A miniature high school reunion promised a bevy of fun in more ways than one.
I’d get to see some lifelong pals. We’d all get to canoe down the Jack’s Fork River in southeast Missouri. In the crown of Ozarks float streams, the Jack’s Fork is a glistening jewel.
This is one of Missouri’s most isolated areas.
Jack’s Fork flows through Eminence, the county seat of Shannon County and home to only a few hundred folks. The landscape is similar to this region of the Ozarks. Both areas have hardwoods, pines and lots of rivers to fl oat.
A big difference in the rivers of the Jack’s Fork country is they’re springfed. Springs, dozens of them, pump clear cold water into the rivers from deep underground. They keep the Jack’s Fork, and it’s big brother, the Current River, at good floating levels all year. Northwest Arkansas’ rivers are rainfall dependent.
Seven of us who ran around together in high school met in Eminence on July 2 to float the Jack’s Fork the next day. It was a mini reunion of the Class of 1973 from Blue Springs High School, east of Kansas City, Mo. To me, we all looked the same as we did back then, thanks to the nice tricks our eyeballs play as time passes.
It had been eons since I’d bobbed down the Jack’s Fork, so this was like new territory. I remember the water being so clear.
Thankfully, it was still transparent when an outfitter slid canoes into the water for us about noon. The Jack’s Fork has some of the clearest water you’ll see anywhere. It’s a sight to behold and worth the 5 hour drive from Northwest Arkansas.
Charlie was our drifts master. She decreed that we should stop a mile downstream where a spring comes into the Jack’s Fork on the left. Charlie organized our trip so we followed her lead. Charlene is her legal name, but Charlie is her real name.
So I figured we’d come to a cute little trickle of a spring and stop for our swim. My jaw hit the canoe floor when I saw it. Now this was a spring, Alley Spring, bigger than the Jack’s Fork itself. Alley Spring bubbles forth 84 million gallons of cold water per day. It’s the seventh largest spring in Missouri.
You could easily canoe Alley Spring by itself.
We were seeing it where it joined the Jack’s Fork.
Up the spring branch a ways there’s a mill and park where Alley Spring comes to earth.
The water was beautiful and ice cold. We, the Class of ’73, are no weenies. All of us plunged into the river and became one big goose bump. Really, after a few minutes, the water felt downright refreshing where Alley Spring meets the Jack’s Fork.
Jack’s Fork was busy, as one would expect, on July 3. River rats were out in force in everything from canoes to kayaks to inner tubes. The twin-inner-tube rig seemed the most popular. It sports a Bubba or Bubette in one tube. The second tube is towed behind and carries an ice chest.
A big boost of water from Alley Spring means the Jack’s Fork moves along pretty good. The 7-mile trip was over in five hours with plenty of stops for swimming and lunch.
Our get-together was a quick one. We all went our separate ways on Independence Day, traveling as far as Seattle for home. For us, the Jack’s Fork was the ideal spot for a reunion. Sure beats a stuffy banquet room with red drapes and carpet.
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FLIP PUTTHOFF IS OUTDOORS EDITOR FOR NWA MEDIA.
Outdoor, Pages 6 on 07/11/2013