch walks away from the group later in the evening. No one really pays much attention. Then suddenly we hear the bang and the entire rock bluff lights up in a beautiful display of color.
Gotta love fireworks!
We head to bed fairly early, ready to wake up to a beautiful day.
Saturday morning arrives in it's glory. We are laying in our tent when we are abruptly reminded that today is opening day for deer season. The sun is barely starting to rise. We lay there and count the number of shots. Somewhere around 16. We had anticipated this so it wasn't frightening. Just loud.
I step out of our tent and have a direct view of the river and the sun coming up over the bluffs. It just doesn't get any better than this.
We wander around and get our coffee going. The team assigned to breakfast is busy getting the food cooked for everyone. We talk about the day and the logistics of where we are putting in and where we are taking out.
We have a delicious breakfast to get us all going.
Finally around 11:30 we have our plan in place and we are ready to take off. I think we spend about 4 hours or so on the river. We explore Jam Up Cave, we stop to eat lunch, we watch the eagles. No one tips and the day is just wonderful. Jim is my rock star canoe guy and always keeps me safe. :-)
I have never been on this stretch of the Jacks Fork River so I am in awe.
And Jam Up Cave.............. WOW! I had on my Chacos sent I chose to not climb down into the cave. Many people did though. From what I understand, when you get behind the huge boulders (middle of the photo) there is a body of water you can swim across and it opens into the massive part of the cave. Nature is an amazing thing!
We continue on our way after the cave and lunch. The water is gin clear and we see fish and turtles all over the place. We only run into two hunters while we are on the water. They were sitting at the side of they river. Nice guys. Looked like they were taking a break.
We find the take out with no problem and load the canoes up to head back to camp. The dinner crew goes into action to start dinner. Again, we relax, we talk, we laugh, we share stories. Then we eat, again. It's getting quite chilly at this point so Jim, Korey, Mike and Mitch head out to gather firewood for us. They decide they should take Korey's truck so they can get a lot. And boy did they! They basically brought back trees. Everyone thought they went a little (just a tad) overboard and we would never need all of the wood. HA! By the end of the night it was gone.
Another early night to bed.
Tomorrow morning was our turn to cook. Jim and I with Korey and Anna. We met last weekend to put a plan in place so we were ready! A Slinger Bar for those needed hot food and a Yogurt/Granola/Fruit bar for those wanting a tad more healthy. And of course, Mimosas!
Our breakfast was a huge success and we were all happy and full.
People gradually started to tear down their tents and pack up. We weren't quite ready to say goodbye.
Three couples stayed for a couple extra hours. Mike and Jill, Dave and Ann and Jim and I. WE had a blast. Ann convinced me I should take a dip in the water, which I did. Very exhilarating!
We all pull our chairs down by the water and just talk. Nobody wants the afternoon to end.
We finally say our goodbyes, grateful to have had the wonderful weekend we just spent with great friends. Life is Good.
Being the good team we are, Jim gets to work on the tent and I get to work on unpacking the Subaru. We are up and running in no time. We did stop a couple times to admire the view before it got dark. Stunning!
We have a wonderful dinner of oysters and scallops, pasta and other miscellaneous delicious nibbles.
We sit by the fire and talk and laugh and tell stories. Such a good time. Mitch walks away from the group later in the evening. No one really pays much attention. Then suddenly we hear the bang and the entire rock bluff lights up in a beautiful display of color.
Gotta love fireworks!
We head to bed fairly early, ready to wake up to a beautiful day.
Saturday morning arrives in it's glory. We are laying in our tent when we are abruptly reminded that today is opening day for deer season. The sun is barely starting to rise. We lay there and count the number of shots. Somewhere around 16. We had anticipated this so it wasn't frightening. Just loud.
I step out of our tent and have a direct view of the river and the sun coming up over the bluffs. It just doesn't get any better than this.
We have a delicious breakfast to get us all going.
Finally around 11:30 we have our plan in place and we are ready to take off. I think we spend about 4 hours or so on the river. We explore Jam Up Cave, we stop to eat lunch, we watch the eagles. No one tips and the day is just wonderful. Jim is my rock star canoe guy and always keeps me safe. :-)
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| Rock Star Canoe Guy |
I have never been on this stretch of the Jacks Fork River so I am in awe.
 |
| Jim climbing down in the cave |
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| A photo Jim took from inside looking out |
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| At the cave entrance |
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| The Floating Crew |
We find the take out with no problem and load the canoes up to head back to camp. The dinner crew goes into action to start dinner. Again, we relax, we talk, we laugh, we share stories. Then we eat, again. It's getting quite chilly at this point so Jim, Korey, Mike and Mitch head out to gather firewood for us. They decide they should take Korey's truck so they can get a lot. And boy did they! They basically brought back trees. Everyone thought they went a little (just a tad) overboard and we would never need all of the wood. HA! By the end of the night it was gone.
 |
| Jim and Korey slingin' eggs |
Tomorrow morning was our turn to cook. Jim and I with Korey and Anna. We met last weekend to put a plan in place so we were ready! A Slinger Bar for those needed hot food and a Yogurt/Granola/Fruit bar for those wanting a tad more healthy. And of course, Mimosas!
Our breakfast was a huge success and we were all happy and full.
 |
| Yogurt, Fruit, Granola and Mimosas! |
People gradually started to tear down their tents and pack up. We weren't quite ready to say goodbye.
Three couples stayed for a couple extra hours. Mike and Jill, Dave and Ann and Jim and I. WE had a blast. Ann convinced me I should take a dip in the water, which I did. Very exhilarating!
We all pull our chairs down by the water and just talk. Nobody wants the afternoon to end.
We finally say our goodbyes, grateful to have had the wonderful weekend we just spent with great friends. Life is Good.
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